Ikechi Anya (born 3 January 1988) is a Scottish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. A versatile player, Anya was fielded in a number of positions, including winger, wing-back and full-back. He played for

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

in England, as well as for Spanish clubs

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

Sevilla Atlético Sevilla Atlético is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1950, it is the reserve team of Sevilla FC, Sevilla. It plays in and holds home games at the Ciu ...

and

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. Eligible to also represent

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, Nigeria or England, he chose to play for the country of his birth,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Anya made 29 international appearances between 2013 and 2017, scoring three goals.

Early life

Anya's father is a Nigerian research scientist of the Igbo ethnic group and his mother a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

economist. The couple met while studying in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. After finishing their studies, his parents moved to Scotland in the late 1980s for his father to obtain his doctorate in metallurgy. Anya was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland and spent his early childhood in the

Castlemilk Castlemilk () is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the far south of the city centre, adjacent to the Croftfoot and Simshill residential areas within the city to the north-west, the town of Rutherglen - neighbourhoods of Rutherglen#Sp ...

area. His mother, Mariana, states that as a very young boy Anya "was kicking a ball in front of the house where he grew up in Glasgow from morning till night." The family moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

when he was seven years old after his father got a job at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. Anya maintained his fondness for Scotland, stating that whenever Scotland played England he would cheer "Come on Scotland". His older brother, Chima, is a medical doctor.

Club career

Wycombe Wanderers

Anya joined the

youth team in the 2003–04 season, having been released by

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

. His performances in the youth team ensured that he was well talked about within the club, enough that he was given the number 28 shirt by then manager

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. Known as Mr. Arsenal, he spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre-back t ...

for the match at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

on 11 September 2004, becoming the club's youngest ever player at the age of 16. Like Russell Martin, he committed his short-term future to the club, signing a two-year deal in June 2005 and whilst at Wycombe won Apprentice of the Year at the inaugural Football League Awards in 2006.

Non-League

He was released in the summer of 2007 and signed for Oxford City, before being snapped up in January 2008 by Halesowen Town. In the summer of 2008 he joined the

Glenn Hoddle Academy The Glenn Hoddle Academy (GHA) was established in 2008, by former England international footballer Glenn Hoddle. Hoddle set the academy up in the memory of his brother, Carl, a former Tottenham Hotspur player who died aged 40. The academy coach ...

and his contract expired in the summer of 2010.

Northampton Town

On 28 February 2009, Anya signed for League One side

. He made his debut as coming on as a substitute in the game away to

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

on the same day. His first goal for the club came as part of a 3–4 defeat against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

on 24 March. His second goal came in the 92nd minute of the 3–1 victory at

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

, his goal wrapping up a victory in the fight against relegation for Northampton which they eventually lost.

Spain

Northampton manager Stuart Gray was keen to re-sign Anya on a long-term deal at the end of the season, but on 7 July 2009, he joined

, the reserve side of

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, on a two-year contract. Anya signed for

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was foun ...

in July 2010 after his contract with the Glenn Hoddle Academy expired. On 13 July 2011, Anya signed a three-year contract with newly promoted

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

. He was then loaned out to

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

for the season.

Watford

Anya was loaned to English side

for the 2012–13 season. He made his Watford debut as a substitute in the home defeat against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

on 21 August 2012. He made his first start and scored his first goal for the club in the home defeat to

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

in the second round of the League Cup on 28 August 2012. Anya scored his first league goal for Watford against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in a 2–2 draw on 24 November 2012. On 22 July 2013, Anya completed a permanent move to Watford, signing a three-year deal. He extended his contract following Watford's promotion to the Premier League in 2015, and was contracted to the club until his move to Derby County on transfer deadline day in August 2016.

Derby County

On 31 August 2016, Anya signed a four-year contract with

. Anya scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

on 17 September 2016. Anya left Derby in June 2020.

International career

Anya chose to play international football for

, the land of his birth, but would also have been eligible for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(through residence),

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

(through his father) or

(through his mother). He received his first call up to the Scotland national team on 23 August 2013 for Scotland's World Cup

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

double header in September against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. He made his debut for Scotland against Belgium as a substitute on the hour mark on 6 September 2013 in a World Cup qualifying match, although Scotland were already unable to qualify for the final tournament. He made his first start and scored his first international goal in the following game, a 2–1 win in Macedonia on 10 September. On 7 September 2014 he scored against the world champions

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the first match of UEFA Euro 2016 qualification in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, Scotland lost 2–1.

Career statistics

Club

International appearances

International goals

Honours

Individual *

SFWA International Player of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association International Player of the Year (often called the SFWA International Player of the Year) award is given to the player in the Scotland national football team who is seen to have made the best contributio ...

: 2014–15

References

External links

*
donbalon.com Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anya, Ikechi 1988 births Men's association football wingers Black British sportsmen British people of Nigerian descent Scottish people of Nigerian descent Scottish people of Romanian descent Cádiz CF players RC Celta Fortuna players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Granada CF footballers Halesowen Town F.C. players Living people Northampton Town F.C. players Oxford City F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Scottish men's footballers Scottish Christians Premier League players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Sevilla FC players Sevilla Atlético players Southern Football League players Footballers from Glasgow English Football League players Watford F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players RC Celta de Vigo players Derby County F.C. players Anglo-Scots Romanian people of Nigerian descent Romanian people of Igbo descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent 21st-century Scottish sportsmen