Justice Longs Christopher (24 December 1981 – 9 March 2022) was a Nigerian 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 ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Christopher played for several clubs, including Katsina United,

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

, Bendel Insurance,

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

(Belgium),

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

(Bulgaria),

Trelleborg Trelleborg () is a town in Skåne County, Sweden, with 43,359 inhabitants as of 31 December 2015. It is the southernmost town in Sweden located some west from the Smygehuk, southernmost point of Sweden and the Scandinavian Peninsula. It is one ...

(Sweden),

Alania Vladikavkaz FC Alania Vladikavkaz (, ) is a Russian association football, football team from Vladikavkaz. Founded in 1921, the club played in the Soviet Top League during the communist era, and won its first and only league title in the 1995 Russian Top Leag ...

in Russia and

Herfølge Boldklub Herfølge Boldklub was a Danish football club founded in 1921. It is based in Herfølge, a southern suburb of Køge in the eastern part of Zealand. In 2009, the club shared its licence, and merged its professional football with Køge BK to form ...

in Denmark. After the end of the season 2006–07 season he announced his retirement from football. On 21 October 2012, Christopher announced his comeback and signed for

Nasarawa United Nasarawa United Football Club is a soccer club based in Lafia, Nasarawa, Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Premier League. History The team was founded in 2003 after the Nasarawa government took over Black Stars FC of Gombe. They joined the ...

International career

Christopher made a total of 11 appearances for the Nigeria national team and was a participant at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, playing in all three games before the team's group stage elimination.

Personal life

Christopher died on 9 March 2022, at the age of 40, having collapsed at a hotel he owned in

Jos Jos is a city in the North-Central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. The city is situ ...

, Nigeria.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher, Justice 1981 births 2022 deaths Footballers from Jos Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Nigeria men's international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2002 African Cup of Nations players Belgian Pro League players Danish Superliga players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Russian Premier League players Allsvenskan players Katsina United F.C. players Sharks F.C. players Bendel Insurance F.C. players Royal Antwerp F.C. players PFC Levski Sofia players Trelleborgs FF players FC Spartak Vladikavkaz players Herfølge Boldklub players Nasarawa United F.C. players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen