Kelechi Chrystantus "KK" Opara (born 21 December 1981) is a Nigerian former

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 in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

and

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 younger brother Lloyd was also a professional footballer.

Career

Born in

Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Nigeria, Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Loc ...

, Nigeria, Opara came through the youth ranks at

where he made 19 league appearances for the club between 1998 and 2000. He made his debut for the club in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

on the final day of the 1998–99 season, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute for Steve Germain. Opara was a prolific goalscorer in the United youth and reserve teams, but could not find the same form in the Colchester first-team having been pushed into the first-team early following the success of former starlet

Lomana LuaLua Trésor Lomana LuaLua (; born 28 December 1980) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the attacking coach for Spalding United. LuaLua was born in Kinshasa, but moved to England at a young age. ...

prior to his departure to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. He was eventually released by the club following an act of misconduct while on his weekly academic day of his scholarship with the club. His last appearance in the first-team came in a 1–0 defeat by

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was the home of Colchester United Football Club from its inception in 1937, up until the club relocated to Colchester Community Stadium in 2008, resulting in its closure. The ...

on 30 September 2000, coming on as an early substitute for

Tony Lock Graham Anthony Richard Lock (5 July 1929 – 30 March 1995) was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner. He played in 49 Test matches for England taking 174 wickets. Lock took 2,844 first-class wickets, placing him ...

picked up Opara's scholarship, paying Colchester a nominal compensation fee. He helped his team win the Youth Alliance Cup in 2001 at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. He was also loaned out to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

and Billericay Town during his time with the O's, making four appearances and scoring once for the former. He made six appearances for the first-team whilst with the club, before being released in 2002. Following a trial period with

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

during pre-season for the 2002–03 season, Opara joined Billericay on a permanent basis. He later played for a number of non-league clubs, including a return to Dagenham & Redbridge,

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater ...

, Redbridge,

Heybridge Swifts Heybridge Swifts Football Club is a football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Scraley Road. History The club was established in 1880 as Heybridge Football Club. After joining t ...

. While he was signed to Heybridge, Opara was involved in a serious car accident in March 2003 in which five people died. The accident occurred in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

on 15 March in the early hours of a Saturday morning when Opara was driving himself and four passengers in his

Vauxhall Calibra The Opel Calibra is a coupé, engineered and produced by the Germany, German automaker Opel between 1989 and 1997. In the United Kingdom, where it remained on sale until 1999, it was marketed under the Vauxhall Motors, Vauxhall brand as the Vaux ...

when his car was struck by a speeding

Vauxhall Omega Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Vauxh ...

. Three of his four passengers (two women aged 18 and a 20-year-old man) were killed in the accident, and both driver and passenger of the Omega were also killed. The incident left Opara in a serious but stable condition in hospital. He recovered from his injuries and resumed his playing career in 2004, appearing for Erith & Belvedere and Harlow Town.

Personal life

Opara has a younger brother, Lloyd, who was also a scholar at

at the same time. Lloyd played six times for Colchester and also appeared for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

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 ...

and

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Opara, KK 1981 births Living people Footballers from Owerri Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Men's association football forwards Colchester United F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Redbridge F.C. players Heybridge Swifts F.C. players Erith & Belvedere F.C. players Harlow Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen