Marvin Akpereogene Paul Edem Ekpiteta (born 26 August 1995) is an English 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 le ...

who plays as a defender for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. He has previously played for

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members o ...

, Witham Town,

Concord Rangers Concord Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Canvey Island in Essex, England. The club currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Thames Road ...

, East Thurrock United and

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

Club career

In 2014, Ekpiteta began his senior career at

, following a spell in the youth set-up at

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

. In January 2015, Ekpiteta signed dual-registration forms with Witham Town. After making 58 league appearances for Chelmsford, scoring three times, Ekpiteta signed for Essex rivals

in 2016. In January 2017, after making 22

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

appearances for the club, Ekpiteta signed for East Thurrock United, in a move labelled as "naïve" by Concord manager Adam Flanagan. On 31 January 2018, Ekpiteta signed for National League club

on a -year contract, being loaned back to East Thurrock as part of the deal. After three games back on loan at East Thurrock, Ekpiteta was recalled from the club, making his Leyton Orient debut in a 1–0 loss away to

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

on 3 March 2018. On 9 March 2019, Ekpiteta scored the winner for Leyton Orient in a 1–0 win against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, which saw Orient replace Wrexham at the top of the National League. At the end of the season, Leyton Orient gained promotion, with Ekpiteta making his

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut on 3 August 2019 in a 1–0 win against

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

. Ekpiteta signed a two-year contract with

on 8 July 2020. He scored his first goal for Blackpool in a 5–0 win over

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on 27 January 2021. He signed another two-year contract with the club on 8 March 2022. Ekpiteta was named Blackpool's player of the season for the 2021–22 season by both the club supporters and his teammates.

International career

In 2013, Ekpiteta was called up for Nigeria U20, making two appearances. On 10 October 2018, Ekpiteta made his debut for

England C The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it fe ...

in a 1–0 victory against Estonia U23.

Personal life

Ekpiteta's brother,

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

, also played professional football. In May 2022, Ekpiteta's Blackpool teammate

Jake Daniels Jake Daniels (born 8 January 2005) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Blackpool. Career A youth product of Blackpool since the age of seven, Daniels began playing with their U18s in 2021 ...

came out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. Following his announcement, some of Ekpiteta social media posts dating back to 2012 and 2013 were highlighted as being

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

. Ekpiteta responded by deleting the posts and issuing an apology, saying that his actions from a decade prior "do not in any way reflect the values ehold now". In response, Daniels accepted the apology, and tweeted that he is "proud" of being Ekpiteta's teammate. On 30 May, the

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

issued Ekpiteta a formal warning for his tweets.

Career statistics

Honours

Leyton Orient *

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

: 2018–19 *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

runner-up: 2018–19 Individual * Blackpool Player of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekpiteta, Marvin Living people 1995 births Black British sportsmen Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield People from Enfield, London English men's footballers English people of Nigerian descent Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Leyton Orient F.C. players Concord Rangers F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players East Thurrock United F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Nigeria men's youth international footballers English Football League players England men's semi-pro international footballers National League (English football) players Witham Town F.C. players