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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club Hibernian. He has previously played for Chelmsford City,

Witham Town Witham Town Football Club is a semi professional English football club based in Witham, Essex. The club are currently members of the and play at the Simarco Stadium. History Clubs named Witham Town have been in existence since the mid 19th ce ...

, Concord Rangers, East Thurrock United,

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. ...

and

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 ...

, winning promotion from

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

, the third level of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

, in 2021.

Club career

In 2014, Ekpiteta began his senior career at Chelmsford City, following a spell in the youth set-up at

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 ...

. In January 2015, Ekpiteta signed dual-registration forms with

. After making 58 league appearances for Chelmsford, scoring three times, Ekpiteta signed for Essex rivals Concord Rangers in 2016. In January 2017, after making 22

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

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

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, 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 association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

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. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

. 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 a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

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. On 7 May 2024, Blackpool announced the player would be leaving the club in the summer when his contract expired. On 28 May 2024, Ekpiteta signed for Scottish Premiership side Hibernian.

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 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 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 ...

. 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 identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

. 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 A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

issued Ekpiteta a formal warning for his tweets.

Career statistics

Honours

Leyton Orient *

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

: 2018–19 *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

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 Sportspeople 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 under-20 international footballers English Football League players England men's semi-pro international footballers National League (English football) players Witham Town F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen