Richard Offiong (born 17 December 1983) is an English

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 ...

who plays as a striker.

Career

Newcastle United

Offiong started his career with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

as a youth but never made a

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

appearance for the club. During his time at Newcastle, Offiong was capped by England at under-20 level and loaned out three times. His first loan out was at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington under ...

in November 2002 on a two-month loan. Darlington decided not to extend his loan spell for a third month in February. He scored four goals in nine league appearances for the club. He was then sent out on loan to

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

in January 2003 for the rest of the 2002–03 season, where he made nine appearances from the substitutes bench. He joined

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

on a month's loan in March 2004 and made four appearances.

Overseas ventures and Doncaster Rovers

Offiong left Newcastle at the end of the season and during 2004 to 2005 had some brief positions abroad in places like

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and Belgium. But finally Offiong returned home joined the

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at T ...

on a free transfer, but was limited to only 5 appearances at the club and subsequently left at the end of the season.

Hamilton Academical

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...

accepted him in 2006 with a contract to keep him at the club until May 2009. He was named player of the month for August 2007. He did well, and netted his first senior hat-trick when Hamilton ran out 3–0 winners at New Douglas Park against

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish Association football, football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Champ ...

on 9 February 2008. This was also his fifth goal in three games against the former

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

. Hamilton Academical secured promotion to the

at the end of a hard-fought season. He made his Scottish Premier League debut in a 3–1 victory against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in ...

and scored his first SPL goal with the winner in a 1–0 win against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

. He signed a new contract with Hamilton in December that would expire at the end of the 2009–10 season.

Carlisle United

Despite bids from

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 tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

and

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

side

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League Greece 2, Super League 2 du ...

, Offiong joined the

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

team

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

on 25 August 2009 for £75,000 which would rise to £90,000 if Carlisle achieved promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. Offiong's first goal was on 26 January 2010, against

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in a League game, which Carlisle won 3–2, with Offiong making a last-gasp winner in the 91st minute.

Östersunds FK

On 30 March 2010, Offiong joined Swedish third-tier team

Östersunds FK Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden and since 2022 play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan. T ...

in a 15-week loan deal, which lasted until 18 July 2010. He teamed up with Ostersunds FK's former

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

player-coach Lee Makel, but his term was cut short by injury after only seven weeks. One day prior to the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

season commencing, Offiong joined Darlington on loan for the second time in his career on an initial one-month deal. After his loan spell at Darlington, Offiong picked up a thigh injury which ruled him out of action for three weeks. Offiong left Carlisle by mutual consent on 4 January 2011.

Gateshead

Offiong joined Conference club Gateshead on 4 March, signing a contract until the end of the season. Making his debut the following day in a 1–1 draw with

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

Moss Lane Moss Lane (currently known as the J. Davidson Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a multi-purpose stadium in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It is currently used primarily for football matches and is the home ground of Altrincham. Th ...

. He scored his first goal for Gateshead on 22 March 2011 against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9,05 ...

. He was released by Gateshead at the end of the season.

Oakleigh Cannons

In May 2011, Offiong signed for the Australian side

Oakleigh Cannons Oakleigh Cannons Football Club is a soccer club based in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. The club, established by members of Oakleigh's Greek Australian community, currently competes in the NPL Victoria. The ...

. He made his debut on 29 May 2011 as a 60th-minute substitute in a 1–0 win against

Springvale White Eagles Springvale White Eagles Football Club is a semi-professional Australian soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria currently playing in the NPL Victoria 3. Founded by Serbian Australians, they play at the Serbian Sports Centre in Keysborough, V ...

. His first goal for Oakleigh came 10 days later in a 2–3 loss against VTC Football.

Blyth Spartans

On 29 September 2011, Blyth Spartans announced that they had signed the 'jet heeled' striker, following a spell in Australia, hoping that International Clearance would be received in time to face Bedlington Terriers at Croft Park on the following Saturday in the FA Cup. Offiong made his debut for Blyth on 15 October 2011 in a 2–1 win over Whitby Town in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

Fourth Qualifying Round. On 13 November 2011, it was announced however that Offiong had left the club after just a month at Blyth.

Johor FA

Offiong moved to the Malaysian team

Johor FA Johor Darul Ta'zim Football Club II (; ms, Kelab Bolasepak Johor Darul Ta'zim II) or simply JDT II is a Malaysian football club based in Johor Bahru, Johor. The club currently plays in the Malaysia Premier League, the second division profess ...

at the beginning of 2012, but had to retire shortly after, due to injury.

Durham City

In January 2014, two years after retiring, Offiong returned to football signing for Durham City. He left the club in 2015 to sign for Boldon Community Association in the

Wearside League The Wearside Football League is a non-league football competition based in northern England. It consists of three divisions which sits at steps 7 to 9 (or levels 11 to 13) of the National League System and is a feeder to the Northern League Divi ...

.Ex-Newcastle striker Richard Offiong set for Wearside League debut in derby
The Shields Gazette, 31 July 2015

Honours

Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as ...

title winner: 2007–08

Career statistics

:A. The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km so ...

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Asso ...

K-League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National ...

, Swedish Division 1,

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called th ...

and

Victorian Premier League The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer l ...

. :B. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

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 ...

and

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Offiong, Richard 1983 births Living people Footballers from South Shields English men's footballers English people of Ghanaian descent English expatriate men's footballers Black British sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Men's association football forwards England men's youth international footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players York City F.C. players İstanbulspor footballers Jeonnam Dragons players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Östersunds FK players Gateshead F.C. players Oakleigh Cannons FC players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Johor Darul Ta'zim II F.C. players Durham City A.F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Süper Lig players K League 1 players Challenger Pro League players Scottish Football League players National League (English football) players