Sunny Ekeh Kingsley (born 9 September 1981) is a Nigerian retired 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 ...

who played 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) ** Sm ...

Club 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, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas including Owerri Municipal ...

, Kingsley moved to Portugal in 1998 still as a junior, finishing his grooming at

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. M ...

. He made his senior debuts with amateurs

U.F.C.I. Tomar União Futebol Comércio e Indústria de Tomar, or more commonly União de Tomar, is a Portuguese association football club formed on 4 May 1914 and based in the city of Tomar.Caldas Sport Clube Caldas Sport Clube is a Portuguese professional football team based in Caldas da Rainha. Founded on 15 May 1916, the club competes in the Campeonato de Portugal. History Between 1956 and 1959, Caldas participated in the Portuguese Liga, the t ...

in the third division. After stellar performances, Kingsley moved straight to the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

in the 2003 summer, signing with

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

. He made his debut in the competition on 17 August in a 0–1 away loss against

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Liga. ...

(21 minutes played), and finished his first season with 33 games – 29 starts – and four goals, helping the Aveiro club to the 11th position. Kingsley joined

AEK Larnaca F.C. AEK Larnaca FC ( el, AEK; for short Αθλητική Έvωση Κίτιον Λάρνακας , translit=''Athletiki Enosi Kition Larnakas'', "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club ...

in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus official ...

in January 2007, following an unassuming spell in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

with

Zamalek SC Zamalek Sporting Club ( ar, نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East, an ...

. He scored four times in only ten appearances in his debut campaign, and also helped his team reach the semi-finals of the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club te ...

. In July 2008 he moved sides and countries again, signing for

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League' ...

FC Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk ( uk, Футбо́льний клуб «Металу́рг» Доне́цьк, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football ...

for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

620,000. In July 2010, Kingsley returned to his previous club. He played the last match of his career on 29 January 2012, netting once in the 6–0 win over Nea Salamis Famagusta FC for the league championship; he retired subsequently at the age of only 30, and accepted an offer to become his last team's chief

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement * Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

. Kingsley came out of retirement in the 2014 summer after two years of inactivity, signing with

Nikos & Sokratis Erimis Nicos & Socratis Erimis ( el, Νίκος & Σωκράτης Ερήμης) is a Cypriot football club based in Erimi, Limassol. The club was founded in 1956. Since 2013 the club competes in the Cypriot Second Division. The club colors are yellow a ...

also in Cyprus.

External links

* *
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsley, Sunny Ekeh 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Owerri Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football forwards First Bank F.C. players Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players U.F.C.I. Tomar players Caldas S.C. players S.C. Beira-Mar players Zamalek SC players Cypriot First Division players Cypriot Second Division players AEK Larnaca FC players Nikos & Sokratis Erimis players Ukrainian Premier League players FC Metalurh Donetsk players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Egyptian Premier League players Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt