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 lea ...

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) ** Smal ...

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, Nigeria, Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Loc ...

, 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 professional football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pe ...

. He made his senior debuts with amateurs U.F.C.I. Tomar, switching after one year to Caldas Sport Clube in the third division. After stellar performances, Kingsley moved straight to the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

in the 2003 summer, signing with

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar (), commonly known as 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 Ave ...

. 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 or Marítimo da Madeira, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in the city of Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Established in 1910, Marítimo is best known for its football team ...

(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 (, "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club was formed in 1994 after a merger of two historical Larnaca clubs, EPA Larnaca and Pezoporikos. The club also has a men ...

in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

in January 2007, following an unassuming spell in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

with

Zamalek SC Zamalek Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an List of football clubs in Egypt, Egyptian Club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is best known for its professional men's Association football, football team, which plays in the Egy ...

. 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, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

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

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

FC Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk (, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football came to the Donetsk region in the time of the Russian Empire when the industr ...

for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

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 Nea Salamis Famagusta FC (alternatively Nea Salamina, ) is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Ammochostos (also known by its Romanization of Greek, romanized name, Famagusta). It has been a r ...

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 () 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 and black. History In 2009, the club won its ...

also in Cyprus.

External links

* *
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsley, Sunny Ekeh 1981 births Living people Footballers 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 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen