Odafa Okolie
Okolie with Churchill Brothers in 2011
Personal information
Full name Odafa Onyeka Okolie
Date of birth (1985-06-06) 6 June 1985 (age 38)
Place of birth Nigeria
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
2002–2003 Peerless
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Mohammedan ? (1)
2004–2005 Muktijoddha 28 (34)
2005–2011 Churchill Brothers 116 (117)
2011–2014 Mohun Bagan 60 (51)
2014–2016 Churchill Brothers 0 (0)
2014–2016 → Sporting Goa (loan) 23 (14)
2017 Southern Samity 9 (9)
2018 Gokulam Kerala 3 (0)
Total 239 (226)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Odafa Onyeka Okolie (born 6 June 1985) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who spent most of his career in India.[1][2] He last played for Gokulam Kerala in the I-League.[3] He was once the highest paid footballer in I-league history, earning approximately ₹16 million per year in 2011 while playing for Mohun Bagan.[4] Odafa is second in the list of all-time leading goalscorer in the I-League and National Football League history with 179 goals,[5] and has been the top goal scorer on three consecutive seasons.[6]

He also holds the record for scoring the most hat-tricks in I-League and National Football League combined, with 14 hat-tricks across all seasons, including 13 of those in the I-League.[7][8]

Career

Early career

Okolie started his career in 2002 as a defender with Kolkata based clubs Peerless SC and Mohammedan.[9]

Churchill Brothers

After a lackluster start to his career which saw him play for Indian club Mohammedan,[10] and Bangladeshi club Muktijoddha SKC where he scored 34 goals from 28 appearances. In 2005, Okolie went back to India and signed for Churchill Brothers as a striker. He debuted for the club in 2005–06 National Football League Second Division and scored 4 goals, which helped the club getting promoted to the National Football League. 2006–07 National Football League was break out season for him, as he scored 18 goals and became the top scorer of the league. Okolie was the top scorer in newly formed I-League in two consecutive seasons and won the league in 2008–09. He scored record 113 top division league goals for the club.[11]

Mohun Bagan

On 1 June 2011, he signed a then record one-year deal with Mohun Bagan for approximately $600,000.[4] On 23 October 2011, Odafa scored a hat-trick in his debut for Bagan in a 3–1 victory over Pailan Arrows.[12]

Return to Churchill Brothers and loan to Sporting Goa

Okolie receiving club kit from Sporting Goa president Peter Vaz in June 2015

On 13 May 2014, Okolie re-joined Churchill Brothers, but later in March 2015, he joined Sporting Goa on a loan deal after Churchill brothers were excluded from the I-League. He helped the club narrowly avoid relegation and was subsequently retained for another season.[13]

Southern Samity

In March 2017, Okolie Joined I-League 2nd Division club Southern Samity. He scored 9 goals in the 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division and became the top scorer.

Gokulam Kerala

In January 2018, Okolie joined I-League club Gokulam Kerala.[14]

Career statistics

As of match played 15 January 2018[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Federation Cup Durand Cup AFC Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Mohammedan 2003–04[10] NFL 1 0 0 0 0 — 1
Churchill Brothers 2005–06[16] NFL 2 10 4 3 0 — — 13 4
2006–07 NFL 18 18 2 1 1 2 — 21 21
2007–08 I-League 16 22 1 1 4 11 — 21 34
2008–09 I-League 22 26 3 7 0 0 — 25 33
2009–10 I-League 24 22 3 2 2 4 5[a] 3 34 31
2010–11 I-League 26 25 0 0 0 0 — 26 25
Total 116 117 12 11 7 17 5 3 164 148
Mohun Bagan
2011–12 I-League 26 26 3 1 0 0 — 29 27
2012–13 I-League 22 19 4 4 0 0 — 26 23
2013–14 I-League 12 6 0 0 0 0 — 12 26
Total 60 51 7 5 0 0 — 67 56
Sporting Goa (loan) 2014–15 I-League 11 8 0 0 0 0 — 11 8
2015–16 I-League 12 6 0 0 0 0 — 12 6
Total 23 14 0 0 0 0 — 23 14
Southern Samity 2016–17 I-League 2 9 9 0 0 0 0 — 9 9
Gokulam Kerala 2017–18 I-League 3 0 0 0 0 0 — 3 0
Career total 211 192 19 16 7 17 5 3 242 227
  1. ^ One appearance in AFC Champions League qualifying play-off, Four appearance and three goals AFC Cup

Honours

Churchill Brothers

Muktijoddha SKC

Individual

References

  1. ^ "From the history book, roll of honour". the-aiff.com. All India Football Federation. 10 January 2015. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  2. ^ Sengupta, Somnath (13 July 2011). "Tactical Evolution Of Indian Football: Part Four – Modern Era (1999—2011)". thehardtackle.com. Kolkata: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Player profile of Odafe". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  4. ^ a b Mohun Bagan sign Odafe for record Rs 3 crore one-year deal
  5. ^ By the numbers: Mohun Bagan soar past 600 goals in national league Archived 27 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine ESPN.in
  6. ^ Mohun Bagan signs Odafe for record Rs. 3 crore one-year deal[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ a b "From the History Book". All India Football Federation. the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  8. ^ "NFL Champions and Goalscorers". Rediff. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  9. ^ "From defence to attack: Odafa is the man for all seasons". indianexpress.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014.
  10. ^ a b c "Leading Goal Scorers". Rediff.com. 14 May 2004. Archived from the original on 28 August 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  11. ^ I-League 2008-2009 points table and statistics Archived 22 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine worldfootball.net. Retrieved 22 July 2021
  12. ^ "Goal.com, Match statistics between Mohun Bagan and Pailan Arrows". Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  13. ^ "Sporting Clube de Goa seek Odafa's scoring touch". Sportingclubedegoa. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  14. ^ "Debutants Gokulam Kerala FC set to sign ex-Mohun Bagan star Odafa Okolie". mykhel.com. 2 January 2018. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  15. ^ Odafa Onyeka Okolie at Soccerway
  16. ^ "India 2005/06". Archived from the original on 14 October 2022.
  17. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava (24 November 2011). "1st "ONGC" I-League — Division 1 2007/08: from 24.November 2007 upto 23.February 2008 all over the country". IndianFootball.de. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  18. ^ "ONGC I - LEAGUE 2007 - 2008 :Kolkatafootball.com". www.kolkatafootball.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  19. ^ "I-League 2007–08". Indian Football. 24 November 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  20. ^ "I-League 2008–09". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.

Bibliography

External links

2011–12 FPAI Team of the Year
NFL and I-League top scorers
Sporting Clube de Goa – current squad
Categories