Chibuzor "Chib" Chilaka (born 21 October 1986) is a Nigerian

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 le ...

who plays 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 ...

for Matlock Town in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Career

Chilaka began his football career at Rushden & Diamonds in 2002, spending two years at the club's academy. In 2004, Chilaka joined Notts County after Notts County youth team coach Neville Hamilton had previously worked with the player at Rushden. He impressed during his year in the club's youth system, and subsequently signed a one-year professional contract on 4 July 2005. He made one first-team appearance for the club in the

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 ...

5–2 defeat at Northampton Town in October 2005. In December 2005, Chilaka joined Hinckley United on a three-month loan spell, playing two games for the club before Notts County recalled him on 10 January 2006. Chilaka was released by Notts County in May 2006. He studied at the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...

, captaining and managing the team due to their ex-manager leaving. He also played for England Universities. Ahead of the 2007–08 season, Chilaka had a successful trial with Hull City but decided to finish his university course studying Human Biology. He played for

Bridlington Town Bridlington Town Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They were founded in 1918 and currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1918 as Bridlington Centra ...

during the 2008–09 season, scoring a total of 38 goals for Bridlington in all competitions, 25 of which came in the league. During the following season, he played for

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie (ba ...

, where he scored 20 league goals in 29 appearances. He also won the club's Player of the Season award at the end of the 2009–10 campaign. Ahead of 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. I ...

season, Chilaka went on trial at Conference North side Guiseley, scoring twice in a friendly against Farsley. Guiseley manager Steve Kittrick was keen to sign Chilaka, but the player joined

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

on trial instead.

Bradford City

After a successful trial period, he was signed by

on non-contract terms. Chilaka made his debut for Bradford in the club's 2–1 League Cup defeat against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, coming on as a 79th-minute substitute in the match. He made his league debut for the club against

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

on 2 October 2010, again coming off the substitute's bench. After three appearances in league and cup matches, he was loaned to

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

in November 2010 to gain match fitness. Chilaka scored on his debut for Bradford Park Avenue in the side's 3–1 win against

Eccleshill United Eccleshill United Football Club is a football club based in Wrose, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Plumpton Park. History The club was established before World War II but was disbanded due to t ...

in the West Riding County Cup. However, Chilaka was ineligible to play in the match and Eccleshill were subsequently reinstated into the competition at Avenue's expense. He played his first league game on 11 December 2010, scoring the winning goal in the 93rd minute in the club's 3–2 away victory at

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin M ...

, a game in which Avenue came from two goals down to win. Chilaka's loan spell at the club was disrupted by the snow throughout November and December 2010, resulting in a spate of postponements. This meant that he played just one league game for Bradford Park Avenue during his loan spell, scoring one goal. In February 2011, Chilaka went out on loan again, this time to Conference North side

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

, making his debut in the club's 3–1 away win at

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

. He scored a hat-trick in his final game before his loan spell ended as Harrogate ran out 3–0 winners against Gloucester City on 26 March. Chilaka played eight games for Harrogate, scoring three times. On his return to Bradford, he appeared as a second-half substitute in the club's 2–1 away loss to

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

. He was released by Bradford City on 10 May 2011, and signed for

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

in August.

Harrogate Town

On 2 February 2012, Chilaka signed for

. In 2013, Harrogate released Chilaka.

Bradford Park Avenue

Chilaka joined

as a free agent on 5 July 2013.

Personal life

His younger brother, Nduoma, is also a footballer, who has played for a number of

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

clubs as well US University soccer team

Regis Rangers The Regis Rangers are the athletic teams that represent Regis University, located in Denver, Colorado, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Rangers compete as members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for all 12 varsity sports. ...

(

Regis University Regis University is a private Jesuit university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1877 by the Society of Jesus, the university offers more than 120 degrees through 5 colleges in a variety of subjects, including education, liberal arts, business, nu ...

).Nduoma Chilaka – Regis Rangers

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilaka, Chibuzor Living people 1986 births Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Notts County F.C. players Hinckley United F.C. players Bridlington Town A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players English Football League players Alumni of the University of Hull Men's association football midfielders Shaw Lane A.F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players Matlock Town F.C. players Northern Premier League players