Connally Edozien (born 26 June 1978) is a Nigerian former 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 le ...

who played as a

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Playing career

Youth and College

Edozien was born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, Nigeria, but spent much of his youth in London. He came to the United States in 1997 to attend

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is a private university focused on aviation and aerospace programs. Initially founded at Lunken Field in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1926, its main campuses are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott ...

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

, where he was an All-American and earned

Florida Sun Conference The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Seven of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with three in Georgia. The Sun Conference c ...

Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000. He was the Regional XIV Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000, as well as a four-time All-Region and All-Conference performer. Edozien is the all-time leader in points at Embry–Riddle.

Professional

After college, Edozian played for

FV Dresden-Nord SC Borea Dresden are a German association football club from the city of Dresden, Saxony. The club dropped the name ''FV Dresden-Nord'' on 1 July 2007 and adopted its current name to help encourage new sponsorship support. Boreas is the Greek g ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, Germany. In March 2002, he signed with the

Cincinnati Riverhawks The Cincinnati Riverhawks were a professional soccer team that debuted in the USISL Premier Development League in 1997 and joined the A-League from 1998 to 2003. They played their games at Galbreath Field in Kings Mills, Ohio and later at the ...

after impressing during a February 2002 trial. From 2003 to 2004 he also played for the

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a Corsican association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football ...

's reserves in France. In the fall of 2004, he signed with the

Cincinnati Excite The Cincinnati Excite were a semi-professional indoor soccer club which played in the American Indoor Soccer League. History The Excite are owned by David Galus, and took the American Indoor Soccer League season championship in the 2005/2006 se ...

in the

American Indoor Soccer League The American Indoor Soccer League was a semi-professional indoor soccer league founded in 2002 and folded in 2008. History Founded in 2002, the AISL's headquarters were in West Springfield, Massachusetts, but the media relations office was in C ...

. He caught the eye of the coach of the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League during an exhibition game between the Excite and Force. This led to the Force signing him to a five-game contract on 23 November 2004. He failed to score a goal and the team released him after four games. On 17 February 2005, he returned to the Excite, scoring two goals in the team's last two games of the season. He would also play the 2005–2006 winter indoor season with the Excite. On 21 March 2005, Edozien signed with the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. He played nine games, never scoring in league play, and was released at the end of the 2005 season. In 2006, he spent one season with the

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

before moving to the

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

in 2007. He led the team in scoring that season, but was traded to

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

in August 2008 in exchange for Eddie Gutierrez. In the fall of 2007, he signed with the expansion

Orlando Sharks The Orlando Sharks were a professional American indoor soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, United States. Founded in 2007, by Buena Vista Corporation the Chairman Mr. Sham Maharaj acquired the franchise early 2006. the first game was played ...

of MISL.

Coaching career

Beginning in 2007, Edozian became an assistant coach with the men's soccer team at

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight undergraduate colleges as well as a college of graduate studies, together off ...

.Middle Tennessee coaching profile
In 2008, Edozien joined North Carolina's

Triangle Futbol Club A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non-collinear ...

as head coach for the '94 Navy Ladies and the '93 Navy Men teams.

References

External links

Miami FC bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edozien, Connally 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Lagos American Indoor Soccer League players American soccer coaches North Carolina FC players Cincinnati Excite players Cincinnati Riverhawks players Cleveland Force (2002–2005 MISL) players Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate soccer players in the United States Association football forwards Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Major League Soccer players Miami FC (2006) players Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders New England Revolution players Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in France Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Nigerian footballers Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Orlando Sharks players Footballers from Greater London Rochester New York FC players A-League (1995–2004) players USL First Division players Association football coaches