Chima Daniel "Danny" Uchechi (born 14 September 1989) is a

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n football

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

Rayners Lane Rayners Lane is a suburban district in the London Borough of Harrow that forms the western part of Harrow. Located between Pinner and West Harrow, it takes its name from a road in the area, also called Rayners Lane (formerly also spelt ''Rayner ...

Career

Uchechi was born in

Abia State Abia State ( ig, Ȯha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the ...

and moved to England in 2002. Uchechi scored 13 goals with the

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

under-18 team, then added five goals in reserve squad matches in 2008–09 season. Uchechi signed for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in spring 2009. After being released by West Ham, Uchechi returned in summer 2010 to

Nigeria National League The Nigerian National League (formerly known as ''National Division 1'') is the second tier of club football in Nigeria. History From 1997-2011, the league has been split into 1A for Northern teams and 1B for southern teams. The top two f ...

side FC Dender.

Loan to Leicester City

Uchechi was loaned in January 2011 to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He was not given a squad number for the 2010–11 season for

and did not feature for the first team. In a reserve game for

, against

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Belvoir Drive, he scored a penalty after

Miguel Vítor Miguel Ângelo Leonardo Vítor (; born 30 June 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Israeli club Hapoel Be'er Sheva, where he is also captain, and for the Israel national team. He spent most of his career with Ben ...

had been fouled in the penalty area.

Trials with UK clubs

Uchechi was to start the 2011/2012 pre-season training with Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen, on 20 July 2011, however, Uchechi played the second half of a pre-season friendly for English side

Peterborough United F.C. Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

on trial.

Loan to Sheffield Wednesday

Following a successful short trial at Sheffield Wednesday, Megson was impressed with his good feet, good pace and ability to get a goal and offered him a loan move until January 2012. Uchechi became Gary Megson's seventh summer recruit and was given the number 27. He made his ''Owls'' debut in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

win against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on 11 August 2011 just hours after he put pen to paper. On 24 November 2011 it was confirmed that his loan spell with the club had been cut short.

Aberdeen

Aberdeen FC's Craig Brown signed Uchechi on a six-month deal, with the possibility of a two-year extension, on 31 January 2012 after a week-long trial.

Sweden

On 26 November 2012 it was announced that Swedish club

AFC United Athletic Football Club Eskilstuna, also known as AFC Eskilstuna or simply AFC, is a Swedish football club located in Eskilstuna. The club has previously been known under the names FC Café Opera and Väsby United before switching ownership and t ...

had signed Uchechi on a two-year deal. He signed with Dalkurd, another Swedish club in April 2014.

Return to England

Following a spell with BSV Hürtürkel in the German fifth tier, Uchechi joined

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

for the 2016–17 season. Uchechi joined

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

for the 2017–18 season. After manager Gary McCann joined Hampton & Richmond Borough for the 2018–19 season, Uchechi followed him shortly afterwards. In December 2018 he joined

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cr ...

, and then

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

in March 2019. Uchechi scored on his debut for

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed ...

on 10 August 2019. He briefly joined Burgess Hill Town in March 2020, before joining

East Grinstead Town East Grinstead Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England. They are currently members of the and play at East Court. History The club was established on 8 May 1890 as East Grinstea ...

at the start of the 2020–21 season. He re-joined Burgess Hill in August 2021, before re-joining Cray two months later. In February 2022 he re-joined East Grinstead.

International career

Uchechi received his first international callup in the 2008 Intercontinental Cup in Malaysia. He was called up for an

African Youth Championship The U-20 Africa Cup of Nations also called TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsoring reason (previously known as the African Youth Championship or the African U-20 Championship) is the main international youth football competition ...

qualifier in

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

, and for both legs against

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, but had to pull out with injury. He played three games by the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confedera ...

for the

Nigeria national under-20 football team The Nigerian men's national under-20 football team represents Nigeria in men's international football also known as the Nigeria Under-20s or nicknamed the ''Flying Eagles.'' The Flying Eagles is the youth team for the national soccer in Nigeria. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchechi, Chima Daniel 1989 births Living people Men's association football forwards Igbo sportspeople Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's under-20 international footballers Charlton Athletic F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Remo Stars F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players AFC Eskilstuna players Dalkurd FF players Boreham Wood F.C. players Hendon F.C. players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players Cray Wanderers F.C. players South Park F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players Burgess Hill Town F.C. players East Grinstead Town F.C. players Rayners Lane F.C. players Nigerian people of Togolese descent English Football League players Scottish Premier League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Sportspeople from Abia State Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden