Kelechi Chrystantus "KK" Opara (born 21 December 1981) is a Nigerian former footballer who played in the Football League 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 Colchester United and Leyton Orient. His younger brother

Lloyd Lloyd, Lloyd's, or Lloyds may refer to: People * Lloyd (name), a variation of the Welsh word ' or ', which means "grey" or "brown" ** List of people with given name Lloyd ** List of people with surname Lloyd * Lloyd (singer) (born 1986), American ...

was also a professional footballer.

Career

Born in Owerri, Nigeria, Opara came through the youth ranks at Colchester United where he made 19 league appearances for the club between 1998 and 2000. He made his debut for the club in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

at Bloomfield Road on the final day of the 1998–99 season, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute for Steve Germain. Opara was a prolific goalscorer in the United youth and reserve teams, but could not find the same form in the Colchester first-team having been pushed into the first-team early following the success of former starlet Lomana LuaLua prior to his departure to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. He was eventually released by the club following an act of misconduct while on his weekly academic day of his scholarship with the club. His last appearance in the first-team came in a 1–0 defeat by

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

at Layer Road on 30 September 2000, coming on as an early substitute for Tony Lock. Leyton Orient picked up Opara's scholarship, paying Colchester a nominal compensation fee. He helped his team win the

Youth Alliance Cup The Football League Youth Alliance is a youth football competition in England, consisting of four regional divisions. It acts as League 2 of the U18 Professional Development League system. Current structure North West Conference * Accringto ...

in 2001 at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

in Cardiff. He was also loaned out to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

and Billericay Town during his time with the O's, making four appearances and scoring once for the former. He made six appearances for the first-team whilst with the club, before being released in 2002. Following a trial period with

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

during pre-season for the 2002–03 season, Opara joined Billericay on a permanent basis. He later played for a number of non-league clubs, including a return to Dagenham & Redbridge, Purfleet, Redbridge,

Heybridge Swifts Heybridge Swifts Football Club is a football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Scraley Road. History The club was established in 1880 as Heybridge Football Club. After joining t ...

. While he was signed to Heybridge, Opara was involved in a serious car accident in March 2003 in which five people died. The accident occurred in North London on 15 March in the early hours of a Saturday morning when Opara was driving himself and four passengers in his Vauxhall Calibra when his car was struck by a speeding

Vauxhall Omega Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known fo ...

. Three of his four passengers (two women aged 18 and a 20-year-old man) were killed in the accident, and both driver and passenger of the Omega were also killed. The incident left Opara in a serious but stable condition in hospital. He recovered from his injuries and resumed his playing career in 2004, appearing for Erith & Belvedere and

Harlow Town Harlow Town Football Club is an English association football, football club based in Harlow, Essex. The club is a former member of the and plays at The Harlow Arena. The club is best known for its exploits in the 1979–80 FA Cup, in which it ...

Personal life

Opara has a younger brother,

, who was also a scholar at Colchester United at the same time. Lloyd played six times for Colchester and also appeared for Cambridge United, Swindon Town and Peterborough United.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Opara, KK 1981 births Living people Footballers from Owerri Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Men's association football forwards Colchester United F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Redbridge F.C. players Heybridge Swifts F.C. players Erith & Belvedere F.C. players Harlow Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players