Matthew Nwabueze Okoh (born May 19, 1972) is a former U.S.-Nigerian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and currently assistant coach of the DSU Hornets Women. His playing career spanned eight years and took him from the United States to Brazil, Germany and Portugal. Since retiring from playing, Okoh has devoted himself to coaching collegiate soccer.

Playing career

Youth and college

While born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Okoh's family moved back to

Asaba Asaba is the capital city of Delta State, Nigeria. It is located at the western bank of the Niger River, in the Oshimili South Local Government Area. Asaba had a population of 149,603 as at the 2006 census, and a metropolitan population of o ...

, Nigeria for several years. His family then returned to the U.S., this time settling in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Okoh attended

Regis Jesuit High School Regis Jesuit High School is a private, Catholic, college preparatory high school administered by the Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus in Aurora, Colorado. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1877. The high school shares much of ...

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, ...

. After graduating from high school, Okoh remained in the Denver area, attending the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

where he played men's soccer. He finished his collegiate career second on the team’s career list of goals and points, having scored fifty goals in thirty-seven games. Okoh graduated with a

bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

in 1995.

Early career

In 1995, Okoh signed with the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional soccer team, based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League, and later in the A-League, between 1990 and 1997. The Foxes won two APSL titles, in 1992 and 1993. In 19 ...

of the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

(APSL) before moving to Brazilian club Santos that winter. He spent only half a season with Santos before returning to the U.S. to play the second half of the 1995–96 National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) season with the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

Germany

In 1996, Okoh left the Wings and moved to Germany where he signed with German third division club

SSV Reutlingen SSV Reutlingen 05 is a German association football club from Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg. History The club was founded as FC Arminia Reutlingen and was renamed SV Reutlingen 1905 in 1910. The club fused with 1. Schwimmverein 1911 to form the ...

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...

was suitably impressed with Okoh's performances and purchased his contract from Reutlingen. However, he lasted only one season, appearing in only two games, before transferring to

SpVgg Unterhaching Spielvereinigung Unterhaching () is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league B ...

. He played the 1997–98 season with Unterhaching, scoring two goals in thirteen games before injuring his back in May 1998. This injury put him out of action for the remainder of the season and into the 1998–99 season. In December 1998, Okoh returned to the United States for rehabilitation. However, rehabilitation went slowly and he lost all of 1999. In January 2008, Okoh returned to Germany and joined the team of Bayern Hof in the Bayernliga. At the end of the 2007–08 season he quit.

Major League Soccer

In April 2000, Okoh went on trial with the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

. The team was sufficiently impressed with him to sign him as a discovery player. On March 19, 2001, the

traded Okoh, along with Alan Woods and a second round 2002 draft pick to 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 ...

for

Imad Baba Imad Baba (born March 15, 1974) is a former American association football, soccer midfielder. He spent seven years in Major League Soccer (MLS) with the New England Revolution and Colorado Rapids. He was also a member of the American squads at th ...

and Carlos Parra. The Revolution waived him on November 15, 2001.

Portugal

Following his release by New England, Okoh pursued a return to Europe. This led to him signing with Portuguese

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club S.C. Campomaiorense He spent the second half of the 2001–02 season in Portugal, then retired from playing professionally.

Return in Germany

In January 2008, he returned to Germany and made his debut for

SpVgg Bayern Hof SpVgg Bayern Hof is a German association football club based in Hof, Bavaria. The club was founded on 1 June 1910 as ''Ballspielclub Hof'', but within a year was renamed ''Britannia Hof''. In 1913, they merged with ''FC Roland Hof'' and ''FC Ph ...

in the

Bayernliga The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria (german: Bayern) and the Bavarian football league system. It is one o ...

. In July 2008, he moved to SC Baldham-Vaterstetten and left the team after half a year to sign a player-coaching contract with league rival SV-DJK Taufkirchen.

Coaching career

In 2000 while playing with the Rapids, Okoh joined the Colorado Legends Soccer Club as the Director of Player Development. At the same time, he served as an assistant coach to the

. Then again in July 2001 while playing with the Revolution, Okoh was the head coach of the women's soccer team at

Nichols College Nichols College is a private business college in Dudley, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815 as Nichols Academy, Nichols College offers both bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as certificate programs. History Nichols Academy The instituti ...

, a Division III college in

Dudley, Massachusetts Dudley is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,921 at the 2020 census. History Dudley was first settled in 1714 and was officially incorporated in 1732. The town was named for landholders Paul and Will ...

. He took the team to the finals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament before resigning in December 2001. In 2002,

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

hired Okoh to establish the school's first women's soccer team. In the Lady Tigers' first season, 2003, he coached the team to an 8–12–1 record. However, in 2004, he took the Lady Tigers to a 16–6 record. He resigned in January 2004 to pursue other coaching opportunities. That led to his being hired by

Delaware State University Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Dover, Delaware. DSU also has two satellite campuses: one in Wilmington and one in Georgetown. The university encompasses four col ...

in August 2005. The Delaware Dynasty of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

hired Okoh as its head coach on February 13, 2007. In January 2008, he was named as assistant coach of

, but left the team after six months. In January 2009, he became head coach of SV-DJK Taufkirchen. In July 2009, he signed a contract as assistant coach of DSU Hornets Women.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okoh, Matt 1972 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent African-American men's soccer players Soccer players from Washington, D.C. Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate soccer players in Germany American Professional Soccer League players Colorado Foxes players Santos FC players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Wichita Wings (NPSL) players SSV Reutlingen 05 players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players TSV 1860 Munich players TSV 1860 Munich II players SpVgg Unterhaching players Colorado Rapids players New England Revolution players S.C. Campomaiorense players Delaware State Hornets women's soccer coaches Major League Soccer players Denver Pioneers men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople Nichols Bison Grambling State Tigers women's soccer coaches