Michael Uwezu (born 12 December 1990) 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 for Ashford United. He began his career at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and has also played for Lincoln City, Forest Green Rovers and FC Linköping City in Sweden.

Career

Early career

Born in

Irete Irete is a community in Owerri West LGA, Southeastern Nigeria, located near the city of Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe ...

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

, Uwezu began his career with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

's academy before moving to their London rivals

. Michael can play wide or as a central striker and signed his first professional contract with Fulham at the end of the 2008–09 season after scoring 11 goals in 18 games for the Academy Under-18s that season.

Fulham

At the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Uwezu was given the number 40 shirt. He was an unused substitute three times for Fulham's

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

group matches against CSKA Sofia (home and away), and FC Basel (away). He was sent on a month loan to Lincoln City on 1 January 2010, along with

Matthew Saunders Matthew Saunders (born 12 September 1989) is a retired professional English footballer. He is currently the assistant manager of Wealdstone. Playing career Saunders graduated from Fulham's academy. Despite never making an official first team a ...

. He made his first senior appearance and debut the following day in a 4–0 loss to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in the FA Cup third round, coming on as a substitute for

Lenell John-Lewis Lenell Nicholas John-Lewis (born 17 May 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for National League club York City. He began his career with non-league side Grantham Town before later turning professional with Linc ...

. Uwezu returned to Fulham on 1 February 2010, after appearing twice for Lincoln in the league and once in the FA Cup. He then continued his good form for Fulham's reserve side, scoring two goals in four games towards the end of the season, and this form was good enough for him to be given a trial at

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

, with an eye to a loan move for the 2010–11 season. On 1 July 2010, Fulham announced that Uwezu had been released from his contract with Fulham. He made no senior appearances for the club.

Forest Green Rovers

On 6 August 2011, Uwezu featured as a trialist for Forest Green Rovers in a 2–1 win over Gloucester City. And on 3 November 2011, Uwezu signed a short-term contract with Forest Green. Uwezu made his Forest Green debut on 5 November 2011 coming on as a substitute in Forest Green's home win over Alfreton Town. On 6 January 2012, Uwezu signed an extended contract at

The New Lawn The New Lawn, also known as The Bolt New Lawn for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire. It has been the home stadium of League One club Forest Green Rovers since 2006. During the 2007–08 season the stadium ...

after impressing in his first two months with the club. On 3 March 2012, Uwezu scored his first goal for Forest Green in a 2–1 home win against Cambridge United. At the end of the season Uwezu was released by Forest Green.

Thamesmead Town

In the 2014–15 season Uwezu played for

Thamesmead Town Thamesmead Town Football Club was a football club originally based in Thamesmead in south-east London before moving to Dartford in 2017. They joined the Kent League in 1991 and reached the 5th round of the FA Vase in the 1995–96 season. In th ...

in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Division One North.

FC Linköping City

In 2016, Uwezu moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing with Swedish fourth-tier club FC Linköping City. He played 65 league games for the club, scoring 27 goals and occasionally captaining the side, before leaving at the end of the 2018 season.

East Grinstead Town

Uwezu joined

side

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 ...

in January 2020.

Burgess Hill Town

Uwezu joined Burgess Hill Town in August 2021.

Ashford United

In May 2022, Uwezu joined Ashford United.

Career statistics

References

External links

*
BBC Sport profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uwezu, Michael 1990 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Sportspeople from Imo State English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Fulham F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Thamesmead Town F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden FC Linköping City players East Grinstead Town F.C. players Burgess Hill Town F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players