Precious Emuejeraye (born 21 March 1983) is a 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 ...

who last played for

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

in the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

. Born in

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 ...

, he represents the Singapore national team. Now, he coaches in the Liverpool International Academy in Singapore.

Club career

Jurong FC

Emuejeraye came to Singapore in 2002 from Nigeria after being signed by the now-defunct

S-League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which ...

side

Jurong FC Jurong Football Club was a professional football club, based in the Jurong area of Singapore. The club played in S.League, the top division of football in Singapore from 1997 to 2003. The team's best league finishes in this period were fifth p ...

. He made his debut for Jurong on February 21, 2002 against Sembawang Rangers and scored his first goal for the club in the Singapore Cup semi-final against Geylang United in the same year.

Young Lions

Even though Jurong FC folded a year later, his impressive performances in league did not go unnoticed, as the Young Lions signed him next.

Gombak United

In 2006, Gombak United snapped up the burly defender after doing well in his 3 years with the Young Lions. He won the 2008 Singapore League Cup with the bulls.

Woodlands Wellington

He was snapped up by new

Woodlands Wellington FC Woodlands Wellington Football Club is an inactive professional football club which played in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. They are based in Woodlands at the 4,300 seater Woodlands Stadium, where they have played sinc ...

's coach, Nenad Bacina, who signed him for the 2009 season.

Move to Indonesia

Following the disbandment of the national team due to poor showings in the AFF Suzuki cup, he moved to Indonesia to start afresh. He signed for Indonesia Super League club,

Sriwijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th ...

and helped the club to the 2010

Piala Indonesia Piala Indonesia ( 'Indonesia Cup') is the professional annual cup competition for football clubs in Indonesia. Originally, it started from the semi-professional football era in 1985 as Piala Liga, which ran until 1989 under Galatama competition. ...

. He next move to Persija Jakarta before moving to

Persiba Balikpapan Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Balikpapan, commonly known as Persiba Balikpapan, is an professional football club based in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The club plays in Liga 2, after relegation from Liga 1 in 2017 season. The club ...

. He was, however, sacked by the club following poor performances. He trained with Woodlands Wellington before being snapped up by Persidafon Dafonsoro and made his debut for the club in a 3-1 loss against his former club Sriwijaya FC on 16 May 2013. Persidafon Dafonsoro proved to be his last club in Indonesia as a decrease in the slots for Asian players from two to one saw him return home in 2014.

Home United

Before signing for S. League club

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as The Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club competing in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Since the 2021 season, the ...

in 2014, Emuejeraye went on trials in Thailand but found that many clubs have filled their foreign signing slots. His chance at Home came as a coincidence as he was merely looking for somewhere to train to keep himself match fit and stumbled upon Home's training who coincidentally had a free slot left for registration. He was released at the end of the season.

Putrajaya SPA

Following his release by Home United, Emuejeraya was left without a club before being snapped up by Malaysia Premier League bottom-dwellers

Putrajaya SPA FC Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam Football Club ( en, Public Services Commission Football Club) or commonly known as SPA FC is a football club from Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Malaysia. The team formerly plays in the Premier League, the sec ...

. He had a debut to forget as he scored an own goal in a 3-1 loss to UiTM.

Eunos Crescent FC

Emuejeraye has failed to earn a professional contract in Singapore and played for amateur side Eunos Crescent in the National Football League, winning the title in 2016.

Churchill Brothers

It was announced in late-November 2017 that Emuejeraye has signed for

side

Churchill Brothers SC Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

, becoming the first foreign signing for the team in the upcoming season.

International career

In December 2005, he was awarded the citizenship of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and the head coach of the national football team, Radojko Avramovic duly gave him his international debut in a friendly against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

on the 26 January 2006. He then became the third

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

to play for the national team, after Itimi Dickson and

Agu Casmir Agu Casmir (born 23 March 1984 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a retired professional football player. Born in Nigeria, he represented the Singapore national team. Club career Casmir previously played for S.League clubs Young Lions and Woodlands Welli ...

. His performances in the national team colours at first were met with criticisms from the supporters, citing that his speed was making the whole defence a liability. But soon, people realised that he was able to use his sheer build and strength to make up for the lack of speed and soon became a firm fixture in the first team of the national squad. As of November 2017, Emuejeraye has earned 61 caps for the Singapore national team.

Personal life

His wife is Nigerian. He is the elder brother of

Alfred Emuejeraye Alfred Emuejeraye (born 13 January 1983) is a Nigerian footballer. Club career Emuejeraye started his career at Julius Berger, and played there until 2003. He joined Grasshopper Club Zürich in 2003 and then returned to Julius Berger. He mov ...

and Emmanuel Emuejeraye. He is currently residing in Singapore with his wife and children (2 sons, 1 daughter

Honours

Club

Gombak United *

Singapore League Cup The Singapore League Cup was an annual soccer competition in Singapore. It was launched in 2007, and was open to teams who play in the S.League. The 2007 competition was sponsored by SingTel, and officially titled the SingTel League Cup. Eight of ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Sriwijaya *

: 2010 Eunos Crescent * National Football League: 2016

International

;Singapore ;*

AFF Championship The ASEAN Football Federation Championship (less formally the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup for sponsorship reason, is the primary association football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football ...

: 2007

References

External links

Player profile – doha-2006.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emuejeraye, Precious 1983 births Living people Singaporean footballers Singapore international footballers Nigerian footballers Nigerian emigrants to Singapore Singaporean people of Nigerian descent Expatriate footballers in Indonesia Expatriate footballers in Malaysia Naturalised citizens of Singapore Geylang International FC players Gombak United FC players Woodlands Wellington FC players Home United FC players Singapore Premier League players Singaporean expatriate footballers Singaporean expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Sriwijaya F.C. players Persija Jakarta players Persiba Balikpapan players Persidafon Dafonsoro players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Association football central defenders Jurong FC players Young Lions FC players Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Singapore Sportspeople from Abeokuta