Samuel Udoka Oji (9 October 1985 – 28 August 2021) was an English 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 played as a centre-back. Oji played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

and

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

, and in the Swedish Superettan for

Ljungskile SK Ljungskile SK is a Swedish football club located in Ljungskile, a town within Uddevalla Municipality. They currently play in the Swedish third tier, Division 1. History Ljungskile SK, formed in 1926, is famous for their promotions between 19 ...

, before knee injuries kept him out of football for two years. He resumed his career with Tamworth of the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...

. He then played in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

for

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

and Galway United and in non-league football for

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

and

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

. Oji joined Highgate United in 2018, and was appointed assistant manager of that club in July 2021.

Life and career

Oji was born in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London. He was a cousin of R&B/soul singer

Lemar Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), known as Lemar, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. Initially rising to fame after finishing third on the first series of British talent show ''Fame Academy'', he was later signed to Sony BMG ...

. He began his football career as a youth player at Arsenal.

Birmingham City

Oji signed a full-time contract with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

for the start of the 2004–05 season. In 2005–06 he spent six weeks on loan at

, for whom he made his debut in the Football League as a 75th-minute substitute for

Ricky Ravenhill Richard John Ravenhill (born 16 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who is the assistant manager of Mickleover. As a player, he was a midfielder, who began his professional career with Barnsley in 2000 after a short spell ...

in a 1–0 away loss against Gillingham on 6 December. On 7 February 2006 he made his only first-team appearance for Birmingham, in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fourth round replay at home to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

. He came on as a last-minute substitute for Stephen Clemence in a 2–1 win. A year later he joined

on a month's loan, later extended to two months. In the summer of 2007 he had a trial with

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

, then in August signed for

on a month's loan, later extended to three months.

Leyton Orient

With six months remaining on his contract, Oji left Birmingham by mutual consent on 8 January 2008 and joined Leyton Orient until the end of the 2007–08 season. He was released by Orient at the end of the season.

Hereford United

Oji signed for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

on 7 August 2008. After five games for the club he suffered a knee injury which kept him out of training for four months; he never regained his first-team place and at the end of his short-term contract, in February 2009, he was released.

Ljungskile SK

In March 2009 Oji joined

of the Superettan (Swedish second division) after a successful trial. He played only six league games for Ljungskile before leaving in June. In August, Oji had a trial with

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

, but cruciate ligament injuries suffered while on trials with Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side Diyarbakirspor and with Leyton Orient kept him out of football for two years.

Tamworth

In December 2011, Oji signed for

club Tamworth. He made his debut as a second-half substitute in the first match of 2012, a 2–2 draw at home to

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

. He was sent off for two bookable offences in a league match against

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

on 4 February 2012.

League of Ireland

Oji signed for

club

on 26 August 2013, and made his debut for the club in a 2–0 away defeat to Sligo Rovers. In February 2015, he moved to Galway United in the same league.

Return to England

signed Oji ahead of the opening fixture of the 2016–17 National League North season. The following summer he moved to Northern Premier League Premier Division club

. He made 41 appearances over the season, of which 38 were in league competition, before signing for Highgate United of the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

Premier Division in July 2018. Oji was appointed assistant to Simon Johnson, new manager of Highgate United, on 20 July 2021.

Death

Oji died on 28 August 2021 at the age of 35; a day earlier, Highgate United had stated that he was "extremely ill". He was married and had two children. A fundraiser by his brother raised £12,000 to support his family.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oji, Sam 1985 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Westminster Black British sportspeople English footballers Association football defenders Arsenal F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Ljungskile SK players Tamworth F.C. players Limerick F.C. players Galway United F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Highgate United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Superettan players League of Ireland players Northern Premier League players Midland Football League players English expatriate footballers Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Expatriate footballers in Sweden English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden