Stanley Obumneme Udenkwor (born 1 May 1981 in Awka-Etiti,

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 ...

) is a Nigerian-born Polish former 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 le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Career

Udenkwor started his career off in his native

playing for Jasper United. In 2001, Udenkwor moved to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and signed with

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw ( pl, Polonia Warszawa, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing Varsovian sports club, best known for its football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, swimming, chess, mountain biking, and contract ...

. Udenkwor successfully applied for a Polish passport, and in turn became a citizen. He became the second African footballer to become a Polish citizen, the other being

Emmanuel Olisadebe Emmanuel Olisadebe (; born 22 December 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker most notably for the Poland national team. He scored 11 international goals in 25 caps between 2000 and 2004, and participated in the 200 ...

, who went on to feature for the Polish international team. Incidentally Olisadebe also started his career at Jasper United. His next football move was to sign for Okęcie Warsaw, before spending time in the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

with Neftchi Baku. He then moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and joined

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

, playing in the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

league. Udenkwor was firstly given a trial by the club's manager Paul Mitchell, and after scoring a hat-trick in his debut for the reserves, he was given a short-term contract. His stay at Gainsborough was well covered in the local media, mainly down to the fact that while at Polonia Warsaw he featured in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, which was a notable achievement for any player playing at that level in the English game. After only five games, including a 1-3 home defeat to

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in the first round of the

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 ...

, Stanley was released by Trinity. He returned to Poland and signed for

Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała TS Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała () is a football club based in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. They currently compete in the I liga, the second tier of Polish football. History The club was essentially founded on 11 July 1997, although it can trace i ...

, and later went on to play for

Mazur Karczew Mazur can refer to: * Masurians or Mazurs, an ethnic group with historic origins in the Polish region of Masovia * Mazur (surname), including a list of people so named * Mazur (dance), a traditional Polish folk dance * Mazur, Iran, a village in Mar ...

before joining

Chrobry Głogów Chrobry Głogów is a Polish football club based in Głogów, Poland. It was founded in 1946. The team's official colors are orange and black. Chrobry currently competes in I liga, the second tier of Polish league football. The club's name commem ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Udenkwor, Stanley 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Anambra State Men's association football forwards Nigerian men's footballers Jasper United F.C. players Polonia Warsaw players Neftçi PFK players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała players Chrobry Głogów players Ekstraklasa players I liga players II liga players Azerbaijan Premier League players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Nigerian emigrants to Poland Naturalized citizens of Poland Naturalised association football players