Thompson Usiyan (27 April 1956 – 31 August 2021) was a Nigerian 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 forward. He holds the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

career scoring record and played in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and Continental Indoor Soccer League. He was a member of the

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 ...

n Olympic soccer team which boycotted the 1976 Olympics. He made several appearances for the Nigeria national team.

Youth career

In 1976, Usiyan was selected as a member of the Nigerian 1976 Olympic team. Although the team travelled to the Olympics, which were held in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, Canada, it did not compete as a result of a boycott of the games by African and Arab nations. Usiyan chose to remain in North America and received scholarship offers to attend

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

and Appalachian State University. He chose Appalachian where he set an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

record of 109 career goals. Usiyan also set records for most career points (255), goals in a season (46 in 1980), and points in a season (108 in 1980). He was the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

Player of the Year in 1977, '78, and '80.

Club career

In 1981, Usiyan signed with the Montreal Manic of the North American Soccer League. The Manic traded Usiyan to the Tulsa Roughnecks following the 1982 season. Leg injuries limited him to eleven games for the Roughnecks in 1983. The team released him on 11 March 1984. On 12 April 1984, he signed with the

Oklahoma City Stampede The Oklahoma City Slickers was the name given to two different American soccer clubs based in Oklahoma City. The first team competed in the second American Soccer League in 1982 and 1983, and as the Oklahoma City Stampede in the United Soccer Lea ...

of the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. He led the league in scoring and finished third in the points standings. In the fall of 1984, he signed with the

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/St. Paul metropol ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1985, he briefly returned to the outdoor game when he signed with the

Tulsa Tornados The Tulsa Tornados were a professional soccer team from Tulsa, Oklahoma. They played for one season (1985) in the USL. The 1985 season only lasted six games as the league folded halfway through. Established by David Fraser during the spring of 19 ...

of the USL, but the league collapsed after only six games. Usiyan had arthroscopic surgery later in the summer, but returned to the Strikers in the fall of 1985 and spent the next two seasons in Minnesota. On 26 March 1987, the Strikers traded Usiyan to the

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kings and Strings of ...

in exchange for Greg Ion after Usiyan had a locker room fight with Strikers goalkeeper

Tino Lettieri Martino "Tino" Lettieri (born 27 September 1957) is a former NASL and MISL professional soccer goalkeeper, who represented Canada twice at the Summer Olympics: 1976 and 1984 and at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Club career He was born as an Italian b ...

. Usiyan remained with the Lazers through the 1987–88 season. He did not play again until signed by the

Maryland Bays The Maryland Bays were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988.They were based in Catonsville, Maryland, and played their games at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The team joined the Ameri ...

of the American Soccer League in June 1989. During his time away from soccer, he finished his business degree at Appalachian State. On 9 August 1989, he returned to MISL when he signed with the St. Louis Storm. During his two seasons in St. Louis, Usiyan began working as a tax consultant. After finishing his degree, he had spent some time as an accountant and after his retirement, he became a full-time tax consultant. During the summer of 1991, Usiyan played for the Hamilton Steelers in the Canadian Soccer League. On 9 September 1991, the Storm traded Usiyan to the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

in exchange for

Branko Segota Branko (Cyrillic script: Бранко; ) is a South Slavic male given name found in all of the former Yugoslavia. It is related to the names Branimir and Branislav, and the female equivalent is Branka. People named Branko include: * Branko Babić ...

and the Sockers 1992 first round draft choice. Usiyan won the 1992 MISL championship with the Sockers. On 20 November 1992, Usiyan signed with the St. Louis Ambush of the National Professional Soccer League. On 1 June 1993, the

Arizona Sandsharks Arizona Sandsharks was a U.S. indoor soccer team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). It was founded in 1992 and folded in 1997, along with the CISL. Club history The Sandsharks were founded on August 3, 1992, under the o ...

drafted Usiyan in the first round of the 1993 Continental Indoor Soccer League supplemental draft. Two days later, the San Diego Sockers traded

Wes Wade Wes Wade (born February 18, 1968) is a retired U.S. soccer player who spent two seasons playing outdoor soccer and fifteen playing indoor soccer. He was a six-time All Star and won five championships with two teams. Player Wade attended Maryvi ...

to the Sandsharks in exchange for Usiyan, Alex Golovnia and Nassim Olabi. On 10 September 1993, the league suspended Usiyan indefinitely for accumulated red cards. On 21 June 1995, the

San Jose Grizzlies The San Jose Grizzlies were a professional indoor soccer team based in San Jose, California. The team was founded on November 24, 1993, and played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). After playing in the 1994 and 1995 CISL seasons, th ...

of the CISL drafted Usiyan after he was cleared by the league to play. He retired permanently at the end of the season. Usiyan was the MISL's sixteenth leading scorer in 1984–85 as a member of the

, with 62 points in 47 games. He was fifteenth best a season later with 60 points in 40 contests. Usiyan finished eighth in scoring in the 1987–88 season as a member of the

with 88 points in 51 games. He was sixth best in 1990–91 with 102 points in 51 games played for the St. Louis Storm. Usiyan was amongst the leaders one final time (in the league's last season) finishing fifteenth with 57 points in 40 games playing with the

. He was named Championship Series Most Valuable Player as the Sockers won the championship.

International career

Usiyan made several appearances for

, including a 2–0 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifying loss to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

on 10 October 1981 in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

. He scored on his debut, a friendly match against Kenya in 1976. Usiyan also played for Nigeria at the

1976 African Cup of Nations The 1976 African Cup of Nations was the tenth edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the soccer championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Ethiopia. The format of competition changed from 1974: the field of eight teams was still split into tw ...

finals in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. He won a silver medal with the Nigerian squad at the

1978 All-Africa Games The 3rd All-Africa Games – Algiers 1978 was a multi-sport event played from July 13, 1978, to July 28, 1978, in Algiers, Algeria. 45 countries from 49 independent African countries participated in twelve sports. At the closing ceremonies the t ...

in Algiers. Usiyan made his home in San Diego where he was a tax consultant.

References

External links

''Watauga Democrat'' Sports article on Usyian
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Usiyan, Thompson 1956 births 2021 deaths American Soccer League (1988–89) players Appalachian State Mountaineers men's soccer players Maryland Bays players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Continental Indoor Soccer League players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Association football forwards Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Los Angeles Lazers players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players Montreal Manic players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Nigeria international footballers 1976 African Cup of Nations players Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Nigerian footballers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Oklahoma City Stampede players Soccer players from San Diego San Diego Sockers (CISL) players San Diego Sockers (original MISL) players San Jose Grizzlies players St. Louis Ambush (1992–2000) players St. Louis Storm players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players Tulsa Tornados players United Soccer League (1984–85) players Sportspeople from Delta State African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1978 All-Africa Games