Efetobore Peter "Efe" Sodje (born 5 October 1972) is a 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 ...

who played as a centre-back for several English football league clubs. He represented

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 ...

in the

2000 African Cup of Nations The 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa (Confederation of African Football, CAF). It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as ho ...

and the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

. Sodje began his career at

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

and later played for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

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 ...

, Gillingham,

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, Barrow and

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

in two spells.

Career

Early career

Sodje began his career playing for

in the Conference National, who he had signed for ahead of the 1994–95 season. Prior to signing for Stevenage, Sodje had unsuccessful trials at both Wimbledon and

. He featured in Stevenage's reserve side throughout August 1994, waiting for his international clearance to come through before making a first-team appearance. He eventually made his debut on 27 September 1994, starting in Stevenage's 1–0 defeat at

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

. Sodje made a total of 33 appearances during the 1994–95 campaign, scoring once in a 5–0 win over

, a game in which he came off the substitutes' bench to score. Sodje remained at Stevenage the following season, helping the club win the Conference National title, however they would be denied promotion to the Football League due to insufficient ground facilities. During the season, he made a total of 49 appearances, scoring five goals, four of which came in the league. Sodje's third season at Stevenage was his best in goalscoring terms; he scored 7 times in 55 games in all competitions as Stevenage finished the season in third place, beaten to the title by

. Sodje left Stevenage at the end of the season to join newly promoted Football League side

. He had made 138 appearances for Stevenage during his three-year spell with the side, scoring 13 goals. Sodje scored on his Football League debut, which was also Macclesfield Town's first game in the League. He played 83 times and scored 6 goals for Macclesfield Town before he left to join

in 1999; there, he made only 9 appearances and was loaned out to

for part of the 1999–2000 season. Sodje made three appearances for Colchester before returning to Luton. Sodje moved to

in 2000, where he made 97 league appearances over three seasons. His first goal for Crewe came in their 4–2 win over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 8 December 2001. During his time at Crewe Sodje was called up to the

squad for the first time in his career, and played at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

in Japan.

Huddersfield Town

Sodje joined then Division 3 side

, where he was made captain. His Town debut came in their 2–1 win over

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in the first round of the League Cup on 12 August 2003. His league debut came in their 2–2 draw with

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

on 16 August. He scored his first goal for the Terriers came in their 2–0 home win over

in January 2004. In his first season with the Terriers he helped them to the Division Three Play-off title. Sodje was also voted into the PFA PFA Players' Division Three team of the season for the 2003–04 season

Southend United

Sodje left Southend following their relegation from the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

in the 2006–07 season. On 10 July 2007, he joined

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 ...

side Gillingham on a two-year deal, and made his debut in the 1–0 away defeat to

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

on 11 August. In February 2008 he joined

on loan until the end of the season, and was transfer listed on 5 June 2008.

Bury

It was announced on 1 July 2008, that his contract had been terminated by Gillingham. Sodje was signed by

on a two-year contract as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

, on 3 July 2008. At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, he was named 2nd vice-captain by

Alan Knill Alan Richard Knill (born 8 October 1964) is a professional football manager and former player, who is a coach for the Wales national team. He played as a centre-back for several clubs, spending the most time at Halifax Town, Bury and Scuntho ...

after

Ryan Lowe Ryan Thomas Lowe (born 18 September 1978) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is manager of Championship side Preston North End. His playing career, as a striker, began at Burscough in 1999 and he became a Footbal ...

. In May 2011 he signed a new two-year contract extension. He made his 500th league appearance in January 2012 playing for Bury in a 1–1 draw against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

Return to Macclesfield Town

In June 2013 Sodje returned to Macclesfield Town as assistant manager to

John Askey John Colin Askey (born 4 November 1964) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club York City. He is the son of former Port Vale player Colin Askey. Able to play as a winger or as a ...

; Sodje also registered himself as a player for the Silkmen. He left the club for undisclosed reasons in November 2015.

International career

Although born in England Sodje like his brother Sam represented

at international level. He was part of the squad that finished second to

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

in the

. He was also part of the

squad that went to the

making two appearances against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

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 ...

. So far Sodje has played 12 times, scoring once in a 2–1 friendly win against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

in 2002.

Personal life

Born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, London, his family originate from

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri and her twin city, Uvwie are the commercial ...

, in Delta State, Nigeria. Sodje is the eldest of four brothers who all play football; three of them professionally and one semi-professionally. Sam, Akpo (the youngest of the four) have both played alongside Efe. He played alongside Akpo at

and he has represented

at international level with Sam. Steve, who plays semi-professionally has never played a Football League game. Another brother,

Bright Bright may refer to: Common meanings *Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness *Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence People * Bright (surname) * Bright (given name) *Bright, the stage na ...

, used to play

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

. His nephew Onome Sodje has also played professionally in England. Sodje is famous for wearing a

do-rag A durag ( alternate spellings) is a close-fitting cloth tied around the top of the head to protect the hair; similarly a wave cap is a close-fitting cap for the same purpose. Durags may be worn to accelerate the development of long curly/kink ...

, something he started doing in 1994 at the request of his mother. The headband often has the words "Against All Odds". In September 2017, Sodje (along with his brothers Stephen and Bright) was sentenced to 18 months in prison for fraud, having siphoned off money from a charity, the Sodje Sports Foundation.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Stevenage Borough *

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

: 1995–96 Macclesfield Town *

Football League Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

runner-up: 1997–98 Crewe Alexandra *

runner-up: 2002–03 Huddersfield Town *

playoff winner: 2003–04 Southend United * Football League One: 2005–06 Bury *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

runner-up: 2010–11 Individual * PFA Team of the Year: 2003–04

References

External links

*
Profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodje, Efe 1972 births Living people Footballers from Greenwich English sportspeople of Nigerian descent Citizens of Nigeria through descent English footballers Nigerian footballers Association football central defenders Stevenage F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Bury F.C. players Bury F.C. non-playing staff Barrow A.F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches English Football League players National League (English football) players Nigeria international footballers 2000 African Cup of Nations players 2002 FIFA World Cup players English criminals Nigerian criminals British people convicted of fraud Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales