20 Facts About Efe Sodje

Efetobore Peter "Efe" Sodje was born on 5 October 1972 and is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Efe Sodje represented Nigeria in the 2000 African Cup of Nations and the 2002 World Cup.

Efe Sodje began his career at Stevenage Borough and later played for Luton Town, Colchester United, Crewe Alexandra, Huddersfield Town, Yeovil Town, Southend United, Gillingham, Bury, Barrow and Macclesfield Town in two spells.

Efe Sodje featured in Stevenage's reserve side throughout August 1994, waiting for his international clearance to come through before making a first-team appearance.

Efe 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.

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

Efe Sodje had made 138 appearances for Stevenage during his three-year spell with the side, scoring 13 goals.

Efe Sodje scored on his Football League debut, which was Macclesfield Town's first game in the League.

Efe Sodje made three appearances for Colchester before returning to Luton.

Efe Sodje moved to Crewe Alexandra in 2000, where he made 97 league appearances over three seasons.

Efe Sodje joined then Division 3 side Huddersfield Town, where he was made captain.

Efe Sodje was signed by Bury on a two-year contract as a player-coach, on 3 July 2008.

In June 2013 Efe Sodje returned to Macclesfield Town as assistant manager to John Askey; Efe Sodje registered himself as a player for the Silkmen.

Efe Sodje left the club for undisclosed reasons in November 2015.

Efe Sodje was part of the squad that finished second to Cameroon in the 2000 African Cup of Nations.

Efe Sodje was part of the Nigeria squad that went to the 2002 FIFA World Cup making two appearances against Argentina and England.

Efe Sodje is the eldest of four brothers who all play football; three of them professionally and one semi-professionally.

Efe Sodje played alongside Akpo at Huddersfield Town and he has represented Nigeria at international level with Sam.

Efe Sodje started wearing a do-rag in 1994 at the request of his mother.

In September 2017, Efe Sodje was sentenced to 18 months in prison for fraud, having siphoned off money from a charity, the Efe Sodje Sports Foundation.