1. Nigel Shola Andre Reo-Coker was born on 14 May 1984 and is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, as well as a football commentator and pundit for CBS Sports.
30 Facts About Nigel Reo-Coker
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Nigel Reo-Coker was born at Guy's Hospital in Southwark, London, but lived in Sierra Leone for the first six years of his life, after his parents moved there to work, with his sisters Natalie and Vanessa.
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Nigel Reo-Coker's father, Ransford, was a general practitioner and his mother Agnes was a nurse, and after the two separated in 1990, Agnes returned to south London with her children.
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Nigel Reo-Coker was spotted by London club Wimbledon at the age of twelve after representing the borough of Croydon.
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Nigel Reo-Coker came through the ranks at Wimbledon and became captain after progressing to the first team.
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Nigel Reo-Coker made his debut for the England Under-21s while at Wimbledon.
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Nigel Reo-Coker made 64 appearances for Wimbledon in all competitions, scoring six goals.
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Nigel Reo-Coker quickly became a regular member of Alan Pardew's first team and was made the club captain.
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Nigel Reo-Coker made 142 appearances in all competitions for West Ham scoring 11 goals.
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On 21 January 2008, Nigel Reo-Coker captained Aston Villa in the absence of regular captain Gareth Barry against Liverpool at Anfield.
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Nigel Reo-Coker then scored again later that week to equalise for Villa in the UEFA Cup against Litex Lovech.
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Nigel Reo-Coker captained Aston Villa in the latter stages of the 2009 Peace Cup, following an injury to teammate Stiliyan Petrov.
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Nigel Reo-Coker re-established himself as a regular starter in the Villa team following the departure of Gareth Barry.
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On 27 May 2011, Aston Villa announced that Nigel Reo-Coker had left the club following his contract expiring.
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Nigel Reo-Coker joined Bolton Wanderers in July 2011 on a free transfer following his release from Villa, signing a two-year contract.
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Nigel Reo-Coker went on to make 42 league and cup appearances for Bolton, scoring three goals.
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On 20 February 2013, Nigel Reo-Coker accepted an offer from MLS club Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
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Nigel Reo-Coker soon became known for his tough-tackling following a match against San Jose Earthquakes, in which he flipped midfielder Sam Cronin with a tackle in front of the referee.
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On 27 April 2013, Nigel Reo-Coker was awarded Man of the Match for his performance.
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On 21 August 2014, Nigel Reo-Coker was traded to MLS club Chivas USA for Mauro Rosales.
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Nigel Reo-Coker was drafted by Montreal Impact in the MLS Waiver Draft on 10 December 2014.
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Nigel Reo-Coker's contract was terminated by mutual consent on 21 January 2016.
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On 3 May 2017, Nigel Reo-Coker joined IK Start in the Norwegian first division.
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In March 2018, it was reported that having trained with them for "several weeks", Milton Keynes Dons were "keen" to sign Nigel Reo-Coker, thus setting up a return to Milton Keynes, 14 years after he left Wimbledon during their National Hockey Stadium years.
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Nigel Reo-Coker was first selected for the England under-21 squad against Turkey in October 2003.
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On 24 March 2007, Nigel Reo-Coker led out England Under 21s against Italy Under 21s, becoming the first Englishman to captain a team at the new Wembley Stadium.
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In May 2006, Nigel Reo-Coker was named as the standby midfield player for England's 2006 World Cup squad.
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Nigel Reo-Coker captained the England U21s throughout the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
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Nigel Reo-Coker is of Sierra Leonean descent and stated in 2006 that he would consider any future call-ups to the Sierra Leone national team.
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In May 2010, Sierra Leone Football Association president Nahim Khadi announced that his interest in inviting Nigel Reo-Coker to join up with Sierra Leone for their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.