Akpo Sodje

Early career

"When I was playing in Warri, I started as a defender. The coach whom I played under said I was fast and tall, and because of these qualities he saw in me, he converted me to a striker... I started playing in England when I was just about seven years old, and as I was growing up, I started from the lower divisions." He was signed to First Division Queens Park Rangers. However, he never made an appearance, he was loaned out to Conference National club Stevenage Borough in March 2001. He scored on his first outing for the club, in a 2–1 win at Morecambe on 31 March, replacing Darran Hay on 36 minutes. He was still with Stevenage for the start of the 2001–02 season, getting sent off against Doncaster Rovers on 27 August. He left Broadhall Way the next month for Margate, making 16 appearances before the season's end, scoring goals against Yeovil Town, Woking and Hayes. He began 2002–03 with Margate, playing in their 2–0 defeat at Leigh Genesis on 31 August. The next month, he joined Gravesend & Northfleet, scoring on his debut on the 7th in a 4–1 home win over Nuneaton Borough. Seven days later, he scored against Forest Green Rovers before he made his final appearance on 2 November, getting sent off in a 2–1 defeat at Halifax Town. He was released later in the month and had spells with virtual unknowns Heybridge Swifts (Isthmian League) and Erith & Belvedere (Southern Football League). At age 24 (at the time, he was often reported as 22 or 23), he got a…

Sodje was an energetic, strong and aggressive forward.

Born in Greenwich, London, his family originate from Warri, in Delta State, Nigeria. Sodje has four brothers who also play football; three of them professionally and one semi-professionally. Sam and Efe have represented Nigeria at international level. Steve has never played a Football League game. Another brother, Bright, used to play rugby league and rugby union. His cousin Onome Sodje, also played professionally in England. His nephew, Tai, son of Bright, also became a professional footballer. Akpo is the youngest of the ten Sodje children:

"I am very proud to come from the Sodje family, which is a very big family. I want to thank our dad and mum for the sacrifices they made in bringing us up. We are all very close, Bright, Sam, Efe, and the rest. I am number 10 among the children, and they all treat me as their pet because I am the youngest member of the family." In January 2019 it was reported that Akpo refused to return to Britain for questioning by police in a money laundering investigation into his family's business that saw three of his brothers jailed.

Sodje was named by a report into the 2013 English football match-fixing scandal although no charges were brought. Two of his brothers, Sam and Efe, were put on trial in the UK in September 2017 for money laundering after allegedly being involved in channelling proceeds from scams which targeted firms in Colombia, India, Italy and Abu Dhabi; Sodje himself was also alleged to have taken part in the crime but declined to return to Britain from his home in Dubai to be interviewed by police. In September 2017, Efe, Bright and Stephen Sodje were sentenced to 18, 21 and 30 months in prison for fraud, having siphoned off money from a charity, the Sodje Sports Foundation. Akpo, 37, is wanted in connection with the fraud, and a European Arrest Warrant has been issued.