Thompson Usiyan

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, 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, Howard University and Appalachian State University. He chose Appalachian where he set an NCAA 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 Player of the Year in 1977, '78, and '80.

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 of the United Soccer League. He led the league in scoring and finished third in the points standings. In the fall of 1984, he signed with the Minnesota Strikers of the Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1985, he briefly returned to the outdoor game when he signed with the Tulsa Tornados 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 in exchange for Greg Ion after Usiyan had a locker room fight with Strikers goalkeeper Tino Lettieri. Usiyan remained with the Lazers through the 1987–88 season. He did not play again until signed by the Maryland Bays 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…

Usiyan made several appearances for Nigeria, including a 2–0 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifying loss to Algeria on 10 October 1981 in Lagos. He scored on his debut, a friendly match against Kenya in 1976. Usiyan also played for Nigeria at the 1976 African Cup of Nations finals in Ethiopia. He won a silver medal with the Nigerian squad at the 1978 All-Africa Games in Algiers. Usiyan made his home in San Diego where he was a tax consultant.