Efe Sodje

Early career

Sodje began his career playing for Stevenage Borough 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 Luton Town. 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. Sodje made a total of 33 appearances during the 1994–95 campaign, scoring once in a 5–0 win over Yeovil Town, 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 Macclesfield Town. Sodje left Stevenage at the end of the season to join newly promoted Football League side Macclesfield Town. 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…

Although born in England, Sodje like his brother Sam represented Nigeria at international level. He was part of the squad that finished second to Cameroon in the 2000 African Cup of Nations. He was also part of the Nigeria squad that went to the 2002 FIFA World Cup making two appearances against Argentina and England. Sodje played 12 times, scoring once in a 2–1 friendly win against Republic of Ireland in 2002.

Club

Born in Greenwich, London, his family originate from Warri, in Delta State, Nigeria. Sodje is the eldest of four brothers who all play football; three of them professionally and one semi-professionally. Sam and Akpo (the youngest of the four) have both played alongside him; he played alongside Akpo at Huddersfield Town and he has represented Nigeria at international level with Sam. Steve, who plays semi-professionally has never played a Football League game. Another brother, Bright, used to play rugby league and rugby union. His nephew Onome Sodje has also played professionally in England. Sodje started wearing a do-rag in 1994 at the request of his mother. 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.