 Sodje playing for Sheffield Wednesday | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Idoro Akpoeyere Ujoma Sodje[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 31 January 1980[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Greenwich, London, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Dynamos | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001 | Queens Park Rangers | 0 | (0) |
| 2001 | → Stevenage Borough (loan) | 3 | (1) |
| 2001–2002 | Margate | 17 | (3) |
| 2002 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 7 | (2) |
| 2002–2003 | Heybridge Swifts | 31 | (7) |
| 2003–2004 | Erith & Belvedere | 21 | (18) |
| 2004–2005 | Huddersfield Town | 7 | (0) |
| 2005 | → Darlington (loan) | 7 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | Darlington | 36 | (8) |
| 2006–2007 | Port Vale | 46 | (14) |
| 2007–2010 | Sheffield Wednesday | 41 | (9) |
| 2009–2010 | → Charlton Athletic (loan) | 9 | (2) |
| 2010 | → Charlton Athletic (loan) | 17 | (3) |
| 2010–2011 | Charlton Athletic | 15 | (1) |
| 2011–2012 | Hibernian | 28 | (6) |
| 2012 | Tianjin TEDA | 10 | (1) |
| 2012 | Preston North End | 14 | (4) |
| 2013 | Scunthorpe United | 16 | (6) |
| 2013–2014 | Tranmere Rovers | 9 | (0) |
| 2014 | → Macclesfield Town (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| Total | 339 | (86) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Idoro Akpoeyere Ujoma "Akpo" Sodje (born 31 January 1980) is an English former professional footballer. A journeyman striker, he is usually an instantly recognisable figure on the pitch due to his original – and most of all colourful – hairstyles.
With Queens Park Rangers in 2001, he was loaned out to Stevenage Borough, before beginning a career in non-League football with Margate in 2001. He moved on to Heybridge Swifts via Gravesend & Northfleet the following year before joining Erith & Belvedere in 2003. He rejoined the Football League with Huddersfield Town in 2004 before joining Darlington the next year after a successful loan spell. He spent the 2006–07 season with Port Vale before becoming a Sheffield Wednesday player. He found success and popularity at both clubs before he joined Charlton Athletic in 2010 after two loan spells. He moved into Scottish football with Hibernian in 2011 before departing in January 2012. Two months later, he emigrated to China to sign with Tianjin TEDA to become the first English footballer in the Chinese Super League. He returned to the English game in August 2012, when he joined Preston North End for a brief spell. He joined Scunthorpe United on a short-term basis in January 2013 before signing with Tranmere Rovers in July 2013. He was loaned to Macclesfield Town in February 2014.
After three of his brothers, Efe, Bright and Stephen Sodje, were sentenced to 18, 21 and 30 months in prison, respectively, for fraud in September 2017 (having siphoned off money from a charity, the Sodje Sports Foundation), a European Arrest Warrant was issued concerning Akpo.
- ^ Sherwin, Phil (2010). The Port Vale Miscellany. Brimscombe Port: The History Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7524-5777-2.
- ^ a b "Profile". hibernianfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 October 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2012.