Ugo Ehiogu
Ugochuku " Ugo " Ehiogu ( born November 3 1972 in Homerton ) is a former English footballer. As a powerful and tall center-back, who was trained at West Bromwich Albion and then at local rivals Aston Villa and later at Middlesbrough FC completed a total of over 450 Official matches, he won in 1996 and 2004, twice the League Cup and later came to an initial 15 U-21 internationals to four short performances in the English national team.
Professional career
In the club
Aston Villa (1991-2000)
The center-back with Nigerian roots - both parents were from the southern region Anambra - was transferred in 1991 by Ron Atkinson for a transfer fee of £ 45,000 to the English first division club Aston Villa. He had previously played for the second division and local rivals West Bromwich Albion and come in two league games as a substitute course. Ehiogu debuted for the "Villans " on August 24, 1991 against Arsenal ( 3-1 ), but in the first two years, he was only sporadically used - only five times he was during this time in championship games in the starting lineup for the first team. Only in the second half of the 1993/94 season he represented common Paul McGrath in the middle; for winning the League Cup he wore but with only marginal, since he was only a substitute in the semi-final match against Tranmere Rovers on the extension - in the official statistics therefore his name is not listed as a title holder.
The sporty breakthrough came in the season 1994/95, when Ehiogu with speed, aerial ability and good positional play but also established with advantages in the then still frequently practiced direct man coverage. Similarly, he developed qualities in the offensive, which manifested themselves primarily in standard situation and contributed to the scarce relegation of the club. On the side of Gareth Southgate and McGrath denied Ehiogu then a very successful season 1995 /96, which not only brought the unexpected jump to fourth place and after a 3-0 final win against Leeds United the League Cup trophy with him, but him personally already completed by 15 U-21 games in the English national team promoted. Further recognition was in 1996 his nomination in the Erstligamannschaft of the year (PFA Team of the Year ). After the departure of McGrath he increasingly took the position as the "tower in the battle " and was responsible for the defense alliance with mostly Southgate and Carl Tiler and / or Steve Staunton. His goalscoring, he used four competitive game hits in the season 1996/97 increased, including a 1-0 winner against Everton in September 1996 counted.
Because of Achilles tendon problems showed Ehiogus shape curve at the beginning of the season 1997/98 down, which was also reflected in the mixed results of Aston Villa. This led to short-term experiences on the bench before he was able to continue and old services again and led the club in the UEFA Cup again. On 30 January 1999, he retired after a duel with Alan Shearer of Newcastle United with a break in the left orbit a serious injury that put him out of action for almost three months and three operations made necessary. With standing ovations greeted him his own troops at the bench against Nottingham Forest on 24 April 1999, not a few led to the fact that the temporarily placed in the Premier League Aston Villa earlier still slipped in the table on Ehiogus absence back. More injury woes overtook him in the League Cup against Manchester United and the suffered a calf injury left him sidelined for another two months. Nevertheless, the season 1999/2000 was another successful athletic and on the side of South Gate and Gareth Barry in the three man defense, he moved into a 2000 FA Cup final, which was, however, lost 0-1 against Chelsea.
At the beginning of the season 2000/01 Ehiogu took place after the purchase of Alpay Özalan suddenly in the 'second series' set back and so it surprised little that in October 2000 led a transfer request from the Erstligakonkurrenten Middlesbrough FC to a positive conclusion. Additional explosive had the change the fact that West Bromwich Albion had built a resale clause in Ehiogus original transfer to Aston Villa, who conceded to the club a 50% share of the transfer fee in the event of resale. After intensive discussions, the parties finally agreed that three million of the eight million pounds, which was willing to pay the Middlesbrough FC, should be " diverted " to WBA.
Middlesbrough FC (2000-2007)
Quickly Ehiogu added into the new team and with 21 league appearances and three goals he was instrumental in the league in 2001 by " Boro " responsible. In the summer of 2001, he moved with Gareth Southgate his former team-mate of Aston Villa also for Middlesbrough FC and despite some problems at the bar he stabilized the formerly leaky defense and helped his team to a jump to the trusted midfield. The following year saw a further improvement by one rank. He had suffered another serious injury on New Year's Day 2003, when broke him in a duel with goalkeeper Brad Friedel of Blackburn Rovers three ribs and in addition the lung was affected. These later a torn ACL and will end in December 2003 joined Ehiogu returned back to the team. Due to the good harmony with Southgate acclimatization time was short; he also represented his defensive partner in March 2004 as a captain, as this due to injury and had to end of the season he extended his contract.
Again, by " Light and Shadow" the season 2004/ 05 was marked. On one side of him again made knee and calf problems to create, making it just two Premier League matches completed up to the turn of the year, on the other hand, it was the end of the season again very present and provided a stabilizing element in the defense of that the club qualified via the seventh place for the UEFA Cup. A yellow-red card in the first league game of the season 2005/ 06 against FC Liverpool, another groin and a knee injury from a League Cup match against FC Everton ensured more unwanted breaks, but despite the fact that already in January 2006, rumors concerning an imminent change were increasing and the future whether the expiring contract was uncertain acted Ehiogu the end of the season again regularly in the middle - also due to an injury crisis at the club at this time.
End of November 2006 changed Ehiogu on loan to second-class Leeds United, where he introduced the central defense alongside Matt Heath and against Barnsley FC even scored a goal. After his return to Middlesbrough he graduated in FA Cup against Hull City one last game for " Boro " and the end of January 2007, he joined the Scottish Premier League Rangers.
Career finale (2007-2009)
After successfully managing a medical checks Ehiogu signed with the Rangers a contract for 18 months, and shortly after his arrival, he shot in the Old Firm derby against Celtic Glasgow a spectacular goal bicycle kick in a 1-0 victory, which was later simplified internal to the best goal of the last season was selected. Nevertheless, his prospects were very limited in the first team at the start of season 2007 /08. Manager Walter Smith preferred Carlos Cuéllar and David Weir in central defense and as the only one-year interlude ended in January 2008. Fee free Ehiogu moved to Sheffield United in second English league.
In Sheffield Ehiogu met again on coach Bryan Robson, with whom he had worked in Middlesbrough and took it for another 18 months under contract. Its applications, however, were equally limited because of acting as a regular player Matt Kigallon and Chris Morgan. He served mostly as a hedge and stood only five times in the starting lineup. Next as " number 3" behind Morgan and Kigallon he went into his last professional season in 2008/ 09 and for a short time he found himself after the lock of Kigallon even at an advantage before a hamstring injury a premature end to the season meant and not renewed the expiring contract been. In the summer of 2009 Ehiogu ended his professional career.
England national team
After 15 appearances for the U- 21 team - including in 1992 to participate in the Tournament of Toulon - and a game for the B team in December 1994 Ehiogu debuted on 23 May 1996 against China for the English national team at the time by Terry Venables was trained. However, on his next international match he had to wait almost five years when he Sven-Goran Eriksson in a friendly match against Spain (3-0) - came off the bench and even shot the last goal in the game itself - as in his debut. This was followed by only two other appearances against the Netherlands and Italy; in both he was not in the starting lineup, and both games ended in defeat for the " Three Lions ".
Title / Awards
- English League Cup ( 2): 1996, 2004
- PFA Team of the Year ( 1): 1996