Ehiogu: Ugochuku (Ugo)

2006-2006 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Central Defender

Born: Hackney: 03-11-1972

Debut v Burnley (a): 28-11-2006

6’2” 14st 2lb (2006)

Ehiogu began his career at West Bromwich Albion as a trainee, turning professional in 1989. After two substitute appearances, he joined Aston Villa for £40,000 in 1991 and remained at the club for nine years. He scored twelve goals in two hundred and twenty-three starts and fourteen games from the bench in the League. He also scored once in twenty-two starts and two substitute appearances in the F.A. Cup, one goal in twenty-three starts and one substitute game in the League Cup and one goal in eighteen games in European Competitions. He was part of the Villa team that won the 1996 League Cup when Villa beat Leeds United 3-0 at Wembley. Ehiogu also won a runners-up medal when Villa lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the 2000 FA Cup Final. He joined Middlesbrough from Villa on 20th October 2000 for, at the time, a club record fee of £8 million. The deal went ahead after negotiations between Villa and West Bromwich Albion, whose fifty per cent sell-on clause on the player had been seen as a stumbling block to the move. His career at Boro got off on the wrong foot when he was forced to limp off four minutes into his debut with a hamstring injury which kept him out for months. It was the start of Ehiogu's proneness to injury, and his history of muscle pulls, soon gathered pace. Whilst at Middlesbrough, he quickly became a mainstay in the central defence along with former team mate Gareth Southgate. He missed the start of the 2003-04 season with a knee injury but returned to play his part in Boro's Carling Cup success against Bolton Wanderers. This knee injury returned in the 2004-05 season and again he was forced to miss many important games. He agreed a move to West Bromwich Albion, the club where he had started as a sixteen year-old, in January 2006, but the move was cancelled due to an injury crisis at Middlesbrough. He played one hundred and twenty-six League games, four of which were as a substitute, and he scored seven goals, he scored once in nine starts and two games as a substitute in the F.A. Cup, made seven starts and played one game as a substitute in the League Cup, and had seven games in European Competitions of which three were as a substitute but he failed to score, in his time at the Riverside. On 23rd November 2006 he moved to Leeds United on loan for two months. It was seen as a coup for Dennis Wise, as he was seen to be the answer to a leaky Leeds defence at that time. Ehiogu was a regular in Leeds'starting lineup during time there, usually alongside Matt Heath in central defence. He scored one goal and one own goal during his spell at Leeds which expired on 1st January 2007 after he admitted to Manager Dennis Wise that he could not play two matches in three days. The man who starred against Leeds in the 1996 League Cup final for Aston Villa, made his debut against Burnley on 28th November 2006 even though Ehiogu, by his own admission, was not fully fit but he did inject an air of stability into the Leeds backline even though Leeds lost 2-1. There was more bad news to follow as Leeds were fined £2000 by the FA as Ehiogu's inclusion meant that Leeds had breached the rules by including six loan players in their squad for the visit of Burnley! The other five were goalkeepers Tony Warner and Graham Slack, Matt Heath, Tresor Kandol and Geoff Horsfield. He became a hero to the Leeds faithful when he scrambled the equaliser at Barnsley, and they started to believe that Ehiogu could be the man to ease their genuine fear of relegation. However, Leeds slipped to another bad defeat, at home to Derby County on 9th December 2006, although Ehiogu performed well. Behind the scenes, he was struggling to be fit and missed the trip to Ipswich Town the following week which ended in a 1-0 defeat. He played in the draw against Hull City and the Boxing Day defeat at Sunderland, but his Leeds career ended in massive disappointment at Stoke City on 30th December 2006, as Leeds crashed 3-1 and Ehiogu was credited with Stoke's second after seeing Patrik Berger's shot deflect off him and he was also at the centre of a horrendous mix-up for Stoke's third scored by Ricardo Fuller. It was then that he made the stark admission that he could not cope with the Championship's demands which required him to play two games per week. It was a massive gamble by Dennis Wise, that backfired as the player was clearly unfit, past his best and unable to commit to the long-term objective of getting Leeds out of trouble. Ehiogu was released from his contract at Middlesbrough and started talks with Rangers over a proposed transfer to the Scottish Premier League club. On 22nd January 2007, he signed an eighteen-month contract with Rangers after completing a medical three days later. He started his Rangers'career with a bang, scoring his first goal for Rangers with a spectacular overhead kick to give Rangers a 1–0 win over Celtic. On 16th April 2007 that goal was voted Rangers' “Goal of the Season” by the club's fans. In the next season he found his oppurtunities limited as Manager Walter Smith prefered Carlos Cuellar and David Weir as his central defensive partnership. After scoring just the one goal in nine League appearances and making one appearance in the Scottish League Cup and two other matches, on 16th January 2008 Sheffield United showed interest in signing Ehiogu. He was released by Rangers the next day and completed the move on 18th January 2008. Bought by the Blades for defensive cover hemade his debut before the end of January, but forced his way into the team after injuries and suspensions gave him his chance early in the 2008-09 season. He got his only goal for United as he scored the winner against Preston North End on 25th October 2008. Unfortunately his spell came to an end on Boxing Day when he was injured against Wolverhampton Wanderers and was out for the rest of the season. United failed to get promoted and in a cost cutting move his contract was not renewed at the end of the season. He scored just the one goal in twenty-six League appearances of which ten were as a substitute and he made one appearance in the League Cup while at Bramall Lane. After a trial with MK Dons Ehiogu decided to retire on 3rd August 2009. He was called up for his first England international game in 1996 against Italy. He went on to win another three caps and scored once for his country, in a 3-0 victory over Spain. He also represented England fifteen times at Under-Twenty-one level and once at “B” level. He is now in Music management