{{Short description|Nigerian footballer (born 1982)}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Sam Okafor | image = | fullname = Samuel Amaechi Okafor<ref name="coludata">{{cite web |title=Colchester United – Player profile |url=http://coludata.co.uk/player.asp?pid=610 |publisher=Coludata.co.uk |accessdate=20 May 2013 |archive-date=26 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526020803/http://www.coludata.co.uk/player.asp?pid=610 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1982|03|17}}<ref name="coludata"/> | birth_place = Xtiam, Nigeria<ref name="coludata"/> | height = {{convert|5|ft|10|in|m|2|abbr=on}}<ref name="SB">{{cite web |title=Sam Okafor – Football Stats – Soccer Base |url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=16742 |publisher=Soccerbase |accessdate=20 May 2013}}</ref> | position = Midfielder | youthyears1 = |youthclubs1 = Colchester United | years1 = 1998–2001 |clubs1 = Colchester United |caps1 = 1 |goals1 = 0 | years2 = 2001 |clubs2 = → Dover Athletic (loan) |caps2 = 4 |goals2 = 0 | years3 = 2001–2002 |clubs3 = Sittingbourne |caps3 = |goals3 = | years4 = |clubs4 = Enfield |caps4 = |goals4 = | years5 = |clubs5 = Hampton & Richmond Borough |caps5 = |goals5 = | years6 = |clubs6 = Bromley |caps6 = |goals6 = | totalcaps = 5 | totalgoals = 0 }} '''Samuel Amaechi Okafor''' (born 17 March 1982) is a Nigerian former footballer who played in the Football League as a midfielder for Colchester United.

==Career==

Born in Xtiam, Nigeria, Okafor made his first and only Football League appearance at the end of the first-year of his three-year scholarship at Colchester United.<ref name="WWCU">{{cite book |last1=Whitehead |first1=Jeff |last2=Drury |first2=Kevin |title=The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years |year=2008 |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |isbn=978-1-85983-629-3 |page=183}}</ref> His only game came against Blackpool on 8 May 1999, a 2–1 defeat at Bloomfield Road. He came on as a half-time substitute for David Gregory.<ref name="game">{{cite web |title=Colchester United – Match details – Blackpool 2–1 Colchester Utd |url=http://coludata.co.uk/matchdetails.asp?mid=2903 |publisher=Coludata.co.uk |accessdate=20 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529161502/http://www.coludata.co.uk/matchdetails.asp?mid=2903 |archivedate=29 May 2012 }}</ref><ref name="NB">{{cite web |title=COLCHESTER UNITED:1950/51–1989/90 & 1992/93–2011/12 |url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/colchester/colchester.html |publisher=Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Database |accessdate=20 May 2013}}</ref>

Although he made no further appearances for the club, Okafor remained with the U's for the duration of his three-year scholarship. He also had first-team experience while out on a work experience loan at Dover Athletic in the Conference, where he made four appearances between March and May 2001.<ref name="WWCU"/><ref name="SB Dover">{{cite web |title=Dover FC Player Appearances – Past & Present – Soccer Base |url=http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=804&amp%3bcomp_id=226&teamTabs=stats |publisher=Soccerbase |accessdate=20 May 2013}}</ref> At the end of the 2000–01 season however, he was released by Colchester after the club's management decided he did not possess enough quality for Division Two football at the time.<ref name="WWCU"/>

After leaving Colchester, Okafor went on to play for non-league teams including Sittingbourne,<ref name="SB"/> Enfield, Hampton & Richmond Borough and Bromley while gaining a career in the City of London.<ref name="WWCU"/>

==Personal life== Following his short football career Okafor became involved in the banking industry. Okafor married in 2003 but divorced in 2017 before re-marrying in 2017. He has four children in total, two of his own and two step children with his new wife Grace Okafor whom he married in October 2017. Despite growing up in South London, Okafor supports North London based team Arsenal FC.

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== *{{Soccerbase}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okafor, Sam}} Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:Nigerian men's footballers Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Colchester United F.C. players Category:Dover Athletic F.C. players Category:Sittingbourne F.C. players Category:Enfield F.C. players Category:Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players Category:Bromley F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:National League (English football) players Category:21st-century Nigerian sportsmen Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England