Augustine Azuka (Jay-Jay) Okocha, who was born on August 14, 1973 in Enugu (the same day as my mother, year difference), is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays for Hull City in the English lower league, a move that was completed in 2007. Nicknamed Jay-Jay for his entertaining and quirky style of play.
Okocha was playing football at the age of just 16 for his first club, Enugu international Rangers, before a chance encounter during a holiday in Germany launched his international career. Okocha tried out for fourth division club Borussia Neunkirchen and was signed.
Via Saarbrucken, he joined Eintracht Frankfurt in December 1991, still before his 18th birthday, where he would explode onto the Bundesliga scene.
Five years later, he moved to Turkey to play for Fenerbahce, where he gained Champions League experience (most notably in a shock win against Manchester United at Old Trafford) and hero worship in Istanbul.
In 1998, Jay-Jay became the most expensive African player in history with his £14m move to Paris St Germain.
After seeing his contract with the French giants, Okocha was available on a free transfer, hence the rumored £3.3m a year salary he was rumored to demand. It is testament to Allardyce’s negotiation skills that he was able to convince the midfielder to put aside the high demands on him and join Barclaycard’s Premiership side.
He has played in 1994, 1998 (where he was named in the tournament’s Best XI), and at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and many Africa Cup of Nations tournaments with Nigeria. He won the Olympic gold medal with Nigeria in 1996 beating Brazil in the semi-finals before beating Argentina in the final.
Proudly a member of the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by the legendary Brazilian Pelé in conjunction with the FIFA centenary celebrations. In the 2004/2005 season he won the BBC African Player of the Year award (for the second year in a row).
After seeing his contract with the French giants, Okocha was available on a free transfer, hence the rumored £3.3m a year salary he was rumored to demand. It is testament to Allardyce’s negotiation skills that he was able to convince the midfielder to put aside the high demands on him and join Barclaycard’s Premiership side.
In the 2004/05 season, the third for the Trotters, he made 33 appearances and scored 7 goals, including two in the opening game of the season, a 4-1 victory against Charlton.
He was relieved of his captaincy band with Bolton in early 2005/06. This is largely attributed to his public admission that he is interested in moving to Qatar. He finally left the team after the last game of the season when Bolton announced that he would not renew his contract, manager Sam Allardyce shaking hands with Okocha before he entered the field in his last game.
After a lucrative year playing for Qatar Sports Club, Jay-Jay returned to England to take on a new challenge at KC Stadium.
In 2004 he released a DVD called “super skills with Okocha” where he teaches the children of a soccer school the most difficult soccer tricks.
He is happily married to Nkechi, a native of his country, Nigeria. He is blessed with a son whom he named “AJ Okocha”.
