Odafa Onyeka Okolie]}€ (born 6 June 1985) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who spent most of his career in India. He last played for Gokulam Kerala in the I-League. He was once the highest paid footballer in I-league history, earning approximately ₹16 million per year in 2011 while playing for Mohun Bagan.Mohun Bagan sign Odafe for record Rs 3 crore one-year deal Odafa is second in the list of all-time leading goalscorer in the I-League and National Football League history with 179 goals,By the numbers: Mohun Bagan soar past 600 goals in national league ESPN.in and has been the top goal scorer on three consecutive seasons.
He also holds the record for scoring the most hat-tricks in I-League and National Football League combined, with 14 hat-tricks across all seasons, including 13 of those in the I-League.
Career Early career Okolie started his career in 2002 as a defender with Kolkata based clubs Peerless SC and Mohammedan.
Churchill Brothers After a lackluster start to his career which saw him play for Indian club Mohammedan, and Bangladeshi club Muktijoddha SKC where he scored 34 goals from 28 appearances. In 2005, Okolie went back to India and signed for Churchill Brothers as a striker. He debuted for the club in 2005–06 National Football League Second Division and scored 4 goals, which helped the club getting promoted to the National Football League. 2006–07 National Football League was break out season for him, as he scored 18 goals and became the top scorer of the league. Okolie was the top scorer in newly formed I-League in two consecutive seasons and won the league in 2008–09. He scored record 113 top division league goals for the club.I-League 2008-2009 points table and statistics worldfootball.net. Retrieved 22 July 2021
Mohun Bagan On 1 June 2011, he signed a then record one-year deal with Mohun Bagan for approximately $600,000. On 23 October 2011, Odafa scored a hat-trick in his debut for Bagan in a 3–1 victory over Pailan Arrows.
Return to Churchill Brothers and loan to Sporting Goa On 13 May 2014, Okolie re-joined Churchill Brothers, but later in March 2015, he joined Sporting Goa on a loan deal after Churchill brothers were excluded from the I-League. He helped the club narrowly avoid relegation and was subsequently retained for another season.
Southern Samity In March 2017, Okolie Joined I-League 2nd Division club Southern Samity. He scored 9 goals in the 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division and became the top scorer.
Gokulam Kerala In January 2018, Okolie joined I-League club Gokulam Kerala.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFederation CupDurand CupAFCTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsMohammedanNFL10000—1Churchill BrothersNFL 210430— — 1342006–07NFL18182112— 21212007–08I-League162211411— 21342008–09I-League22263700— 25332009–10I-League242232245334312010–11I-League26250000— 2625Total116117121171753164148Mohun Bagan2011–12I-League26263100—29272012–13I-League22194400—26232013–14I-League1260000—1226Total60517500—6756Sporting Goa (loan)2014–15I-League1180000—1182015–16I-League1260000—126Total23140000—2314Southern Samity2016–17I-League 2990000—99Gokulam Kerala2017–18I-League300000—30Career total211192191671753242227
Honours Churchill Brothers I-League: 2008–09; runner-up 2007–08 Durand Cup: 2007, 2009 IFA Shield: 2009
Muktijoddha SKC Federation Cup (Bangladesh) runner-up: 2005
Individual National Football League (India) Golden Boot: 2006–07 (18 goals) I-League top scorer: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
References
Bibliography
External links
Odafa Onyeka Okolie at GSA (archived)