Nedum Onuoha

Chinedum Onuoha (born 12 November 1986) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit for ESPN.

He also works for Manchester City as a community ambassador.

As a player he was a centre back, but could also play at right back or left back.

Onuoha came through the academy at Manchester City going on to make 95 appearances in the Premier League over an 8 year-spell with the club.

He also spent time playing in the top flight for Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers.

Having started at the Independent Schools' Football Association, Onuoha progressed through the age groups in Manchester City's youth academy since joining in 1996 at age ten and played regularly for club's reserves in the 2003–04 season.

He is known to have supported Manchester City as a boy and he attended the Division Two play-off final against Gillingham at Wembley in 1999.

An outstanding junior sprinter, aged 14 he finished in second place in the final of the 2001 English School's Athletics Association Junior 100 metres contest, clocking 11.09 seconds and beating former Great Britain sprinter Craig Pickering.

However, Onuoha said about the record: "it was all just based on the fact I was doing summer training," He is also currently the co-national record holder for boys under 15 standing triple jump, in the Sports Hall events held annually throughout the UK.

The record is held jointly with international long jumper Jonathan Moore.

He had his first involvement with the Manchester City first team in the 2004–05 pre-season, playing in a friendly against Bury.

Onuoha made his first team debut against Arsenal in the League Cup on 27 October 2004, at the age of 17.

He made his Premier League debut as a substitute on 1 November 2004 at home to Norwich City.

Though Onuoha's natural position is centre-half, manager Kevin Keegan initially played him at right back with the intention of improving his passing ability.

He then made his first Premier League start, playing the whole game, in a 3–1 win over Portsmouth on 20 November 2004.

After the match, Manager Keegan praised his performance.

At the end of the 2004–05 season, making eighteen appearances in all competitions in his debut season, he was awarded the club's young player of the year.

After spending two months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, which he sustained in mid–January, Onuoha made his first appearances in two months, starting the match and gave away a goal before being substituted, in a 2–1 loss against Tottenham Hotspur on 19 March 2005.

Despite this, he was involved in the club's remaining matches, playing in the right–back position, and kept three clean sheets between 20 April 2005 and 30 April 2005.

For his performance, Onuoha signed a three–year contract with the club.

However, Onuoha missed the start of the 2005–06 season, due to a hamstring injury.

His first appearance of the season came on 23 August 2005, coming on as a late substitute, in a 2–1 win over Sunderland.

After being dropped from the first team in early–September, Onuoha returned against Doncaster Rovers in a League Cup match, where he was red carded for the first time in his career, after a collision with Rovers goalkeeper Andy Warrington.

He was part of the QPR team that were defeated 3-2 by his former club Manchester City on the final day of the 2011–12 season, with City winning the title in the final seconds of the game.

Onuoha's mother, Dr Anthonia Onuoha, who was his agent, developed cancer and made national headlines in September 2011 when an email exchange led to the club's CEO Garry Cook resigning from his role.

The following November, Dr Anthonia Onuoha eventually succumbed to cancer.

After his mother's death, he paid tribute to her, saying: "My mum always wanted me to do the best I could and out of respect for her I will carry on trying to do that. The rest of my career is dedicated to her memory. I want to carry on making her proud. She was a very special woman, and even when she was ill she never wanted me to stop playing."

Outside of football, Onuoha studied part-time to earn an accountancy degree at Manchester Metropolitan University.

However, he said: "I studied accountancy, but that turned out to be one of the most boring years in my life."

He later won promotion back to the Premier League with QPR via the 2013-14 play-offs.

He later spent several seasons in Major League Soccer for Real Salt Lake.

He was capped at England U20 and England U21 levels.

Born in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria, Onuoha was brought up in Manchester, England.

He went to Nelson Street Primary School Miles Platting before becoming a pupil at the Hulme Grammar School, Oldham, where he achieved eight grade 'A's' and two 'B's' at GCSE.

He then completed his studies at Xaverian College Manchester where he achieved three 'A' grades at A-level in Maths, Business Studies and IT.

Onuoha revealed "he had a strict Nigerian upbringing and that school came first and if he did not study properly and successfully, he was forbidden by his mother and father from playing football or athletics".

In April 2014, Onuoha became a father for the first time when his wife, Lucy Onuoha, gave birth to a daughter, Amaia.

In October 2021, Onuhoa returned to Manchester City to work for the City in the Community organisation.

In November 2021, it was announced that Onuoha would release an autobiography titled Kicking Back, which was co-written with Hugh Ferris.

It was published in May 2022 by Biteback Publishing.