Prince Ikpe Ekong

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Prince Ikpe Ekong

| image = Prince Ikpe Ekong DIF.JPG

| image_size = 200px

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1978|10|05|df=y}}

| birth_place = Lagos, Nigeria

| height = {{Height|m=1.79|precision=0}}

| position = Midfielder

| currentclub =

| clubnumber = 14

| years1 = 1995

| years2 = 1995–2003

| years3 = 1995–1996

| years4 = 1996–1998

| years5 = 1998–1999

| years6 = 1999–2000

| years7 = 2003–2004

| years8 = 2005

| years9 = 2006–2008

| years10 = 2008–2011

| years11 = 2012–2013

| years12 = 2016

| clubs1 = Julius Berger

| clubs2 = Reggiana

| clubs3 = → Koper (loan)

| clubs4 = → Tecos UAG (loan)

| clubs5 = → AC Bellinzona (loan)

| clubs6 = → UTA Arad (loan)

| clubs7 = Shenyang Ginde

| clubs8 = Xiamen Lanshi

| clubs9 = GAIS

| clubs10 = Djurgårdens IF

| clubs11 = Väsby United

| clubs12 = Märsta IK

| caps1 =

| caps2 = 63

| caps3 = 16

| caps4 =

| caps5 =

| caps6 =

| caps7 = 43

| caps8 = 21

| caps9 = 46

| caps10 = 53

| caps11 = 23

| goals1 =

| goals2 = 1

| goals3 = 0

| goals4 =

| goals5 =

| goals6 =

| goals7 = 1

| goals8 = 5

| goals9 = 1

| goals10 = 3

| goals11 = 1

| nationalyears1 = 2001–2004

| nationalteam1 = Nigeria

| nationalcaps1 = 9

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| pcupdate = 5 December 2012

| ntupdate = 28 April 2011

| caps12 = 16

| goals12 = 3

}}

Prince Ikpe Ekong (born 5 October 1978) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is best remembered for representing Reggiana, Shenyang Ginde, Xiamen Lanshi, GAIS, and Djurgårdens IF during his career. A full international between 2001 and 2004, he won nine caps for the Nigeria national team.

Career

After the 1994 World Cup a series of Nigerian players was brought to the European top leagues, and Ikpe Ekong was signed by Italian club Reggiana, then coached by Carlo Ancelotti.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/a/7lQmo8/fran-allsvenskans-bast-betalda-till-skuldsanering|title=Från allsvenskans bäst betalda till skuldsanering|date=9 April 2018 |publisher=aftonbladet.se}}

= Reggiana =

Due to Italian rules regarding non-EU players, he could not play for the first team in Serie A, he ended up going on a loan to FC Koper from Slovenia,[http://www.prvaliga.si/klubi/mostvo/igralec.asp?idi=36392&id=1 Stats from Slovenia] at PrvaLiga when he returned to Italy he was loaned out again to Tecos UAG of Mexico, then AC Bellinzona from Switzerland and FCM UTA from Romania. It would not be until 2000 when Prince Ikpe Ekong returned to Italy to play for A.C. Reggiana. However Reggiana had fallen to Serie where no non-EU players were allowed, and this led to Ikpe Ekong filing a lawsuit against the Italian FA, which he won, allowing him to play in the Italian league Serie.

= Allsvenskan =

In 2003, he moved to China and Changsha Ginde and later Xiamen Lanshi. In 2006 four clubs were interested in signing him because of his midfield talent in a defending and playmaker, French club CS Sedan, Maccabi Tel Aviv from Israel, Gençlerbirliğ from Turkey and GAIS from Sweden. He chose GAIS after he visited the club and then visited a local church where he heard God tell him to settled in Sweden. In 2008, he left GAIS to sign for Allsvenskan rivals Djurgårdens IF, one of the biggest team

In Sweden, a rich team.{{cite web |url=http://www.fotbollsexpressen.se/Nyheter/1.1221772/varldens-lirare |title=Världens lirare |publisher=Expressen.se |accessdate=6 July 2008 |author=Olof Peronius |language=Swedish |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080715014138/http://www.fotbollsexpressen.se/Nyheter/1.1221772/varldens-lirare |archivedate=15 July 2008 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=325676 |title=Fyra kontinenter – en Prince |publisher=GP.se |accessdate=12 February 2007 |author=Mattias Balkander |language=Swedish |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070219011138/http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=325676 |archivedate = 19 February 2007}} He was bought out of his contract with Djurgården in November 2011 after losing interest as a full-time professional player, he was studying in sports management and phycologist .{{cite news|url=http://fotboll.expressen.se/allsvenskan/1.2616212/prince-lamnar-dif-vill-stanna-i-sverige|title=Prince lämnar Dif – vill stanna i Sverige| first1 = Ludvig | last1 = Holmberg | first2 = Daniel | last2 = Kristoffersson |work=Expressen|language=Swedish|accessdate=9 November 2011 | date = 8 November 2011}} In 2016, Prince played for Märsta IK in the fifth tier of the Swedish Football League for fun and to keep fitness, he also help to start up a div 7 team, Afrikans FC Stockholm, he scored so many goals, took the team from div 7, to div 4. system.{{Cite news|url=http://www.unt.se/sigtunabygden/sport/sasongspremiar-med-nya-krafter-4189036.aspx|title=Säsongspremiär med nya krafter|date=2016-04-12|access-date=2018-05-14}}

Personal life

Ekong is the father of professional footballer Emmanuel Ekong.{{Cite web |title=Tackade nej till storklubbar för Empoli – nu har svenskdoldis Serie A-debuterat: "Konstigt att spela inför 30 000 människor" |url=https://www.fotbollskanalen.se/italien/tackade-nej-till-storklubbar-for-empoli-nu-har-svenskdoldis-serie-a-debuterat/ |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=fotbollskanalen |language=sv}}

Honours

Xiamen Lanshi

China League One: 2005{{Cite news|url=http://sports.sohu.com/20051022/n227278270.shtml|title=厦门主场完胜夺得中甲冠军--05中甲最终积分榜|publisher=sports.sohu.com|date=2005-10-22|access-date=2019-08-06}}