Titus Okere

Last updated

Titus Okere // ⓘ (22 March 1929 – 14 June 2023) was a Nigerian footballer who was selected as a member of the "U.K. tourists", [1] a touring team that represented Nigeria in 1949. In the U.K., the team played matches with English amateur clubs and later played an international match against Sierra Leone, with Okere scoring one of the goals in a 2–0 victory. [2]

Contents

Life

Okere was born on 22 March 1929 in Ngor Okpala local Government in Owerri, Imo State. He attended St. Cyprian’s Anglican School, Port Harcourt, Kalabari National College and the Okrika Grammar School. During a tour of Azikiwe's athletic club, Okere impressed Azikiwe [3] and he briefly played for ZAC (Zik's Athletic Club) Port Harcourt before leaving for Lagos to join Lagos Railways. Okere captained Railways in 1948 during a successful period where they won trophies. He then moved to Swindon Town F.C. in the U.K, but his stay there was not successful. However, he captained the Nigeria national team against Gold Coast in 1951. [4] He settled in Kent, England in 1953. [5]

Okere died on 14 June 2023, at the age of 94. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nnamdi Azikiwe</span> President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966

Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, PC, usually referred to as "Zik", was a Nigerian statesman, revolutionary and political leader who served as the 3rd governor-general of Nigeria between 1960 and 1963 and the 1st president of Nigeria during the First Nigerian Republic which existed from 1963 to 1966. Considered a driving force behind the nation's independence, he came to be known as the "father of Nigerian nationalism".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay-Jay Okocha</span> Nigerian footballer (born 1973)

Augustine Azuka "Jay-Jay" Okocha is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He won 73 caps for the Nigeria national team between 1993 and 2006, scoring 14 goals, and was a member of three FIFA World Cup squads. He is regarded as one of the greatest football players from Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Pratley</span> English footballer

Darren Antony Pratley is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League One club Leyton Orient as club captain.

Port Harcourt International Airport is an international airport located in Omagwa, a suburb of Port Harcourt, the capital city of the Rivers State in Nigeria. The airport has two terminals for both international and domestic flights. The new International terminal was commissioned by the executive president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari on 25 October 2018. In 2009, the airport served 1,081,587 passengers, making it the third-busiest airport in Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 FIFA World Youth Championship</span> International football competition

The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Football in Nigeria</span>

Football is the most popular sport in Nigeria. The Nigeria national football team competes regularly for international titles and many Nigerian footballers compete in Europe, particularly in England. Nigeria has one of the finest national teams in Africa and has produced many notable footballers including Mudashiru Lawal, Rashidi Yekini, Jay Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Vincent Enyeama, Joseph Yobo, Mikel John Obi and Victor Osimhen.

The Nigeria national rugby union team represent Nigeria in men's international rugby union. Nigeria have thus far not qualified for a Rugby World Cup, but have competed in qualifying tournaments. Nigeria played their first international against Zimbabwe on 1 August 1987, losing by 111-12 in Nairobi. Their greatest success has been in the 2013 Africa Cup, where they beat Mauritius 63-3 in group 1C.

Uche Akubuike is a Nigerian football goalkeeper. He plays club football for Enyimba.

Dana Air is a Nigerian airline headquartered in Ikeja and based in Lagos's Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is the civil aviation authority of Nigeria.

Tesilimi Olawale Ayinde "Teslim" Balogun was a Nigerian football player and coach. Balogun played at both professional and international levels as a striker, before becoming Africa's first qualified professional football coach.

First Nation Airways Ltd. was a Nigerian airline with its headquarters in Lagos and base at Murtala Mohammed Airport.

Adokiye Amiesimaka is a Nigerian footballer, who as a law student at the University of Lagos played for the Enugu Rangers Football Club, Sharks Football Club, African Continental Bank Football Club, Lagos, and the Nigeria national football team. Playing as a winger on the left of midfield, Adokiye’s pace and dribbling runs were a distinguishing feature of his footballing career.

Rivers Angels F.C. is a Nigerian professional football club based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. They play in the Nigeria Women Premier League, the top flight division in the female soccer league system.

Justin Maxwell Onwudiwe was a Nigerian international footballer. He started playing football when he was a young boy in the 1930s. At the time football was not well organized in the country and the boys sometimes used tennis balls. He attended St Peter's CMS School, Enugu and College of The Immaculate Conception. In 1947, immediately after secondary school, he was recruited for work and play by U.G. Urion of the railway in Lagos. The Lagos Railways were a formidable group and won the Challenge Cup in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1956. A defender, he was selected for the Nigerian team that toured the United Kingdom in 1949.

Frederick Baron Mulford was a British expatriate who contributed to the development of football in Nigeria.

John Dankaro was a former Nigerian football player who was a member of the "UK Tourists", described as Nigeria's first national football team. He was one of the few players on the team who never played for a Lagos club and the only one from the Northern region of the country.

Michael Oguejiofo Ajegbo was a Nigerian lawyer and politician who was Attorney-General of Nigeria's Eastern Region during Nigeria's First Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nigeria Airlines</span> Nigerian airline

United Nigeria Airlines Limited, trading as United Nigeria Airlines,, is a private airline in Nigeria. The new start-up received its Air Operators Certificate (AOC), on 1 February 2021. Headquartered in the city of Enugu, with an office in Abuja, and with its operations base at Enugu International Airport, United Nigeria Airlines started with four aircraft to operate scheduled flights between nine Nigerian cities: Abuja, Onitsha, Asaba, Yenagoa, Warri, Enugu, Owerri, Lagos, and Port Harcourt,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jollof derby</span> Football encounter between Nigeria and Ghana

Jollof derby is the moniker given to any encounter between the national football teams of Nigeria and Ghana. The derby takes its name from the nations' long-standing rivalry over who makes the best Jollof rice. The rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria extends beyond the realm of sports and has a deep-rooted history. The divide extends beyond just football and encompasses aspects of culture, economy, and social status in West Africa. Debates have arisen regarding the origins and influences of music, the supreme culinary delight, and occasionally, the most robust economic system. Due to their shared colonial histories, there are natural areas of cultural overlap between these two nations. This overlap can be observed in their cuisine, traditions, cinema, music, and the use of Pidgin English. Consequently, collaborations between individuals from these two countries have been common.

References

  1. ↑ Boer 2003, p. 349.
  2. ↑ Boer 2003, p. 360.
  3. ↑ Boer 2003, p. 392.
  4. ↑ Boer 2003, p. 396.
  5. 1 2 Erons, Imhons (14 June 2023). "From UK Tourists to football immortality: Nigeria's longest-living international player passes away". Soccernet NG. Retrieved 14 June 2023.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.