Peter Utaka

Peter Maduabuchi Utaka (born 12 February 1984) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for J3 promoted club, Tochigi City FC. He is the younger brother of fellow professional footballer John Utaka.^[2]

Club career

Early career

Born in Enugu, Nigeria, Utaka moved to Croatia as a 16-year-old to play in Dinamo Zagreb after trying his luck at Ismaily where his older brother John was a cult figure. In 2003, he moved to Belgium from Dinamo and signed for K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen of the 2nd division.^[3] KVC Westerlo moved to sign him the following season, and in his first season in the top flight and the transfer was worth €250,000.^[3]

Royal Antwerpen

Utaka joined Royal Antwerp FC in January 2007 where he became a first team regular, and he helped Antwerp qualify for the playoffs, finishing second. He also emerged top scorer with 22 goals and capped hs glorious season, winning the Best Striker's Award.^{[citation needed]} He also put more gloss on his breath-taking performance that season, claiming the Most Valuable Player's award over eight times, making him one of the most feared strikers in Belgium. On 30 August 2008, it was announced that Utaka would join Danish club OB.^[4] for an undisclosed fee.

Odense Boldklub

Utaka joined Danish side OB in 2008. In his first season, he finished joint fourth place on the scorers list, while he led all scorers in his second season. In the 2009–10 Danish Superliga he finished with 18 goals in 33 matches,^[5] the first time in five years an OB player was top scorer in the league (last was Steffen Højer in 2004-05 with 20 goals).

Utaka stayed in OB for three and a half season winning three silver medals in his first three seasons in the Danish Superliga. He also represented the club in both UEFA Europa League and the 2011–12 Champions League qualifying phase scoring a total of nine goals in 22 European matches for the club.^{[citation needed]}

Dalian Aerbin

In January 2012, Utaka moved to Chinese Super League club Dalian Aerbin. He scored 20 goals in 28 games in his first season. He also scored 11 consecutive fixtures to establish a new C-league record.^[6]

Beijing Guoan

He transferred to Beijing Guoan on 9 July 2013 in a €2 million transfer which made him the most expensive international signing in the history of the club.^[7] He scored 15 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions for the club, before he was loaned to Shanghai Shenxin during summer transfers in 2014, managing to score only four times in thirteen appearances in all competition for the Shanghai outfit.^{[citation needed]}

Shimizu S-Pulse

In January 2015, Utaka transferred to J1 League-club Shimizu S-Pulse.^[8] The club faced a difficult season that year as they were battling relegation. At the end of the season, Utaka scored nine goals in 29 appearances, and the club ended up being seventeenth-placed, thus relegated into the J2 League.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

The next year he was loaned to J1 League defending champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima.^[9] He scored his first goal for the club in the Japanese Super Cup final, in a 3–1 win against Gamba Osaka. Utaka bagged his first goal in the J1 League on 12 March, scoring a 67th-minute penalty against Shonan Bellmare in a 2–2 draw at home. He scored his next in a 5–1 away win against Omiya Ardija, scoring the opening in the 22nd minute.^{[citation needed]}

FC Tokyo

After being bought by Sanfrecce Hiroshima, he was immediately loaned to FC Tokyo in March 2017.^[10] He scored four goals in his first three matches for the J1 League-club even though he started all of the matches on the bench. He represented the club 33 times and scored ten goals before he returned to Sanfrecce Hiroshima and his contract expired.^{[citation needed]}

Vejle Boldklub

In February 2018, free agent Utaka trialled with Danish side Vejle Boldklub in Turkey, where the club was on a training camp.^[11] Utaka's agent Lucas Chang Jin was co-owner of Vejle Boldklub who at that time was topping the league table in the Danish second tier. On 14 February 2018, the club announced that Utaka had signed a contract with Vejle until the summer of 2018.^[12]

Tokushima Vortis

On 2018, Tokushima Vortis signed Peter Utaka mid-season.^[13]

Ventforet Kofu

Utaka signed to J2 club Ventforet Kofu ahead of the 2019 season.^[14]

Kyoto Sanga

On 23 December 2019, Utaka officially transferred to Kyoto Sanga FC ahead of the 2020 season.^[15] He helped the team to win promotion for the J1 League after the club's 12-year absence from it. He left the club after three years at Kyoto, playing his last match coming as a substitute on the 2022 J1/J2 promotion/relegation match, in which Kyoto eventually drew with Roasso Kumamoto, guaranteeing Kyoto the permanence on the J1.

Return to Ventforet Kofu

On 30 December 2022, Utaka was announced by Ventforet Kofu as a new signing for the 2023 season, in his second stint with the Yamanashi-based club, returning to them after four seasons.^[16]

Tochigi City

On 27 March 2025, Utaka was announce official transfer to J3 promoted club, Tochigi City FC for 2025 season.^[17]

International career

On 21 September 2009, national coach Shaibu Amodu selected Utaka for the Nigeria national team. Utaka made his debut for Nigeria months later in a 5–2 home win over Congo DR on 3 March 2010, despite only getting his call up late after the NFF called his mother looking for him.^[18][19] He scored the first goal and assisted on the second.^[20] He scored twice in a Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Ethiopia. His first goal of the match was the fastest goal in the qualifications for the season, scoring a goal after just 29 seconds into the match.

Career statistics

Club

.^[21]

1. ^ Includes Danish Cup, Chinese FA Cup, Emperor's Cup
2. ^ Includes J.League Cup
3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
5. ^ Appearances in AFC Champions League
6. ^ Appearance in Japanese Super Cup
7. ^ Appearance in J1 Entry play-offs

International

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Utaka goal.

Honours

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

• Japanese Super Cup: 2016

Individual

• Belgian Second Division top goalscorer: 2007–08
• Danish Superliga top goalscorer: 2009–10
• Chinese FA Cup top goalscorer: 2013
• J.League top goalscorer: 2016

References

1. ^ "Peter Utaka" (in Japanese). Kyoto Sanga FC. Archived 25 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
2. ^ "John Utaka To Stay At Premier League Outfit Portsmouth, Explains Brother". goal.com. 5 June 2009. Archived 11 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
3. ^ Nigeria, Media (13 June 2018). "Biography Of Peter Utaka (Footballer)". Media Nigeria. Archived 2 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
4. ^ "Lars Olsen savnede erfaren målscorer" (in Danish). bold.dk. 30 August 2008. Archived 24 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
5. ^ "3F Superliga 09/10: Tabel og kampprogram". Archived 29 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
6. ^ "Utaka outshines big-name recruits" (in ar-aa). www.egypttodayen. Archived 4 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
7. ^ 国安正式签约乌塔卡将穿15号 释因何选择国安 Archived 5 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine(in Chinese)
8. ^ "清水がFW補強…元ナイジェリア代表ウタカを獲得「全力を尽くす」" (in Japanese). soccer-king.jp. 21 February 2015. Archived 9 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
9. ^ "ja:キム・ボムヨン選手 モンテディオ山形より完全移籍加入のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Sanfrecce Hiroshima. 7 January 2016. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
10. ^ "ピーター ウタカ選手 期限付き移籍加入のお知らせ ｜ F.C.TOKYO". www.fctokyo.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2017-07-01.
11. ^ "Tog Danmark med storm: Nu er han på vej mod overraskende comeback – Ekstra Bladet". 8 February 2018. Archived 25 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
12. ^ "Vejle Boldklub henter Peter Utaka" (in Danish). bold.dk. 14 February 2018. Archived 17 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
13. ^ "ピーター ウタカ選手 完全移籍にて加入決定のお知らせ". 徳島ヴォルティス ニュース. 2018-06-14. Archived 31 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
14. ^ "ピーター ウタカ選手 徳島ヴォルティスより完全移籍加入のお知らせ". 2018-12-27. Archived 31 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
15. ^ "ピーター・ウタカ選手 ヴァンフォーレ甲府より完全移籍加入のお知らせ". 京都サンガF.C.. 2019-12-23. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
16. ^ "ピーター ウタカ選手 加入のお知らせ". ヴァンフォーレ甲府. 2022-12-30. Archived 30 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
17. ^ "【TOP】ピーターウタカ選手 ヴァンフォーレ甲府より加入のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-03-27.
18. ^ http://goal.com/en/news/89/africa/2010/03/03/1816423/nigeria-5-2-dr-congo-osas-idehen-shows-class-against Archived 9 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine Nigeria 5 Congo DR 2
19. ^ http://www.sportsday.com.ng/nigeria/news/2010-03-01/mum-begs-utaka-play-eagles.html Mum calls Utaka for Eagles ^{[dead link]}
20. ^ "Royal Antwerp Hero Utaka Reveals He Chose To Play For Nigeria Over Belgium:: All Nigeria Soccer - The Complete Nigerian Football Portal". www.allnigeriasoccer.com. Archived 4 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
21. ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)" Archived 17 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine, 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 73 out of 289)
22. ^
23. ^ "Nigeria vs. DR Congo". National Football Teams. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
24. ^ "Nigeria vs. Ethiopia". National Football Teams. Retrieved 22 July 2024.

External links

• Peter Utaka Career Statistics Archived 30 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine (in Chinese)