Celestine Babayaro facts for kids
.jpg)
Babayaro in 2018
|
|||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Celestine Hycieth Babayaro | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 29 August 1978 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kaduna, Nigeria | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Left-back, midfielder | ||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||
| Plateau United | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||
| 1994–1997 | Anderlecht | 76 | (8) | ||||||||||
| 1997–2005 | Chelsea | 132 | (5) | ||||||||||
| 2005–2008 | Newcastle United | 47 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2008 | LA Galaxy | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||
| Total | 255 | (13) | |||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||
| 1996–2000 | Nigeria Olympic | 7 | (2) | ||||||||||
| 1995–2004 | Nigeria | 27 | (0) | ||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
|||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||
Celestine Hycieth Babayaro (born August 29, 1978) is a former professional footballer from Nigeria. He was a talented player who mostly played as a left-back or sometimes as a midfielder.
Celestine spent most of his career playing in the Premier League in England. He played for Chelsea from 1997 to 2005 and then for Newcastle United from 2005 to 2008. He also had a short time with the MLS club LA Galaxy in the United States, but he did not play any official games for them. He stopped playing football professionally in 2010.
Babayaro also played for the Nigeria national football team from 1995 to 2004. He was part of the Nigerian teams that went to two Summer Olympics, two World Cups, and three African Cup of Nations tournaments. He is well-known for being part of the Nigerian team that won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Starting Out in Football
Celestine Babayaro was born in Kaduna, Nigeria. He began his football journey at a Nigerian club called Plateau United. In 1994, he moved to Europe to play for the Belgian club Anderlecht.
He quickly became a key player for Anderlecht, even though he was still a teenager. Babayaro made history as the youngest player to ever play in the UEFA Champions League. He also became the youngest player to receive a red card in that competition, at just 16 years and 86 days old.
Playing for Chelsea
In April 1997, Chelsea signed Babayaro after their scout, Lewis Durkin, noticed his talent. He joined Chelsea for £2.25 million, which was a record amount for a teenage player at that time.
He made his first appearance for Chelsea in a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup match. Unfortunately, he got injured in December 1997, which meant he missed the rest of that season. Because of this, he could not play in Chelsea's wins in the 1998 Football League Cup final and the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final.
However, Babayaro went on to achieve great things with Chelsea. He helped them win the 1998 UEFA Super Cup, the FA Cup, and the 2000 FA Charity Shield in 2000. He also played a big part in Chelsea's journey in the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League. He played over 200 games for Chelsea during his seven years there. Fans loved his exciting goal celebrations, which often included acrobatic backflips!
By the 2004–05 season, a new manager, José Mourinho, joined Chelsea. Another player, Wayne Bridge, started playing more often, so Babayaro played in only four FA Premier League matches that season. Chelsea ended up winning the Premier League title that year.
Time at Newcastle United
In January 2005, Babayaro moved from Chelsea to Newcastle United. He quickly became the main left-back for the team. He scored his only goal for Newcastle in an FA Cup game against Coventry City.
In September 2006, Babayaro received a three-match ban from The Football Association. This was because he had an incident with Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt during a game. Babayaro accepted the ban and apologized for what happened.
On February 10, 2007, just hours before a game against Liverpool, Babayaro learned that his younger brother, David, had passed away. Despite this sad news, Babayaro insisted on playing in the match. He played very well, and his manager, Glenn Roeder, and the fans praised him for his strong performance.
Due to several injuries, Babayaro and Newcastle United agreed to end his contract early on December 10, 2007.
Later Career and Retirement
In January 2008, Celestine Babayaro agreed to join the LA Galaxy in the United States. He was excited to reunite with coach Ruud Gullit, who had brought him to Chelsea years before.
However, things did not work out as planned. Babayaro was not happy with some of the arrangements, like flying in economy class or sharing hotel rooms. His lack of enthusiasm in training and pre-season games caused problems with the coach and club management.
On March 3, Babayaro left the LA Galaxy after playing only 45 minutes in one pre-season game. The club decided it was best for both sides to part ways.
Before the 2008–09 English league season, Babayaro trained with Premier League club Portsmouth. The manager, Harry Redknapp, was considering signing him, but in August 2008, he decided not to offer Babayaro a contract.
On July 8, 2010, Celestine Babayaro officially announced that he was retiring from professional football.
International Career Achievements
Celestine Babayaro had a very successful international career playing for Nigeria. He was part of the Nigerian team that won the Under-17 World Championships in 1993.
He made his first appearance for the senior Nigeria national football team in 1995. The next year, he was a key player in the Nigerian Olympic team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He even scored a goal in the gold medal match against Argentina!
After recovering from a knee injury, Babayaro was ready to join Nigeria's squad for the France 98. He also captained Nigeria at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Babayaro was part of Nigeria's team for the 2004 African Nations Cup in Tunisia. His final game for the national team was against Morocco in a group stage match.
Personal Life
Celestine Babayaro's brother, Emmanuel, was also a professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Emmanuel was also part of Nigeria's gold medal-winning team at the 1996 Olympics, just like Celestine.
Honours and Awards
Celestine Babayaro won many important titles and awards during his football career.
Anderlecht
- Belgian First Division: 1994–95
- Belgian Super Cup: 1995
Chelsea
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1997–98
- UEFA Super Cup: 1998
- FA Cup: 1999–2000
- FA Charity Shield: 2000
Nigeria U17
- FIFA U-17 World Championship: 1993
Nigeria U23
- Olympic Gold Medal: 1996
Nigeria
- African Cup of Nations third place: 2004
Individual
- Belgian Young Professional Footballer of the Year: 1994–95, 1995–96
- Ebony Shoe Award: 1996
See also
In Spanish: Celestine Babayaro para niños
