Moses Ashikodi

*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.

Moses Ashikodi

Appearances: 5+1 Goals: 0

Date / Year of birth: 27th June 1987

Position: Striker

Season of first appearance: 2013/14

Season of last appearance: 2013/14

Also played for: Millwall (0+5,0), West Ham United (0), Gillingham (0+4,0), Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) (0+1,0), Watford (1+2,1), Bradford City (8,2), Swindon Town (4+6,0), Hereford United (6+2,1), Luton Town (0), Shrewsbury Town (4+5,1), Kettering Town, Peterborough United (0), Ebbsfleet United, York City, Enfield Town, Farnborough and Cray Wanderers

Nomadic 5' 8" tall attacker born in Lagos, Nigeria who started his career with Millwall. Moses won their 'Schoolboy of the Year' award for the 2001/02 season as a 14 year-old. In May 2002 he made his debut for England's Under-16's team and Moses went on to win a further seven caps, scoring three goals in total. He also later scored once from five outings for England Under-17's.

On 22.2.03 Moses became Millwall's youngest ever first team player aged 15 years and 240 days when he came on as a 73rd minute substitute in a 1-0 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion in the First Division (later known as the Championship). His appearance also made him the youngest player to make his Football League debut between 1988 and 2008. Moses featured four times more as a sub without scoring before the end of 2002/03 and once again won the Lions' 'Schoolboy of the Year' award again for the season.

During the first half of the 2003/04 campaign Moses couldn't break into Millwall's first team and in February 2004 he was involved in an incident with team-mate Mark McCammon in the canteen at Millwall's training ground. The story involved a knife and became national news, it also marked the beginning of the end for Moses at Millwall. He didn't play for the club again and at the end of April 2004 he was released. Moses was still only 16 at the time and Millwall issued a statement saying "The disciplinary process has been concluded. We wish him the best of luck in his future career."

In the summer of 2004 Moses had a successful trial spell with Championship outfit West Ham and manager Alan Pardew gave him a two-year contract in August 2004. He said "Moses is getting a last chance with us. He is a major talent and, hopefully, he will have learned his lesson." Moses didn't feature in West Ham's senior side during 2004/05 but in June 2005 he won a cap for England's Under-18's side in a game against Norway.

In August 2005 he was loaned to League One club Gillingham and Moses made his debut for the Gills as a substitute in a 1-0 home win over Bournemouth on 20.8.05. He made three further substitute appearances without scoring but in the last of them on 15.10.05 Moses was sent off as the Gills drew 0-0 with visitors Yeovil. He'd been on the field for less than half an hour when he picked up a second yellow card.

In November 2005 Moses won the first of three caps for England's Under-19's side and he scored three goals during those matches.

He returned to West Ham in December 2005 but in January 2006 Moses was released from his contract having never featured in the Hammers' first team.

He immediately signed for Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers and the club gave Moses a contract running until the end of the 2005/06 season. He said "I know that I did not have the best of times at my previous clubs but this is now behind me and all I want to do now is give 110% for Rangers. It is a fresh start and I am really looking forward to playing in Scotland and scoring goals again." Moses made his debut for Rangers when he came on in the 89th minute of a 0-0 draw at Celtic on 23.4.06 that was watched by a crowd of nearly 60,000 at Celtic Park. He never played for the senior side again but at the start of January 2007 Moses secured a move to Premier League outfit Watford for a nominal fee.

He signed a two-and-a-half year contract with the Hornets and Moses scored on his debut in a 4-1 home win over Stockport in the FA Cup on 6.1.07. He told the Daily Mail "The knife stuff is in the past. Everyone keeps bringing that up. I have to forget about that. If I score goals, that will bring a smile to my face. I have grown up a lot. I am more relaxed - not as bad as I was before. I listen a lot. Back then, I was a big fish in a small pond. Maybe I am not as good as I thought I was. But I have to dig in and work harder. The manager has shown a lot of faith in me (by bringing me here) and I have to repay that."

On 20.1.07 Moses made his Premier League debut as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa and he also came on in a 1-0 win at his old club West Ham on 10.2.07 before being loaned to Bradford of League One in March 2007.

Moses made his debut for the Bantams in a 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield on 10.3.07 and then scored in his next outing on 13.3.07 as they won 3-2 at Bristol City. He enjoyed a good run in the Bradford side and scored again in a 1-1 draw with visitors Oldham on 9.4.07 but on 14.4.07 Moses suffered a broken leg during a 1-0 win at Brighton. He'd scored twice from eight outings (all starts) for Bradford before his injury and then returned to Watford.

Moses spent the first half of 2007/08 regaining his fitness having had a metal plate inserted into his leg and in January 2008 he was loaned to Swindon.

Moses made his debut as a substitute in a 2-1 home win over Nottingham Forest in League One on 19.1.08 and then made a further nine appearances (five as sub) without scoring for Swindon before going back to Watford early in April 2008.

After returning to Vicarage Road Moses had to have surgery to rectify a loose screw on the metal plate in his leg and at the start of the 2008/09 campaign he was sent out on loan once more, joining League One club Hereford.

Moses made his debut for the Bulls in a 2-1 defeat at Leyton Orient on 9.8.08 and then scored in his next outing on 12.8.08 - a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace in the League Cup. He didn't find the net again for Hereford and at the start of January 2009 he went back to Watford having made a total of eight appearances (two as sub).

In February 2009 the Hornets cancelled Moses' contract and by then it'd been around two years since the last of his three first team appearances for Watford.

Immediately after leaving Vicarage Road Moses had trials with Luton and Shrewsbury, scoring in games for each club's reserve sides, before the Shrews signed him towards the end of February 2009 on a contract running until the end of 2008/09.

Moses' first outing for Shrewsbury came in a 3-0 defeat at Macclesfield in League Two on 28.2.09 and on 7.3.09 he scored in a 3-2 home win over Notts County. He finished the season by coming on as an 89th minute substitute in the League Two Play-Off Final at Wembley on 23.5.09 but a minute after his introduction opponents Gillingham scored what turned out to be the only goal of the game. Two days later Moses was released by the Shrews having scored once from nine appearances (five as sub).

At the start of September 2009 he signed for Conference club Kettering and on 29.11.09 Moses featured in an FA Cup 2nd Round tie against visitors Leeds. The game finished 1-1 but it was his last outing for the club and Moses was released shortly afterwards.

In December 2009 he had a trial with Peterborough and on 15.12.09 Moses played as their reserves won 1-0 at Leicester.

He was signed by Conference outfit Ebbsfleet in January 2010 and on 19.1.10 Moses scored with a penalty on his debut - ironically against his former club Kettering who won the match 2-1. He enjoyed a good run of form with the Fleet and by the end of 2009/10 Moses had scored 11 times from 16 Conference outings.

He went back to Kettering for the start of the 2010/11 campaign but in September 2010 Moses sustained a serious knee injury that ruled him out for the rest of the season. He'd scored once from six Conference appearances up to that point.

Moses returned to action at the start of 2011/12 and on 27.9.11 he was sent off in stoppage time as Kettering lost 5-3 at home to Hayes & Yeading. Moses was dismissed for fighting with team-mate Jean-Paul Marna who was also shown a red card and a few minutes earlier the pair had had a dispute over who was to take a penalty - Moses had won the argument and then had his effort saved. He scored six Conference goals before being loaned to York in November 2011.

On 3.12.11 Moses scored as York hammered his parent club Kettering 7-0 in a Conference game at Bootham Crescent and it was his first goal for the Minstermen. In January 2012 Moses' move to York was made permanent but he didn't find the net again and at the end of 2011/12 he was released having made a total of 11 appearances.

In July 2012 Moses rejoined Ebbsfleet and on 11.8.12 he scored in his first outing - a remarkable 5-4 win at Nuneaton in the Conference. He then played regularly for the Fleet for the next few months.

On 7.9.12 Moses made his international debut for Antigua and Barbuda when he came on as a substitute nine minutes from the end of a 3-1 defeat against Guatemala in a World Cup Qualifier. He later won two more caps as a substitute.

At the end of 2012 Moses picked up an injury that ruled him out for almost four months before he returned to Ebbsfleet's side in April 2013. By the end of the 2012/13 season he'd scored twice from 23 league appearances (eight as sub) and in May 2013 Moses was released.

On 1.6.13 the Mail Online website ran a story about players who'd suffered a fall from grace after being tipped for success early in their careers and Moses was one of those featured. He said "Football kept breaking my heart every two minutes and I was drinking just to blank everything out. After one game I even drank on the team coach until I passed out." The article explained how Moses was trying to turn things around by training as a fitness instructor and he explained "I've stopped drinking, I'm eating right, and the course is teaching me properly about my body. I'm only 25 but I've got my hunger back and would like to go on trial with a league club this summer."

In July 2013 he featured in friendlies for Luton and Dagenham & Redbridge but Moses started 203/14 without a club before linking up with Isthmian League Premier Division outfit Enfield Town at the beginning of November 2013.

As November 2013 drew to a close the official Isthmian League website ran a story saying that Moses had signed for Hampton & Richmond, also of the Premier Division, and their joint manager Paul Barry said "Moses has been with Enfield Town this season getting games and we're delighted to have him on board. It could be a big signing." However shortly afterward the Get West London website reported that Moses had had a change of heart and gone "elsewhere for more money". The 'elsewhere' turned out to be Margate.

Moses made his debut in a 1-1 draw with Canvey Island in a Premier Division game at Hartsdown Park on 30.11.13 and then started each of Margate's next four matches without finding the net. After a 3-2 defeat at AFC Hornchurch on 14.12.13 he was dropped and Moses then watched a 2-2 home draw with Hampton & Richmond on 21.12.13 from the subs bench. On 26.12.13 he came on during a 4-0 defeat at Maidstone but that turned out to be his final outing and at the end of December 2013 Moses left Margate having failed to scored from six appearances (one as sub).

He joined Conference South club Farnborough after leaving Hartsdown Park but Moses only featured three times there without scoring before signing for Cray in February 2014.

When he made his debut as a substitute in a Premier Division match against Lewes on 23.2.14 Moses became the 68th player used by rock-bottom Cray during 2013/14 and although he managed to score the visitors won 5-1. Commenting on Moses' capture Cray's manager Keith Bird told the Kentish Football website "We signed Moses this week. He was with Farnborough but he left them about three weeks ago but he's actually played professional football. He's played for quite a few clubs. In fact he made his first team debut for Millwall at the age of fifteen and I think the way he took that goal you can see he's got a lot of quality. For us it was a chance to see what he had and he did hit a fantastic goal so now he gives us a selection problem."

On 29.3.14 Moses was involved in a controversial incident during Cray's 2-1 defeat at Billericay that saw him allegedly bite Geoff Mitchell on the finger and the home side's manager Craig Edwards told The Non-League Paper "The lad has bitten our forward. The referee has seen the bite mark and said he didn't doubt it had happened but couldn't act upon it because he hadn't seen it himself." An FA spokesman responded by saying "We are aware of an incident during the Billericay Town and Cray Wanderers game and are investigating the matter." Moses left Cray shortly afterwards.

SEASON (CLUB)

FULL (MAX)

SUB

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FAT

ILC

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2013/14 (MFC)

5 (56)

1

0

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION (11TH OF 24)

2QR

3QR

3R

1R