Ugo Ehiogu

Ugo Ehiogu is someone who will be remembered with a smile throughout the football landscape. A 20-year playing career saw him make over 500 appearances for some of the biggest clubs in England and Scotland and he was a full international with England.

After calling time on his playing days, he turned his hand to coaching and joined our Academy set-up full-time in July, 2014.

Born in Hackney on November 3, 1972, Ugochuku ‘Ugo’ Ehiogu spent time at the well-known youth football team Senrab FC in east London, though it was with West Bromwich Albion that he eventually turned professional having come through their youth ranks as a trainee.

A central defender, he made two substitute appearances for Albion before being signed by Aston Villa in July, 1991, and over the course of the next nine years, he became a lynchpin of their defence. Ugo played 237 times in the league for Villa, scoring 12 goals including a winner against Spurs at White Hart Lane in August, 1995.

In total, he made over 300 appearances in all competitions for them and was part of the Villa team which won the League Cup in 1996, playing in their 3-0 defeat of Leeds United at Wembley Stadium.

Ugo moved to Middlesbrough in November, 2000, his calm, composed nature coupled with his excellent defensive qualities ensuring he once again became a mainstay of their side, re-establishing a partnership at the back with Gareth Southgate, whom he had spent many years playing alongside at Aston Villa.