Celestine Babayaro

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Personal information
Celestine Babayaro
Full name	Celestine Babayaro
Date of birth	August 29, 1978 (age 28)
Place of birth	Kaduna, Nigeria
Height	5'9 (176cm)
Position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Newcastle United
Number	33
Youth clubs
1994	Plateau United
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1994–1997 1997–2005 2005-	R.S.C. Anderlecht Chelsea Newcastle United	75 (8) 118 (5) 36 (0)
National team**
1995-	Nigeria	35 (2)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 Aug 06. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 1 September 06.

Olympic medal record
Men’s Football
Gold	Atlanta 1996	Team Competition

Celestine Babayaro (born August 29, 1978 in Kaduna, Nigeria) is a footballer who plays left-back and is currently contracted to Newcastle United of the English Premiership.

Babayaro began his playing career at Nigerian side, Plateau United before moving to Belgium and Brussels outfit, Anderlecht in 1994 and made a name for himself through his performances for Nigeria in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where the African nation won the golden medal.

He was purchased by Chelsea in April 1997 for £2.25m million - a club record paid for a teenager at the time. During his time there, the team won the FA Cup and Charity Shield in 2000, and reached the FA Cup finals in 2002. He faced competition from Graeme Le Saux during his seven-year spell in SW6, but played over 200 games for Chelsea. His acrobatic celebrations were a highlight and loved by the Stamford Bridge faithful. He scored some good goals for Chelsea, his last coming away to Leicester in the 2003/2004 season. The signing of Wayne Bridge saw Celestine start only four Premier League games for Chelsea in 2004/2005 - their Premiership winning year.

He played briefly for Nigeria in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, before quitting international football aged 23. He also made a brief comeback appearance for his country in the 2004 African Nations Cup in Tunisia, but was sent home along with Portsmouth F.C. striker, Aiyegbeni Yakubu for "indiscipline".

In January 2005, Babayaro left Stamford Bridge to join Newcastle United where he has established himself as first choice left back.

[edit] Trivia

Celestine's brother is Emmanuel Babayaro, a goalkeeper who was also in Nigeria's 1996 Olympic Gold Medal winning team.

Preceded by: Godwin Okpara	Belgian Ebony Shoe 1996	Succeeded by: Emile Mpenza

	Nigeria squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Rufai \| 2 Oparaku \| 3 Babayaro \| 4 Kanu \| 5 Okechukwu \| 6 West \| 7 George \| 8 Adepoju \| 9 Yekini \| 10 Okocha \| 11 Lawal \| 12 W. Okpara \| 13 Babangida \| 14 Amokachi \| 15 Oliseh \| 16 Okafor \| 17 Eguavoen \| 18 Oruma \| 19 Iroha \| 20 Ikpeba \| 21 G. Okpara \| 22 Baruwa \| Coach: Milutinović

	Nigeria squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Shorunmu \| 2 Yobo \| 3 Babayaro \| 4 Kanu \| 5 Okoronkwo \| 6 West \| 7 Ikedia \| 8 Adepoju \| 9 Ogbeche \| 10 Okocha \| 11 Lawal \| 12 Ejide \| 13 Afolabi \| 14 Udeze \| 15 Christopher \| 16 Sodje \| 17 Aghahowa \| 18 Akwuegbu \| 19 Ejiofor \| 20 Obiorah \| 21 Utaka \| 22 Enyeama \| 23 Opabunmi \| Coach: Onigbinde

Newcastle United F.C. - Current Squad
1 Given \| 2 Carr \| 4 Solano \| 5 Emre \| 7 Luque \| 8 Dyer \| 9 Martins \| 10 Owen \| 11 Duff \| 12 Harper \| 14 N'Zogbia \| 15 Rossi \| 16 Milner \| 17 Parker \| 18 Moore \| 19 Bramble \| 20 Sibierski \| 21 Clark \| 22 Butt \| 23 Ameobi \| 24 Srníček \| 26 Ramage \| 27 Taylor \| 32 Huntington \| 33 Babayaro \| 34 Bernard \| 35 Pattison \| 36 Gate \| 37 O'Brien \| 39 Carroll \| 40 Krul \| 54 Troisi \| Manager: Roeder

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Celestine Babayaro

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