Celestine Babayaro Profile

By Nick Raynor
July 6 2005

#33 Celestine Babayaro 

Player Profile

 

Personal…

Name: Celestine Babayaro

Height: 5ft 9in

Weight: 10st 12lbs

Date of Birth: 29^th August 1978

Home Town: Kaduna, Nigeria

Nationality: Nigerian

 

Career…

Past Clubs: Anderlecht, Chelsea

Date Signed for Newcastle: January 2005

Fee: Undisclosed

NUFC Debut: 15^th January 2005 vs. Southampton

International Debut: 10 November 1995 vs. Uzbekistan

 

So Far…

 

Babayaro started his career at Anderlecht where he spend 3 years until Chelsea moved in for him and signed him for a fee of £2.25 million which set a new Chelsea record for a teenagers’ transfer fee.

 

Babayaro won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 2000 and got a runner up medal in 2002.

 

Since the arrival of Roman Abramovich and money at Chelsea, Babayaro has been surplus to requirements and moved to Newcastle for a low, undisclosed fee to start again after 7 years at Chelsea.

 

He won a gold medal with Nigeria in 1996 at the age of 18, scoring a goal for his country and helping to guide them to victory.

 

After Nigeria went out of the World Cup Finals 2002, Babayaro quit international football at the young age of 23 but reversed his decision later.

 

He played for Nigeria at the African Nations Cup in Tunisia but was sent home after breaking a curfew.