Jay Jay Okocha – Club – Bolton Wanderers 2004/05
So good they named him twice.
The Bolton Wanderers legend first moved to the Reebok Stadium in 2002 after that summer’s World Cup. Okocha spent four years with the Trotters, captaining them to their first cup final in nearly a decade in 2004 and taking the team to Europe the following season for the first time in club’s history.
Okocha made his Nigeria debut ahead of the 1994 world Cup and was a member of the team that won the African Cup of Nations and played in the World Cup in the United States. In 1996, Okocha was a member of the Nigeria team that won Olympic gold in Atlanta before playing in the 1998 World Cup, where Nigeria won their group.
Okocha never won the African Footballer of the Year award, finishing runner-up in 1996. He won the BBC’s African Footballer of the Year award in 2003 and 2004. He also won the Nigerian Footballer of the Year award on seven occasions and the Bolton Wanderers player of the year award in 2005.