Nigel Shola Andre Reo-Coker, better known as Nigel Reo-Coker, is a professional football player, who was born on May 14, 1984 in Croydon, London, England. His father, Ransford, is a doctor and his mother is Agnes-Lucinda, together as a family they lived in Sierra Leone for six years. His parents split up in 1990 and his mother shifted back to London with her son, Nigel Reo-Coker, and daughters, Natalie and Vanessa.
In October 2003, Nigel Reo-Coker was selected to play for England in the Under-21 category against Turkey. Four years later, Nigel Reo-Coker rose to become the captain for the England Under-21 squad and retained his captaincy throughout the 2007 Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Under-21 Championship. After taking captaincy, on March 24, 2007, he led his team to play against Italy at the Wembley Stadium, the match ended in a 3-3 draw. Of his 23 matches representing the England Under-21 (2003-2007) team, Nigel Reo-Coker has scored one goal.
Nigel Reo-Coker started his club career at the Wimbledon Youth Club of London when he was just 13 years. With his brilliant football techniques, his rankings improved within the team and he moved on to the senior team of Wimbledon. From 2002-2003, he has scored 6 goals in 64 appearances for the Wimbledon Club.
On signing a contract with West Ham United in January 2004, he became an indispensable member of the team and was later made the captain. By scoring 3 goals, he was the key player in winning the promotion through the play-offs in the 2004-2005 season for his team. His captaincy and unique skills as a midfielder helped the team to reach the Football Association (FA) Cup final in 2006. The first half of the 2006-2007 season, was not a successful one for Nigel Reo-Coker and his team but during the end of the season a series of 7 victories for West Ham United of nine games they played, won him back his honor. Of his 120 appearances for West Ham United, he has scored 11 goals.
Martin O’Neill, manager of Aston Villa signed a four-year deal with Nigel Reo-Coker on July 5, 2007. He scored his first goal for Aston Villa, in its (5-0) win against Wrexham on August 28, 2007, in the second round of the League Cup. Nigel Reo-Coker took up captaincy temporarily instead of Gareth Barry, regular captain of Aston Villa, in a match against Liverpool at Anfield on January 21, 2008.
In the 2008-2009 season, he has played 2 matches for Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier League. Nigel Reo-Coker played one game in the UEFA Cup Qualifying matches and one in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.
