Sam Sodje followed in the footsteps of his legendary brother Efe by wearing the red and white stripes of Stevenage, coming through our EFCO youth scheme. In April 2001, he made his debut in a 4-1 win at Leigh RMI – and would go on to turn out 32 times for us, with a couple of goals to his name too. His time with us, however, was a lot different to that of Efe’s. And despite his raw talent, discipline was an issue too.

It was obvious that he had potential and could turn out to be a good player, but he was quite erratic. In the end the management lost patience with him. He left us for Margate at the start of the 2002-3 campaign.

Sam Sodje: After Boro’

Sodje’s career blossomed after leaving Broadhall Way. After a successful couple of years at Margate, Sodje moved into the Football League with a move to Brentford. Such was the impact he had at the Bees, the player was named in the 2005-6 PFA League One Team of the Year. A move to the Premier League came when Reading signed him for £1m in 2006. Since then, the defender has gone on to play for West Brom, Leeds, Watford and Charlton Athletic too

Author: Matthew Kett