Peter Odemwingie

By Craig · Published 31 October 2026

There are two Peter Odemwingies in the memory. One scored the winner on his debut, won three Player of the Month awards and is still West Brom's top Premier League scorer. The other turned up outside Loftus Road on deadline day without his club's permission and was turned away. Everybody remembers the second one. The first one deserves at least as much airtime.

Clubs

Bendel Insurance, La Louvière, Lille, Lokomotiv Moscow, West Brom, Cardiff City, Stoke City, Bristol City (loan), Rotherham United, Madura United

Premier League

129 appearances, 36 goals (West Brom, Cardiff and Stoke, 2010 to 2016)

Honours

Belgian Cup 2003 (La Louvière), Premier League Player of the Month three times (September 2010, April 2011, February 2012), Olympic silver 2008 (Nigeria)

International

Nigeria, 65 caps, 11 goals, World Cups in 2010 and 2014

Fantasy price

£8.5m in 2010/11

How he arrived

Born in Tashkent, Odemwingie started out at Bendel Insurance in Nigeria, then worked his way through La Louvière, where he won the Belgian Cup in his first season, Lille and Lokomotiv Moscow.

West Brom had just come back up when they signed him on 20 August 2010 for an undisclosed fee. The next day he made his debut at home to Sunderland and scored the winner in the 81st minute. By the end of September he was the Premier League's Player of the Month, and by May he had 15 goals in 32 games for a side that finished 11th.

The moment: Wolves, 12 February 2012

The Black Country derby, at Molineux, with Wolves fighting relegation. Odemwingie opened the scoring after 34 minutes with a deflected shot. Steven Fletcher equalised in first-half stoppage time. Then Albion ran away with it. Jonas Olsson's shot went in off Wayne Hennessey, Odemwingie made it 3-1 from close range, Keith Andrews added a fourth, and with two minutes left Odemwingie finished a James Morrison cross for his hat-trick.

It finished 5-1, Wolves' worst Black Country derby defeat since 1964, and it left them in the bottom three. Mick McCarthy was sacked the next day, and Odemwingie was Player of the Month again for February.

The other moment: Loftus Road, 31 January 2013

A year later QPR wanted him, and he wanted to go. On deadline day he drove to London and arrived at Loftus Road about three and a half hours before the window shut. QPR wouldn't let him in without West Brom's permission, and he had to leave. Jeremy Peace, the West Brom chairman, said he had acted "wholly unprofessionally". Harry Redknapp blamed a mix-up between the clubs.

Five years later, Odemwingie told Sky Sports he thought everything had been agreed. What he didn't know was that the deal depended on Junior Hoilett going the other way. He also had a week-old baby at home, and asked why he would have left them to wait outside a stadium otherwise.

Why the streets won't forget

Deadline day turned him into a punchline, which is a shame, because the record says something else. Odemwingie scored 30 Premier League goals for West Brom, one more than James Morrison, and nobody has scored more for them in the competition. He won Player of the Month three times in two seasons. The Premier League counts him as one of only four Nigerians to win it, alongsideJay-Jay Okocha, Odion Ighalo and Kelechi Iheanacho.

In that first season he scored in four league games in a row, against Chelsea, Spurs, Aston Villa and Wolves. He was quick, direct and happy to shoot from anywhere: a forward other teams had to plan for.

So the streets remember him, but not for the trip to Loftus Road. They remember the debut winner, the hat-trick at Molineux and everything in between. The drive to London was one bad afternoon. The 30 goals took three seasons.

Where is he now

He did get his move in the end, to Cardiff on 2 September 2013 for £2.25m. Five months later Stoke signed him in a swap with Kenwyne Jones, and he scored five in 15 Premier League games that spring. A knee ligament injury at Manchester City on 30 August 2014 set him back, and he made only 12 more league appearances for Stoke. After a loan at Bristol City and spells at Rotherham and Madura United in Indonesia, he retired.

For Nigeria, he scored the only goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2014 World Cup.

These days he is a golf professional. In June 2024 he qualified as a PGA Professional, having studied at the University of Birmingham and passed his playing test at the Belfry. He said he had challenged himself in sport and "also academically". The plan now is the senior tour when he turns 50 in July 2031.

Which seasons can you draft him in?

Six. The game lists him at Stoke for all of 2013/14, so his months at Cardiff aren't a separate pick.

Want him in your retro fantasy football team? Pick him in 2010/11 for £8.5m and see if he scores on debut for you too.