George Abbey
Personal information
Full name	George Peterson Abbey
Date of birth	20 October 1978 (1978-10-20) (age 31)
Place of birth	Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	unattached
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996-1999 1999-2004 2004-2007 2007-2009	Sharks F.C. Macclesfield Town Port Vale Crewe Alexandra	00? (?) 100 (1) 062 (1) 030 (0)
National team
	Nigeria	010 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:37, 14 April 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

George Peterson Abbey (born 20 October 1978 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Nigeria, but is without a club side, after leaving Crewe Alexandra.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Club career 3 International career 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early life

Abbey was born to a Nigerian father and a Welsh mother. He grew up in the eastern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt along with fellow footballer Joseph Yobo, who has remained his close friend since they both left the country.^[1]

[edit] Club career

After playing for Sharks F.C. in his hometown, he left for England and was signed up with Macclesfield Town in 1999.^[1] After 100 league appearances for Macclesfield he left them, looking to be signed up by a Premier League club,^[2] no offers came and instead he was signed up by League One Port Vale in December 2004.^[3] He was a regular for the Valiants, but was released by manager Martin Foyle at the end of the 2006–07 season.^[4] He soon joined nearby Crewe Alexandra as a free agent.^[5] In May 2008 he signed a deal with Crewe to see him stay at Gresty Road until 2010.^[6] However, he was only to stay at Crewe for a further season, after having his contract terminated in May 2009, due to a lack of first-team opportunities.^[7] Abbey underwent a trial at Tranmere Rovers, playing in pre-season friendlies against Cammell Laird, Preston North End and Liverpool. However due to Rovers financial difficulties, they were unable to offer Abbey a permanent contract.

[edit] International career

Abbey was part of the Nigeria squad that participated at the 2004 African Cup of Nations held in Tunisia, thanks in part to a close relationship with Everton player Joseph Yobo with whom he offered advice to when deciding whether to move to Everton. He was not called up to the 2006 African Cup of Nations, to his great disappointment.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• George Abbey career stats at Soccerbase
• George Abbey player profile at crewealex.net

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