Ex-Premier League star, 32, who earned millions playing for Newcastle now earns just £360 a week as an apprentice
AN EX-Premier League star who earned millions playing for Newcastle now earns just £360 a week as an apprentice.
Sammy Ameobi earned an estimated £6.4m during his 11 year career that saw him make 264 appearances for teams across the top three leagues in the EFL.
However, it as now been revealed that the former multi-millionaire footballer works as an apprentice, earning just £22,000 a year.
This means the 32-year-old is now earning the equivalent of more than 26 times less what he was paid for, on average, during his footballing career.
The star, who was with Newcastle United as a junior, made his first senior appearance for the club during their 2010/11 season.
Ameobi’s first goal for the senior team in a friendly against Darlington in July 2011 sparked a pitch invasion by jubilant fans.
He went on to make 52 more appearances for the team in the Premier League, with his best season in the top-flight being 2014-15.
In that season the winger made 25 league appearances and scored two goals.
Ameobi also appeared on loan for Middlesbrough and Cardiff City in the Championship during the 2012-13 and 2015-16 seasons respectively.
After Newcastle were relegated to the Championship in 2016, he was sent out on loan to League One side Bolton Wanderers.
There, he scored four goals across all competitions in the 2016-17 season and helped promote the team to the Championship.
He also made four appearances at the tail end of the season for Newcastle United which saw them promoted back to the Premier League.
Ameobi was then signed by Bolton on a free transfer in July 2017, making 91 appearances for the club across all competitions over the following two seasons, scoring 12 goals.
The winger, who’s a devout Christian, made the move to Championship rivals Nottingham Forest at the end of the 2018-19 season.
There, he made 81 appearances and scored 8 goals in all competitions, before moving to Middlesbrough two seasons later.
However, this move did not lead to any senior team appearances, with Ameobi leaving the club, and his football career all together, in July 2022.
He had also played twice for the Nigeria U20s and five times for the England U21s before he committed to the Nigerian national team.
His brothers Shola and Tomi are also both professional footballers, with Sammy playing alongside the former at Newcastle United.
In August 2013, the pair were the first brothers in Newcastle’s history to score in the same game during a 2-0 win over Morecambe in the League Cup.
Then, in 2014, Ameobi became the fastest scoring substitute from open play in the history of the Premier League when he scored after just eight seconds of the second half against Tottenham Hotspur.
HIT AND RUN INCIDENT
It comes as the former star escaped a driving ban after he caused a hit and run road accident which left a teenage girl in A&E.
Ameobi claimed he had been racing to get to work for his new £360 a week apprentice job when the smashed his Audi E-Tron with a personalised plate into Beth Egerton’s Citroen C1.
The crash, which took place on November 12 last year at a roundabout during the morning rush hour, saw Ameobi flee the scene, leaving the 19-year-old in the wreckage.
Beth’s vehicle was propelled into the path of coming traffic, according to her family, and she suffered undisclosed injuries in the crash.
She was taken to hospital and her car was written off.
Beth’s mother Vicky posted a public appeal for information, including the unique SAMM11Y number plate of his electric 4×4, helping to track down devout Christian Ameobi.
She said in her appeal: “My daughter was just going to work minding her own business.
“This individual needs to take accountability for their actions.’’
Police also used CCTV footage of the accident to track Ameobi down, who also had no valid insurance to drive the luxury car.
At Chester magistrates court, Ameobi, of Northwich, Cheshire pleaded guilty to failing to stop after an accident and having no insurance and was fined £240 with £181 in costs and victim surcharge.
His licence was endorsed with six penalty points.
Val Tonkinson, prosecuting, said how the right wing of Beth’s car was collided with by Ameobi’s motor.
The charge states that damage to Beth’s car included “dents to the wheel arch of the right hand side of the vehicle back and front” and the “right side wing mirror”.
Ameobi, representing himself, said: “Obviously, what I did was wrong. I understand that.
“It was completely out of character. I panicked at that moment to be honest with you.
“I am not trying to make excuses for it. “
He continued: “My wife and I were in the hospital with my son the night before.
“He had choked on medication he had for eczema.
“I did not get any sleep.”
The star explained that he had begun his apprenticeship after “quite a long time” out of work due to “health issues”.
Ameobi added: “I was rushing to get to work and worried about my son.
“I just panicked at that moment. That is all that was.”
The 32-year-old said he had insurance documents with him but that he had forgotten to inform his insurance company of a change in relation to his private registration.
Ameobi had previously been fined £750 in 2019 for speeding after claiming there were “no trains” to catch to his then-new club Nottingham Forest.
He had been caught hitting 80mph in a 40mph zone while driving his £189,000 Mercedes supercar in October 2018.