Grace to Grass? Former Nigeria U-20 winger charged to British court for reckless driving

Former Newcastle United and Cardiff City forward, Sammy Oluwaseyi Ameobi, has been charged to court after his involvement in a hit and run accident, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 32-year-old began his career in the Newcastle United Football academy before debuting for the senior team in 2011.

In the same year, Ameobi joined the Nigeria U-20 team training in Turkey ahead of the 2011 African Youth Championship, before featuring against Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Eventually, he played for the England U-21 team. In 2014, he retraced his steps, and declared he wanted to play for the Super Eagles, but a senior call-up never came.

Nonetheless, the former Nottingham Forest winger has landed himself in hot water. As per the Scottish Sun, Ameobi was recently charged to court after he caused a hit and run road accident which left a teenage girl in a hospital’s Accident and Emergency ward.

The crash happened in November 2024, and Ameobi, in his defence, claimed was racing to get to work for his new £360 a week apprentice job when the smashed his car into the victim’s. He fled the scene, leaving the 19-year-old victim in the wreckage.

As per multiple reports, the victim who happened to be a female, suffered undisclosed injuries in the crash. She was taken to hospital and her car was written off.

Ameobi earned around £6.4m from his football career, but now works as an apprentice for £360 a week at his new job which is 26 times less than what he earned as a professional athlete.

The victim’s mother posted a public appeal for information, including the Ameobi’s plate number, which aided the police as they used the CCTV footage of the accident to track Ameobi down.

“This individual needs to take accountability for their actions,” she wrote.

At Chester magistrates court, the England-born Ameobi 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 also endorsed with six penalty points. In response, the retired footballer 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.

“My wife and I were in the hospital with my son the night before.He had choked on medication he had for eczema. I didn’t get any sleep. I was rushing to get to work and worried about my son. I just panicked at that moment. That is all that was.”

Ameobi last played for Middlesbrough who he signed with in 2021. He was released after a year as he barely featured, missing the entire season due to injuries.