He played for Derby County and Tottenham, then built a business around bouncy castles | OneFootball

John Chiedozie took an unusual career path after hanging up his boots in 1992

John Chiedozie joined Derby County after four years with Tottenham Hotspur and it was ultimately the beginning of the end of his career.

The winger arrived at the club in 1988 after the Rams had just finished 15th in the First Division in their first year back at that level since 1980.

He arrived as a free agent, but struggled for game time during his two years with the now Championship side.

The 66-year-old made just two appearances, before making the move back to Notts County in 1990, and by 1992 he had retired from the game entirely.

John Chiedozie’s playing career highs

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While Chiedozie won’t be remembered much for his time with Derby due to only playing two times for the club, he still had a distinguished career prior to his move in 1988.

He came through the academy system with Leyton Orient, breaking into the first team squad in 1977, before making the switch to Notts County.

The forward played 111 times for the Magpies, which caught the attention of Spurs, who made the move to sign him in 1984.

Chiedozie scored 12 goals in 53 league appearances for the London outfit, helping them finish 3rd, 10th, 3rd and 13th in the First Division table before leaving at the end of 1987/88.

John Chiedozie’s career was hurt by injury

Chiedozie endured injury issues throughout his career, which really started to impact him during his time at Spurs.

The Premier League side paid £375,000 to sign him from Notts County, and he even scored on his debut in a 4-1 win against Everton.

But by 1992, he had retired after brief and unsuccessful stints with Chesterfield and Bashley.

Yet he was still honoured by the president of Nigeria for his contribution to football in the country, receiving the title of Officer of the Order of Niger in 2002, and his legacy in the game was continued when his son Jordan went through the Bournemouth academy system.

John Chiedozie’s bouncy castles business

While many footballers retire and move into another role within the game, such as a coach or a pundit, that wasn’t the case for Chiedozie.

The former winger instead went in a very left-field direction and started a bouncy castle business in Hampshire.

Together with his wife, he set up a company called Bumpers, which specialised in children’s entertainment, which included providing bouncy castles for birthday parties and other special occasions.

The pair spent the 1990s as the unlikely source of inflatables and other instruments for children to play with, to the surprise of many parents in Hampshire who were looking to organise their kids’ parties.

John Chiedozie’s role in Jordan’s career

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Chiedozie didn’t completely leave behind the world of football in favour of bouncy castles and birthday parties.

He also trained his son Jordan, who joined the Bournemouth academy system in 2007 at the age of 13.

While he was unable to make it as a member of the Cherries’ first team squad, he enjoyed a 13 year career at a non-league level, following in his father’s footsteps as a forward.

However, his career was cut short after a serious car accident in which he had to be placed in an artificial coma, and it was later revealed that he lost his right leg as a result of the incident.