Sammy Ameobi appeared in the Premier League for Newcastle. (Image: Getty)
He played more than 50 games in the for Newcastle and was an England under-21 international but at just 32, life is now very different for Sammy Ameobi. The winger is well known in English football, also representing the likes of Bolton, Nottingham Forest and .
However, his career stalled at Riverside in the 2021/22 season when Ameobi missed the entire season due to a serious knee injury.
He was duly released that summer and failed to find another club, forced to walk away from the professional game having made 290 league appearances.
Just under three years later the former star is back working again, but in a very different environment. And his current wages represent a snippet of the type of money he was earning when he was gracing England’s top flight.
Ameobi is now employed as an apprentice and earns just £360-per-week. That’s despite making an estimated £6.4m during his 11-year career in football after coming through the ranks at St James’s Park as a youngster.
But in November, it was the daily commute to work that nearly led to him receiving a driving ban. Ameobi was accused of a ‘hit and run’ after crashing his Audi E-Tron into another vehicle.
Ameobi also played for the likes of Nottingham Forest. (Image: Getty)
He later appeared at Chester magistrates court and pleaded guilty to failing to stop after an accident and having no insurance. He was fined £240 with £181 in costs and victim surcharge, and his licence was endorsed with six penalty points.
Ameobi made history on his debut in 2010, appearing as a late substitute against . With brother Shola already on the field, the pair became the first siblings to appear at the same time for the Tyneside club.
He would remain with the club until 2017, although he never truly established himself as a first-team regular amid loan spells at Boro, , and Bolton. His most productive season came in the 2014/15 season under John Carver, when he played 27 times and scored twice.
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But he then returned to Bolton on a permanent deal and became an important player for the club in the Championship. Two years later, after a pay dispute, he left for Nottingham Forest. He spent two further seasons in the second tier before his ill-fated switch to the Riverside.
Ameobi’s senior international ambitions were never recognised, though. In 2014, he followed in Shola’s footsteps by switching his international allegiance to Nigeria, having represented them at under-19 level, but was never called-up for a senior cap.