Apart from an uneventful six months in England with Derby, Nigerian veteran defender Efe Ambrose has played in Scotland since 2012. In six years, Ambrose played for Celtic and Hibernian further down the division.
The Nigerian defender enjoyed so much success at Celtic where he was part of the team that won four straight Scottish Premier League titles. In those seasons, he made more than 20 appearances for The Bhoys signalling the type of role he played in the title-winning seasons. He also won the Scottish Cup and Scottish League titles with Celtic.
When he wasn’t considered good enough at Celtic, Ambrose moved a division lower to join Hibernian where he won another league title. The following season, he played 38 games as Hibernian finished fourth on their return to the Scottish top flight.
He spent a full season and two half seasons with Hibernian before he was released to move to England where he worked with Frank Lampard at Derby.
Derby didn’t keep him after the 2018/2019 season and the 31-year-old stayed without a club for the first half of the 2019/2020 season before he was snapped up by Scottish side Livingston.
“I have missed playing football but do I regret the move to Derby? No, you cannot regret things in football or life,” he told the Livingston website about his time at Derby.
“The most important thing was what I learned from Derby.
“I didn’t have the chance to play but I did not regret it. It was an experience for me and they really helped me and developed me.
“I took a lot from my time there: the training, the intensity and quality of the players and seeing the work of a great coach in Frank Lampard.
“I can say I worked with the Chelsea manager! He is a good guy, has a great personality and my hero. I have always supported Chelsea when he was there so it was very special to work with him.”
Familiar country
With the move to Livingston, Ambrose returns to Scotland a country and league he knows so well. The 31-year-old was unveiled by the club on Tuesday, February 18, 2020.
“There was interest in me [while a free agent] but nothing concrete,” the 31-year-old said.
“The only thing I had was St Mirren but Livingston came first and I chose them instead.”
“I know the reputation of this club: tough, hard to beat. The team is strong, they fight together and the spirit in the club is good,” he also said.
Ambrose will wear the number 25 shirt and go straight into the squad for their next game which is against his former club Hibernian.
Source: Pulse.ng