Hope Ini I. Akpan is a Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

n professional footballer who plays for Crawley Town

Crawley Town F.C.

Crawley Town Football Club is an English football club based in Crawley, West Sussex. They won the title of the Football Conference, by a record 15 point margin on second place, and with it promotion to The Football League, in April 2011.-1896–2009:...

, as a midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

.

Club career

Akpan made his competitive debut for Everton

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

 against BATE on 17 December 2009 in the UEFA Europa League.

On 17 March 2011, Akpan moved on loan to Championship side Hull City

Hull City A.F.C.

Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...

 for the remainder of the 2010–11 season. He made his debut on 25 April 2011, coming on as a substitute for Corry Evans

Corry Evans

Corry John Evans is a Northern Irish footballer who plays as a midfielder or centre back for Hull City. A Northern Ireland under-21 and senior international, he came through the Manchester United youth academy, like his older brother, United team centre back Jonny Evans...

, against Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers F.C.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

.

He signed for newly-promoted

Promotion and relegation

In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...

 League Two

Football League Two

Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....

 club Crawley Town

Crawley Town F.C.

Crawley Town Football Club is an English football club based in Crawley, West Sussex. They won the title of the Football Conference, by a record 15 point margin on second place, and with it promotion to The Football League, in April 2011.-1896–2009:...

 on a free transfer on 14 June 2011.

Akpan was charged with misconduct by the FA in November 2011, after homophobic comments were posted on his Twitter account.

International career

Despite being born in England, Akpan has declared his intention to represent Nigeria

Nigeria national football team

The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...

 - the country of his parents - at international level.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Everton Everton F.C. Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...	2009–10	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	2010–11 2010–11 Everton F.C. season The 2010–11 season of Everton F.C. was Everton's 18th season in the Premier League and 57th consecutive season in the top division of English football. It was also Everton's 112th season of league football and 114th season in all competitions. The club began their pre-season friendly schedule on 10...	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Hull City Hull City A.F.C. Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...  (loan)	2010–11 2010–11 Hull City A.F.C. season The 2010–11 season is Hull City's first season back in the Championship after relegation from the Premier League in the 2009–10 season.-Current squad:-Transfers:...	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Crawley Town Crawley Town F.C. Crawley Town Football Club is an English football club based in Crawley, West Sussex. They won the title of the Football Conference, by a record 15 point margin on second place, and with it promotion to The Football League, in April 2011.-1896–2009:...	2011–12 2011–12 Crawley Town F.C. season The 2011–12 season will be the 62nd season in which Crawley Town have played senior football, and the seventh as a fully professional team. It is the first time in the club's history that they will compete in The Football League...	11	1	1	0	2	1	1	0	15	2
Career total		13	1	1	0	2	1	2	0	18	2