Dele Adebola

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Dele Adebola
Personal information
Full name Bamberdele Adebola
Date of birth June 23, 1975 (age 31)
Place of birth    Lagos, Nigeria
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Nickname Pele
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Coventry City
Number 9
Youth clubs
Crewe Alexandra
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1992–1998
1993–1994
1994
1998–2002
2002
2002–2003
2003–present
2004
2004		 Crewe Alexandra
→ Bangor City (loan)
→ Northwich Victoria (loan)
Birmingham City
→ Oldham Athletic (loan)
Crystal Palace
Coventry City
→ Burnley (loan)
→ Bradford City (loan)		 122 (39)
004 0(2)
00? 0(?)
128 (29)
005 0(0)
039 0(5)
132 (27)
003 0(1)
015 0(3)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 16:01, 3 April 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Bamberdele 'Dele' Adebola (born June 23, 1975 in Lagos) is a Nigerian footballer, who currently plays as a striker for Coventry City.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Arriving in England as a small boy with his family, Adebola was brought up in Liverpool; as a schoolboy, he played in the same representative sides as Robbie Fowler. When offered a YTS place by Liverpool, the team he supported, he believed that trying to progress as a fellow left-footed striker at the club at the same time as Fowler would not be a good idea. Consequently he accepted a similar offer from Crewe.[1]

[edit] Crewe

He made his first team debut in the 1992-93 season in the Third Division at the age of 17, and in the following season gained experience by playing on loan at Bangor City in the League of Wales and Conference side Northwich Victoria. He made a significant impact for Crewe in 1996-97, his 16 goals proving crucial in the club's gaining promotion to the First Division.

He soon proved himself capable of scoring goals at that level, and attracted interest from several bigger clubs.[2] Disappointed when Crewe rejected an offer for him from West Ham, he made it clear to the club that he wanted to leave, and reluctantly the club made him available for transfer.[3] In February 1998 Adebola was signed by manager Trevor Francis for fellow First Division club Birmingham City for a fee of £1 million.

[edit] Birmingham

With seven goals in the remainder of that season, and scoring in each of his first five matches (in all competitions) in 1998-99, his future at Birmingham looked bright. In his first full season he scored 13 goals, but in 1999-00 he was less productive, fell out of favour, and at the end of the season was put on the transfer list. Las Palmas, newly promoted to La Liga, announced that they had signed him,[4] only for the move to fall through on medical grounds.[5]

Though remaining on the transfer list, he was restored to the first team, and his goals helped Birmingham to reach the 2001 League Cup final.[5] The manager said he kept him on the transfer list in order to provoke him into the sort of performance commensurate with his power, pace and technical ability but which his "laid-back" character might otherwise inhibit.[6]

A serious knee injury,[7] sustained later that season when the player slid into a goalpost, effectively marked the end of his Birmingham career. A spell on loan at Oldham towards the end of the 2001-02 season helped him back to fitness, but new manager Steve Bruce chose not to renew his contract.

He played one season at Crystal Palace under former manager Trevor Francis, where he proved his fitness, making no fewer than 48 appearances in all competitions.

[edit] Coventry

Again released at the end of that season, Gary McAllister took him to Coventry City, where he initially failed to find any form, finishing the season out on loan to Burnley, ironically a club that had been keen to buy him before his injury.[8][7]

Another loan spell followed, this time at Bradford City, and it was only when recalled to the Coventry side on a regular basis in 2004-05, first under Peter Reid and particularly under Micky Adams, playing with the likes of Stern John and Gary McSheffrey that his form picked up. His contract was renewed, and now alongside new strike partner Maltese forward Michael Mifsud, he seems to be approaching the sort of form that in his youth earned him international callups.

[edit] International career

In March 1998 new Northern Ireland manager Lawrie McMenemy, on discovering Adebola to be a British citizen born abroad and therefore eligible to play for any of the home countries, selected him for his first match in charge, a friendly against Slovakia.[9] Adebola had to withdraw due to injury, but did express an interest in playing for the country.[10] He was also selected in Nigeria's provisional squad for the 1998 world cup, but failed to make the cut.[11]

Both Northern Ireland and Nigeria continued their pursuit of the player; in October 1998 McMenemy reported that he was unwilling to play for Nigeria, and did not want to commit to Northern Ireland because he had his sights set on playing for England.[12]

In March 1999 McMenemy made a final abortive attempt to persuade him to play for Northern Ireland.[13] Despite his lack of form at club level, he was however still sufficiently highly rated by the Nigerian selectors to be included in the preliminary squad for the 2000 African Cup of Nations[14] and, following talks with coach Jo Bonfrere, in the squad for a World Cup qualifier in July 2000.[15]

However he again failed to accept any of these invitations.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Culley, Jon. "Adebola out to upstage an old idol", Independent, 2001-02-24. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  2. ^ "Sky Blues watching Adebola transfer race", 4thegame.com, 1997-11-05. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  3. ^ "Adebola set to move on", Messenger Newspapers, 1997-11-07. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  4. ^ "Shock as Adebola quits", BBC Sport, 2000-07-01. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  5. ^ a b "Adebola looking forward to a Blue final", ESPN Soccernet, 2001-01-09. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  6. ^ "Francis wants Burchill permanently", BBC Sport, 2000-12-13. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  7. ^ a b "Clarets target's injury shock", Lancashire Evening Telegraph, 2001-05-04. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  8. ^ "Francis wants to keep Clarets target Adebola", Lancashire Evening Telegraph, 2000-11-25. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  9. ^ "N Ireland shock as McMenemy picks Nigerian", Irish Independent, 1998-03-13. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  10. ^ Anderson, David. "Adebola to miss Slovakia clash", Irish Examiner, 1998-03-24. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  11. ^ "Player profile", Crewe Alexandra F.C.. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  12. ^ Anderson, David. "McMenemy scours leagues for talent", Irish Examiner, 1998-10-09. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  13. ^ Anderson, David. "McMenemy is ignoring Germany in crisis claims", Irish Examiner, 1999-03-25. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  14. ^ "Sports Digest", Irish Examiner, 1999-12-14. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
  15. ^ "Adebola called into Nigeria squad", BBC Sport, 2000-06-30. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.

[edit] External links


Coventry City F.C. - Current Squad

1 Steele | 2 Whing | 3 Hall | 4 Page | 5 Ward | 6 Hughes | 8 Doyle | 9 Adebola | 10 Kyle | 11 Birchall | 13 Lee-Barrett | 14 Fadiga | 15 McKenzie | 16 Osbourne | 17 Mifsud | 18 McNamee | 19 Giddings | 20 Hawkins | 21 Tabb | 22 Hutchison | 23 Cameron | 24 Bunce | 25 Virgo | 29 Thornton | 30 Davis | 31 Lynch | 33 Marshall | 43 Belford | Manager: Dowie
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../d/e/l/Dele_Adebola_3501.html"
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