Jonathan Obika

Jonathan Obika
Personal information
Full nameJonathan Chiedozie Obika[1]
Date of birth12 September 1990[1]
Place of birthEnfield, England
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current team
Swindon Town
Number20
Youth career
2006–2008Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2008–2014Tottenham Hotspur0(0)
2009Yeovil Town (loan)10(4)
2009–2010Yeovil Town (loan)22(6)
2010Millwall (loan)12(2)
2010–2011Crystal Palace (loan)7(0)
2011Peterborough United (loan)1(1)
2011Swindon Town (loan)5(0)
2011Yeovil Town (loan)11(3)
2011–2012Yeovil Town (loan)27(4)
2013Charlton Athletic (loan)10(3)
2014Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)5(0)
2014Charlton Athletic (loan)12(0)
2014–Swindon Town32(8)
National team
2008–2009England U191(0)
2009England U202(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 29 April 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:57, 29 September 2009 (UTC+1)

Jonathan Chiedozie Obika (born 12 September 1990) is an English footballer who plays for Swindon Town. He plays as a striker.

Career

Born in Enfield, London, Obika is a product of the Tottenham Hotspur youth system and was the top scorer for the academy side in the 2007–08 season. He made his first team debut in the UEFA Cup on 27 November 2008 against NEC Nijmegen.[2] He also played against Ukrainian side FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the same competition. He signed a more secure contract with the club in January 2009.[3]

On 19 March 2009 he signed with League One team Yeovil Town on a month's loan.[4] His loan was extended until the end of the 2008–09 season in April.[5] In his two-month loan spell he played 10 games scoring 4 goals.

Obika returned to Yeovil on a three-month loan on 11 August 2009. He scored in his third game of the 2009–10 season against Leyton Orient. He scored again on 1 September against Bournemouth in the Football League Trophy, coming on as a substitute at half time.[6] Along with fellow Tottenham loanees Steven Caulker and Ryan Mason, his loan was extended until the end of the season on 5 November.[7]

On 11 February, Obika was sent back to Spurs due to the return to Yeovil of Arron Davies and was then immediately sent on loan to fellow League One side Millwall.[8] On 13 April, Obika scored an injury time equaliser for Millwall against Yeovil and despite what it meant to Millwall's promotion push, he didn't celebrate as a mark of respect for his old club.[9]

On 20 August, Obika returned to south London to join Crystal Palace on a season-long loan deal.[10] However this was cut short in early January after a series of disappointing performances, and he went on loan to Peterborough United instead.[11] He then joined Swindon Town a few weeks later until the end of the season[12] but was recalled after lack of opportunities at Swindon. Obika then subsequently rejoined Yeovil until the end of the season, his third club of the 2010–11 season,[13] and made 11 appearances scoring 3 goals.

Obika then rejoined Yeovil on loan at the start of the 2011–12 season until January 2012,[14] this deal was later extended until the end of the season. On 26 December 2011, Obika scored the first goal of his new loan deal against Charlton Athletic with an overhead kick,[15] and he then went on to score against Carlisle, Sheffield Wednesday and Leyton Orient.

In February 2013, Obika signed on loan with Championship side Charlton Athletic for the remainder of the 2012–13 season and also signed a one-year contract extension with Spurs until 2014.[16] Obika scored his first goal for Charlton against Leeds United, a stoppage time header to win the match 2–1. Obika followed this up with a 90th minute winner against Wolves.

On 8 January 2014, Obika joined Championship club Brighton & Hove Albion on an initial three-month loan deal.[17] He scored his first goal for Brighton in the FA Cup 4th round tie against Port Vale in the 78th minute, Brighton won 3–1. Rohan Ince & Solomon March scored the other two goals for the Albion.[18] After his deal with Brighton expired, Obika rejoined Charlton Athletic on loan, for the remainder of the season.

Obika left Tottenham and joined League One club Swindon Town on 1 September 2014 for an undisclosed fee; rumored to be around £200,000. He signed a Deal that would see him kept at The County Ground for 2 years.

International career

Obika was called up to represent England in the Under 20 World Cup tournament hosted in Egypt from 24 September – 16 October 2009. Obika featured in the first two games against Ghana and Uruguay.[19]

Personal life

Obika grew up in Edmonton and attended The Bishop Stopford's School in Enfield.[20] He is the cousin of singer and former Fame Academy contestant Lemar,

Career statistics

As of 9 February 2015.[21]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Tottenham Hotspur 2008–09[22] Premier League 0000002[lower-alpha 1]020
2009–10[23] Premier League 00000000
2010–11[24] Premier League 0000000000
2011–12[25] Premier League 0000000000
2012–13[26] Premier League 0010100020
2013–14[27] Premier League 0000000000
Tottenham Hotspur Total 0010102040
Yeovil Town (loan) 2008–09[22] League One 104000000104
2009–10[23] League One 22610101[lower-alpha 2]1257
2010–11[24] League One 113000000113
2011–12[25] League One 274001000284
Yeovil Town Total 70171020117418
Millwall (loan) 2009–10[23] League One 122000000122
Crystal Palace (loan) 2010–11[24] Championship 70001080
Peterborough United (loan) 2010–11[24] League One 1110000021
Swindon Town (loan) 2010–11[24] League One 5000000050
Charlton Athletic (loan) 2012–13[26] Championship 1030000103
2013–14[27] Championship 1200000120
Charlton Athletic Total 2230000223
Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 2013–14[27] Championship 51310082
Swindon Town 2014–15[28] League One 20710001[lower-alpha 2]1228
Swindon Town Total 268100011278
Career totals 142307140202215733
  1. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  2. 2.0 2.1 Appearances in Football League Trophy

Honours

Individual

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  2. Lyon, Sam (27 November 2008). "NEC Nijmegen 0–1 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  3. "Obika signs contract". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
  4. "Yeovil sign teenage Tottenham duo". BBC Sport. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  5. "Yeovil extend deals for Spurs duo". BBC Sport. 8 April 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  6. "Yeovil return for Obika". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 11 August 2009.
  7. "Three Sign Loans for Season". Yeovil Town F.C. 5 November 2009.
  8. "Lions loan for Jon". 11 February 2010.
  9. http://www.ytfc.net/page/MatchReport/0,,10673~48988,00.html
  10. "Obika loan to Palace". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  11. "Posh Swoop For Obika". theposh.com. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  12. "Tottenham striker Jon Obika joins Swindon Town on loan". BBC Sport. 8 February 2011.
  13. "Yeovil Town sign Tottenham Hotspur striker Obika". BBC Sport. 17 March 2011.
  14. "Yeovil Town sign Tottenham Hotspur's Jonathan Obika". BBC Sport. 4 August 2011.
  15. "Yeovil 2–3 Charlton". BBC Sport. 26 December 2011.
  16. "Charlton Athletic sign Tottenham's Jonathan Obika on loan". BBC Sport. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  17. "Albion Add Striker". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
  18. "England Squad list". FIFA. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  19. "Player Profile:Jonathan Obika". Tottenham Hotspur.
  20. "Jonathan Obika". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  21. 22.0 22.1 "Games played by Jonathan Obika in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  22. 23.0 23.1 23.2 "Games played by Jonathan Obika in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  23. 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 "Games played by Jonathan Obika in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  24. 25.0 25.1 "Games played by Jonathan Obika in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  25. 26.0 26.1 "Games played by Jonathan Obika in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  26. 27.0 27.1 27.2 "Games played by Jonathan Obika in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  27. "Games played by Jonathan Obika in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  28. "Sky Bet Football League Team of the Week 13/09/14 – 14/09/14". Football League.

External links