Tunde Owolabi

Belgian footballer

Tunde Owolabi
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-07-26) 26 July 1995 (age 28)
Place of birth Antwerp, Belgium
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Macclesfield
Youth career
2011–2012 Royal Cappellen
2013–2014 FC United of Manchester
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 New Mills
2017 Hyde United
2017 Prescot Cables
2017 Stalybridge Celtic
2017 Glossop North End
2017–2018 Prescot Cables
2018 Skelmersdale United 10 (0)
2018–2019 Radcliffe 36 (22)
2019 Victoria Hotspurs
2019–2020 FC United of Manchester 28 (28)
2020–2021 Hamilton Academical 7 (0)
2021 Finn Harps 31 (10)
2022 St Patrick's Athletic 28 (5)
2023 Cork City 28 (4)
2024– Macclesfield 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:29, 28 December 2023 (UTC)

Tunde Owolabi (born 26 July 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Macclesfield.

Early and personal life

Owolabi's Nigerian father Ganiyu was also a professional footballer.[1] He was born and raised in Antwerp, where his father was playing at the time for Royal Antwerp.[2] Owolabi played for Belgian club Royal Cappellen's under 17 side before the family moved to England in 2012, when he was 18 years old.[3]

Career

Owolabi played for the FC United of Manchester development team during the 2013–14 season.[4] He played for New Mills, moving from them to Hyde United in February 2017.[5] By December 2017 he had played for Prescot Cables (twice), Stalybridge Celtic and Glossop North End.[6] After moving to Skelmersdale United in February 2018, without scoring in 10 games,[7] he then played for Radcliffe, scoring 26 goals in the 2018–19 season,[1] which earned him the Supporters Player Award from the Northern Premier League Player Awards.[8] He left Radcliffe in the summer of 2019 to move to Malta, to join Victoria Hotspurs[9] before returning to England later that summer, signing with FC United of Manchester in August 2019.[4] He signed a new contract with the club in November 2019.[10] He scored 35 goals in 41 games in all competitions for the club during the 2019–20 season.[11]

He signed a one-year contract with Scottish club Hamilton Academical in July 2020,[12] having previously been linked with a transfer to Grimsby Town.[13] He made his professional debut for Hamilton on 8 August 2020 in a Scottish Premier League match against Ross County.[14] On 1 February 2021, Owolabi was released by Hamilton alongside team mate Justin Johnson, via mutual consent.[15]

On 7 March 2021, Owolabi signed a one-year deal with Irish club Finn Harps.[16] He scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over second placed St Patrick's Athletic on 20 August 2021, taking him up to 5 goals for the season.[17][18] Owolabi scored a total of 12 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions during his time with Finn Harps.[2]

On 24 December 2021, Owolabi signed for League of Ireland Premier Division runners up, Dublin club St Patrick's Athletic, who had also just won the 2021 FAI Cup.[19][20] On 11 February 2022, Owolabi made his debut for the club in the 2022 President of Ireland's Cup against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium, scoring in the penalty shootout as his side lost 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.[21] His first goal for Pat's came on 25 February 2022 when he came off the bench and pulled a goal back for his side 10 minutes later in a 2–1 defeat against Sligo Rovers at Richmond Park.[22] On 23 May 2022, Owolabi scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over rivals Bohemians at Richmond Park.[23] Owolabi made his first appearance in European football on 21 July 2022 in a 1–1 draw with Slovenian side NŠ Mura in the UEFA Europa Conference League.[24]

On 10 December 2022, Owolabi signed for Cork City for the 2023 season.[25]

On 28 December 2023, it was announced that Owolabi had agreed terms with Northern Premier League Premier Division side Macclesfield.[26]

Career statistics

As of match played 3 November 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Skelmersdale United 2017–18[7] NPL Division One North 10 0 — — — 10 0
Radcliffe 2018–19[27] NPL Division One West 36 22 3 0 1 0 6[a] 3 46 25
FC United of Manchester 2019–20[11] NPL Premier Division 28 28 3 0 2 0 8[b] 7 41 35
Hamilton Academical 2020–21[14] Scottish Premiership 7 0 0 0 2 0 — 9 0
Finn Harps 2021[2] LOI Premier Division 31 10 3 2 — — 34 12
St Patrick's Athletic 2022[2] LOI Premier Division 28 5 1 0 — 3[c] 0 32 5
Cork City 2023[2] LOI Premier Division 28 4 2 1 — 2[d] 2 32 7
Macclesfield 2023–24 NPL Premier Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 168 69 12 3 5 0 19 12 213 84
  1. ^ 1 appearance in the FA Trophy; 3 appearances and 1 goal in the Manchester Premier Cup; 2 appearances and 2 goals in the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy
  2. ^ 5 appearances and 6 goals in the FA Trophy; 3 appearances and 1 goal in the Manchester Premier Cup
  3. ^ 1 appearance in the President of Ireland's Cup & 2 appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ^ Appearance(s) in the Munster Senior Cup

References

  1. ^ a b "Tunde setting Radcliffe's sights higher after promotion". Bury Times.
  2. ^ a b c d e Tunde Owolabi at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  3. ^ McCadden, Mark (6 June 2021). "Finn Harps star Tunde Owolabi on his journey from non league to Ballybofey". Buzz.ie.
  4. ^ a b "FC United of Manchester – News Story". fc-utd.co.uk.
  5. ^ "Hyde bring in Owolabi | Non League Daily".
  6. ^ "Owolabi Returns To Cables". 22 December 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Tunde Owolabi – Skelmersdale United F.C. First Team". www.pitchero.com.
  8. ^ "2018/19 NPL Roll of Honour". thenpl.co.uk. 18 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Victoria Hotspurs sign Tunde Owolabi". Victoria Hotspurs. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  10. ^ "FC United of Manchester – News Story". fc-utd.co.uk.
  11. ^ a b "FC United of Manchester – Profile – Tunde Owolabi". www.fcunited.ru.
  12. ^ "Hamilton Academical sign Tunde Owolabi from FC United of Manchester". BBC Sport. 29 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Grimsby Town miss out on Tunde Owolabi". Grimsbylive. 4 August 2020 – via www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk.
  14. ^ a b "Games played by Tunde Owolabi in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Hamilton Accies release attacking duo Tunde Owolabi and Justin Johnson". Daily Record. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  16. ^ Lee, Ethan (7 March 2021). "Harps sign Tunde Owolabi | Finn Harps FC".
  17. ^ Foley, Alan. "Hat-trick hero Owolabi secures the spoils for Harps as St Pat's feel the pinch". The42.
  18. ^ Ashmore, Chris (20 August 2021). "Tunde Owolabi hat trick shocks high-flying Saints". Irish Examiner.
  19. ^ "Owolabi Becomes A Super Saint!". www.stpatsfc.com.
  20. ^ "St Pat's complete signing of Tunde Owolabi". 24 December 2021 – via www.rte.ie.
  21. ^ Fennessy, Paul. "Memorable return for Jack Byrne as Shamrock Rovers beat Pat's on penalties". The42.
  22. ^ Goulden, David (25 February 2022). "Former Saint Keena haunts old club on Sligo debut" – via www.rte.ie.
  23. ^ "Saints hero Tunde Owolabi puts Bohs to sword after thumping home derby hat-trick". independent.
  24. ^ "Chris Forrester inspires revival as St Patrick's Athletic keep the tie alive". The Irish Times.
  25. ^ "Tunde Owolabi signs for City!". Cork City FC Shop.
  26. ^ Leah, Ben (28 December 2023). "TUNDE OWOLABI JOINS THE SILKMEN". Macclesfield FC Official Website.
  27. ^ "StackPath". www.radcliffefc.com.


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