Jonathan Afolabi (born 14 January 2000) is an Irish footballer who plays as a striker for Bohemians. His previous clubs include Celtic, Dunfermline Athletic, Dundee, Ayr United and Airdrieonians.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jonathan Afolabi | ||
| Date of birth | 14 January 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Republic of Ireland | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Bohemians | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Shamrock Rovers | |||
| St Joseph's Boys | |||
| 2016–2019 | Southampton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2022 | Celtic | 0 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Dunfermline Athletic (loan) | 6 | (2) |
| 2020–2021 | → Dundee (loan) | 19 | (3) |
| 2021–2022 | → Ayr United (loan) | 14 | (1) |
| 2022 | → Airdrieonians (loan) | 12 | (2) |
| 2022– | Bohemians | 37 | (15) |
| International career‡ | |||
| Republic of Ireland U17 | |||
| 2017–2019 | Republic of Ireland U19 | 16 | (6) |
| 2019–2021 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 5 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:03, 5 November 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:47, 2 June 2021 (UTC) | |||
Club career
Early career
Born and raised in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Afolabi played his youth football with Mark Celtic, Shamrock Rovers, Lourdes Celtic, and St Joseph's Boys before earning a move to the Academy of Premier League club Southampton.[1]
Celtic
On 21 August 2019, Afolabi joined Scottish Premiership Champions Celtic.[2]
After various loan spells, his contract was not renewed on expiry at the end of June 2022.[3]
Dunfermline Athletic (loan)
On 27 January 2020, Afolabi signed for Dunfermline Athletic of the Scottish Championship on loan until the end of the season.[4] His debut in senior football came on 1 February 2020, in a 3–2 win away to Queen of the South.[5] He made 6 appearances for the club, scoring 2 goals before the season was ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
Dundee (loan)
On 29 September 2020, Afolabi joined Dundee on a season-long loan.[7] He scored his first goal for the club at home in the league against Greenock Morton. He scored against Hearts and Ayr United in crucial games for Dundee as they won the promotion playoffs in the 2020/21 season.[8]
Ayr United (loan)
On the 2nd August 2021, Afolabi signed for Ayr United on loan until the end of the season.[9]
Airdrieonians (loan)
On 11 February 2022, Afolabi was recalled from Ayr and was immediately sent on loan to Scottish League One side Airdrieonians for the rest of the season.[10]
Bohemians
On 5 August 2022, Afolabi returned home to Dublin, signing for League of Ireland Premier Division club Bohemians.[11] Afolabi was awarded the league's player of the month award for July 2023, after scoring 9 total goals over 7 consecutive games.[12][13]. He would finish the 2023 League of Ireland Premier Division season as the joint-top league goalscorer and would be named in the PFAI Team of the Year. He would open the scoring in the 2023 FAI Cup final but the Bohs would lose the game to St Patrick's Athletic.[14]
International career
Afolabi was born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland to Nigerian parents.[15] Afolabi has played for the Republic of Ireland right up to under-21 level. On 31 July 2019 he was named in the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament, alongside Ferran Torres and Félix Correia in the forward positions.[16] He scored his first goal for the Republic of Ireland U21s on 26 March 2021 in a 2–1 friendly win over Wales U21 in Wrexham.[17]
On 8 September 2023, he received his first call up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad and was included in the extended squad for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier at home to the Netherlands,[18] but did not make the final squad.[19][20]
Career statistics
- As of match played on 12 November 2023[21]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Southampton | 2016–17[22] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017–18[23] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19[24] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Celtic | 2019–20[24] | Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[25] | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2021–22[26] | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0[d] | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Dunfermline Athletic (loan) | 2019–20[24] | Scottish Championship | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 2 | ||
| Dundee (loan) | 2020–21[25] | 19 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 22 | 4 | ||
| Ayr United (loan) | 2021–22[26] | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0[e] | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| Airdrieonians (loan) | 2021–22[26] | Scottish League One | 12 | 2 | — | — | 3[f] | 1 | 15 | 3 | ||
| Bohemians | 2022[27] | League of Ireland Premier Division | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 4 | 1 | ||
| 2023[28] | 34 | 15 | 5 | 5 | — | 1[g] | 0 | 40 | 20 | |||
| Total | 37 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 21 | ||
| Career total | 88 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 108 | 31 | ||
- ^ a b c Appearances for Southampton U21/U23 in the EFL Trophy
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League & UEFA Europa League
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ^ Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup
- ^ Appearances in the Championship play-offs
- ^ Appearance(s) in the Leinster Senior Cup
Honours
Bohemians
Individual
References
- ^ "Extratime.ie – Jonathan Afolabi". www.extratime.ie.
- ^ "Jonathan Afolabi: Celtic sign forward from Southampton on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 21 August 2019.
- ^ Sullivan, Joe (7 July 2022). "Ross Doohan moves to Tranmere Rovers". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ "Jonathan Afolabi signs for Pars | Dunfermline Athletic Football Club". dafc.co.uk.
- ^ "Queen of the South vs. Dunfermline Athletic – 1 February 2020 – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
- ^ "Republic of Ireland - J. Afolabi - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". ie.soccerway.com.
- ^ "Jonathan joins". Dundee FC. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ "Dundee v Greenock Morton". BBC. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ "United sign Afolabi". Ayr United FC. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ "Celt Afolabi makes Diamonds loan switch". airdrie. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Bohs announce signing of Ireland U-21 cap Jonathan Afolabi from Celtic". independent.
- ^ a b Team, Extratime. "Jonathan Afolabi crowned SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for July". extratime.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ "In-form Jonathan Afolabi hoping to keep run going in crucial Dublin derby". Independent.ie. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
- ^ "'Hurt' Declan Devine offers no defence as clinical Saints punish Bohs". Independent.ie. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ Fennessy, Paul (27 June 2019). "'My ma wants me to play for Nigeria... But I've been playing with Ireland for a long time'". The42.
- ^ "Afolabi honoured to make Team of the Tournament | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie.
- ^ "U21s comeback to beat Wales". www.fai.ie. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ "Stephen Kenny selects 25-man squad for France & Netherlands | Football Association of Ireland". fai.ie.
- ^ "Republic of Ireland - Netherlands | 2024 - UEFA European Qualifiers | 2036407 | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie.
- ^ "QPR man Sinclair Armstrong makes the cut for Dutch tie but Bohs' Jonathan Afolabi misses out". Independent.ie. 10 September 2023.
- ^ "Republic of Ireland – J. Afolabi – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
- ^ "Jonathan Afolabi | Football Stats | Bohemians Dublin | Season 2016/2017 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ "Jonathan Afolabi | Football Stats | Bohemians Dublin | Season 2017/2018 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ a b c "Jonathan Afolabi | Football Stats | Bohemians Dublin | Season 2018/2019 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ a b "Jonathan Afolabi | Football Stats | Bohemians Dublin | Season 2020/2021 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ a b c "Jonathan Afolabi | Football Stats | Bohemians Dublin | Season 2021/2022 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ "Jonathan Afolabi | Football Stats | Bohemians Dublin | Season 2022/2023 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ "Jonathan Afolabi | Football Stats | Bohemians Dublin | Season 2023/2024 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ Dempsey, Andrew. "Bohemians secure Leinster Senior Cup crown with win over Usher Celtic". extratime.com. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
External links
- Jonathan Afolabi at FootballDatabase.eu
- Jonathan Afolabi at Soccerway