Ademola "George" Bankole (born 9 September 1969) is a Nigerian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. As a

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

having played for 15 different clubs during his career, his most notable stint came with

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, a club he played for on two occasions, registering over 50 league appearances. He was the goalkeeping coach at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

for nine years.

Career

Born in

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokuta and the surrounding are ...

, Bankole began his career with Shooting Stars in his native Nigeria. He moved to England in 1995, signing for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

, spending a month with the club prior to signing with

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

. He left Orient in September 1996 having registered no games, joining

. He made six appearances for the club between 1996 and 1998. He played seven games in 1997 on loan at

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award in the

Cheshire Senior Cup The Cheshire County Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Cheshire Senior Cup, is a football knockout tournament founded in the 1879–80 season and involves teams from Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, England. It ...

final in a 3–0 victory over

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

. In 1998, Bankole moved to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

, making only one substitute appearance for the club. Bankole was sent out on loan to

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

while the club were in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, acting as cover. Bankole returned to Crewe for a fee of £50,000 in the summer of 2000. Here, he had his greatest success as a player, featuring in 52 league games. While contracted to Crewe, Bankole was called up to the preliminary

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

squad prior to the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

but did not make the final squad. Towards the end of his stint with Crewe and being out of the first-team, Bankole joined

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in a three-month loan deal. In the summer of 2004, Bankole was released by Crewe, temporarily joining

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, Windsor & Eton and

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

in non-league before being picked up by

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

in February 2005. He spent a year-and-a-half with the Bees, before signing to

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

in July 2006. He made six appearances for each club. Bankole left MK Dons in early 2008, joining

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

before being signed by

as goalkeeper cover for

Aidan Davison Aidan John Davison (born 11 May 1968) is a football coach and former professional footballer who is goalkeeping coach of National League side Wrexham. As a player, he played as a goalkeeper from 1987 until 2008. Having started his career with n ...

following Mark Cousins being taken ill with appendicitis, also signing as a temporary coach for the club. Bankole did not make an appearance for Colchester, but was named as permanent goalkeeping coach at the club following Davison's retirement and subsequent move to the United States. Bankole spent nine years as Colchester's goalkeeping coach until he left in the summer of 2017 when the club had a restructuring of backroom staff. Since 2019 George has been a coach with the QPR under 18 and 23 squads.

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bankole, Ademola 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Abeokuta Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Shooting Stars S.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Windsor & Eton F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Colchester United F.C. non-playing staff Yoruba sportspeople 20th-century Nigerian people