Adeola Oluwatoyin Akinbiyi (born 10 October 1974) is a football coach and former professional

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 ...

. As a player he was a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who notably played 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 ...

for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, as well as in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

with Houston Dynamo. He has had a much-travelled career with many different clubs with transfer fees totalling more than £11.5 million during his career, including being Leicester City's record signing (at £5.3 million) at the time. He also played in 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 ...

with

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, Gillingham,

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, Stoke City,

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

. Born in England, Akinbiyi qualified to play for the Nigeria national team through his parents, and earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for Nigeria in 1999. In 2013 he was appointed as player-coach at non-league side

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

. He remained with the club for several seasons before taking up a sports consultancy role in Africa.

Club career

Early career

Akinbiyi began his career as a trainee at

, where he worked his way up into the first team in 1992. He made his début on 3 November 1993 as a substitute against German club Bayern Munich in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. The match ended 1–1, meaning that Norwich won the second round tie 3–2 on aggregate and went on to face

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

, who eliminated them. He was loaned to

and

before completing a £250,000 move to Gillingham in 1997. He scored 29 goals in 67 league and cup games for the Gills and was quickly transferred to newly promoted

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

side

for £1.2 million.

Big money moves

Akinbiyi's stock continued to rise and after scoring 21 goals for Bristol City in the 1998–99 season,

paid a club record £3.5 million for him in September 1999 in an attempt to replace Robbie Keane. He played only one season at Molineux, finishing as the club's top goalscorer with 16 goals but Wolves just missed out on a playoff place. Ten months after arriving at Wolves, he departed to

club

for £5.5 million, a decision he would later regret. Brought in as a replacement for

Emile Heskey Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey (born 11 January 1978) is an English former professional footballer who currently serves as head of football development of Leicester City Women. Playing as a striker, he made more than 500 appearances in the Foo ...

(who left for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

for £11 million), he failed to live up to expectations, scoring only 11 goals in 58 league appearances. His spell at Leicester hit rock bottom in a 4–1 defeat at home to Liverpool. He missed four easy chances, including a miss from six yards in the last minute. He was booed by Leicester fans whose patience with Akinbiyi had run out. Soon after, he scored his first league goal of the season in a crucial 1–0 win at home to Sunderland, which prompted him to say that "hopefully this will start a flood of goals for me". Leicester transferred Akinbiyi to

for £2.2 million in February 2002. On arrival he took the surprisingly high number 55 shirt, adding a very small plus sign between the numbers to signify his preferred shirt number, 10, which was already taken. Having scored just one goal in 14 league and cup appearances, he was loaned out to Stoke City in 2003. He scored twice – the second goal coming in the last game of the 2002–03 season, when the Potters beat

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

1–0 to retain their second tier status. He later joined on a permanent basis, on a free transfer in September 2003. He scored ten goals in 2003–04 and won the

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

award. In 2004–05, Akinbiyi scored seven goals in 30 matches and was subject to bids from

. All of Sheffield United's offers were turned down by Stoke but an offer from

was accepted.

Burnley

Akinbiyi completed a £600,000 move to

in February 2005, but marked his debut by getting sent off within two minutes for head butting Sunderland player

George McCartney George McCartney (born 29 April 1981) is a Northern Irish former footballer who is currently a coach at Linfield. He began his career at Sunderland in 1998 before having two spells each with West Ham United and Leeds United. He won the 2004–0 ...

. After netting 16 times for ''the Clarets'', he moved to

for a then club record £1.75 million in January 2006.

Sheffield United

Akinbiyi scored on his debut for ''the Blades'' against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

, and endeared himself to fans by scoring in his first

Steel City derby The Steel City Derby (also known as the Sheffield Derby) is a local derby that takes place between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, the two professional football league teams based in the city of Sheffield, England. It is widely consi ...

at Hillsborough. After winning promotion, Akinbiyi made only five appearances for ''the Blades'' in the Premier League in 2006. It was also reported that he was involved in a training ground bust-up with teammate

Claude Davis Claude Davis (born 6 March 1979) is a Jamaican former footballer who played as a defender. He previously played for Portmore United (Jamaica), Preston North End, Sheffield United, Derby County, Crystal Palace, Crawley Town and Rotherham Unite ...

in October 2006 following a 2–0 defeat against Everton in which Davis had been sent off.

Return to Burnley

Akinbiyi was soon resold to Burnley in January 2007 for a fee of £650,000 with a further £100,000 to be paid in the summer of 2007. His second debut for the Clarets was more successful, scoring a goal against top flight

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. During the rest of the 2006–07 season, Akinbiyi was not as successful as during his first spell at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

, scoring three goals. This was attributed by

Steve Cotterill Stephen John Cotterill (born 20 July 1964) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the manager of side Shrewsbury Town. Cotterill had a nine-year career as a footballer playing for Burton Albion, Wimbledon, ...

to Akinbiyi having spent too much time in the weights room at Sheffield United and as a result being too bulky. He was given the number nine shirt for the 2007–08 season but found himself behind Andy Gray and

Robbie Blake Robert James Blake (born 4 March 1976) is an English former professional footballer and current coach at Bognor Regis Town. He began his career as a striker but was increasingly used as midfielder in the latter part of his career. He began his ...

as a first choice striker. After going back to Burnley, Akinbiyi lacked consistent form, finding goals harder to come by. His hard work and endeavour made him a firm fans' favourite. During the 2008–09 season, his regular position on the bench was taken by youngster

Jay Rodriguez Jay Enrique Rodriguez (born 29 July 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Burnley. Rodriguez began his career with his hometown club Burnley, for whom he scored 41 goals in 128 appearances across all com ...

, a player who he had been mentoring. However, Akinbiyi regained his place on the bench in the fifth round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

at Stamford Bridge and in the 69th minute he scored to make the game 1–1 and take it into extra time. Burnley won 5–4 on penalties. While at Burnley, Steve Cotterill, Burnley's then manager, banned him from the gym. "I wasn't playing at Sheffield so the only thing I was doing was weights. We didn't even have reserve games and it was something to do. I put on a bit too much muscle and I lost about a yard of pace", he said. "I try to stay away from the weights room now. I'm sort of addicted."

Houston Dynamo

On 26 March 2009, Akinbiyi was reported to be in talks about a move to the United States to join

club Houston Dynamo. On 30 March, Akinbiyi was officially unveiled as a Houston player. He made his MLS debut on 3 May, as a late substitute in a game against

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

. To make room on the roster for

Luis Ángel Landín Luis Ángel Landín Cortés (born 23 July 1985) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a forward. Career Club Landín began his career in the youth development system of Pachuca. Landín made Primera División de México (Mexico Fi ...

, the club's first

Designated Player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

, the Dynamo released Akinbiyi on 20 August 2009.

Notts County

After his release by Houston, Akinbiyi agreed terms with

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

. He made his debut on 17 October 2009 in a 0–0 draw against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Lee Hughes Lee Hughes (born 22 May 1976) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Stourport Swifts. A strong striker with excellent finishing abilities, Hughes represented the England semi-professional team once in 1996. ...

in the 82nd minute. On 10 May 2010 ,it was announced that he had been released by Notts County along with seven other players.

Free agent (2010–2013)

In January 2011, after eight months without a club, Akinbiyi was on the verge of joining Newport County in the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

. He had been training with Premier League club Stoke City, and was recommended to Newport by Stoke's Newport-born manager

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him on ...

; Pulis had been Akinbiyi's manager at Stoke between 2003 and 2005. However, Newport subsequently pulled out of the deal. Akinbiyi spent the next two years as a free agent.

Colwyn Bay

Having been without a club for three years, he was widely assumed to have retired from football by the time of his signing for

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

, as player-coach on 25 July 2013. He left Colwyn in January 2015.

International career

Born in Hackney, London to Nigerian parents, Akinbiyi qualified to play internationally for

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 ...

, and through his birthplace for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was called up on three occasions for

, playing once in 1999 against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Kilkis Kilkis ( el, Κιλκίς) is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2011 there were 22,914 people living in the city proper, 28,745 people living in the municipal unit, and 51,926 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city o ...

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...

Personal life

Akinbiyi has worked as a sports academy consultant and largely in both Nigeria and Ghana.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Burnley *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...

: 2009 Notts County *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

: 2009–10 Individual * Bristol City Player of the Season: 1998–99 * Stoke City Player of the Season: 2003–04 *

Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the English football league system, second tier of English football. ...

: August 2004

References

External links

*
Ade Akinbiyi
Flown from the Nest

Times Online, 7 January 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Akinbiyi, Ade 1974 births Living people Footballers from Hackney Central Citizens of Nigeria through descent Black British sportspeople Association football forwards Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers English footballers English people of Nigerian descent English people of Yoruba descent Expatriate soccer players in the United States Norwich City F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Houston Dynamo FC players Notts County F.C. players English Football League players Yoruba sportspeople Premier League players Major League Soccer players Senrab F.C. players Colwyn Bay F.C. players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate footballers