Dominic Iorfa (born 24 June 1995) is an English 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 le ...

who plays as a defender for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. He is the son of Nigerian international footballer Dominic Iorfa, and represented

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 ...

at under-21 level.

Club career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Iorfa was part of the youth system at his local club

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

before joining the academy of

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 ...

at the age of 15. He moved on a one-month loan to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

on 18 March 2014, and made his senior debut the same day as a substitute in a 0–1 defeat at

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

. Iorfa's first senior start came eleven days later in a 1–0 loss to Walsall at the Bescot Stadium, receiving his first yellow card also. Overall Iorfa made seven appearances for the Shrews in a campaign which ultimately resulted in relegation. Following his return to Wolves, Iorfa made his first appearance for the club as a surprise starter in a 2–1 loss to

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

at Molineux on 6 December 2014. He swiftly became the club's first choice right-back, starting in twenty-one of Wolves' twenty-five remaining fixtures following his debut. Having made his debut at the start of a 4-game unbeaten run, Iorfa became a fan favourite and a regular to the first team. In January 2015, Iorfa won the football league's Young Player Of The Month award, and that same day went on to assist a goal in a 3–0 win for Wolves against Fulham. Iorfa received his first ever red card in the first game of the 2016–17 season, a straight red against

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

at the

New York Stadium The New York Stadium (known as the AESSEAL New York Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Opened in July 2012, it is the home ground of Rotherham United. Its name was inspired by the com ...

on 6 August 2016. Wolves were 2–0 down at the time but fought back despite being down to 10 men to draw 2–2 with goals from

George Saville George Alan Saville (born 1 June 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Millwall and the Northern Ireland national team. Saville began his senior career with Chelsea but did not make a first tea ...

and

Jón Daði Böðvarsson Jón Daði Böðvarsson (transliterated as Jon Dadi Bodvarsson; born 25 May 1992) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a right winger or a striker for League One club Bolton Wanderers and the Iceland national team. Jón Daði i ...

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian manager (association football), football manager and former player who last managed Serie A club Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari. He was a long-time Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for In ...

's first game as head coach. On 14 July 2017 Iorfa was sent on a season-long loan to fellow Championship side

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. He made 25 total appearances and scored in a 4–2 home win over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on 2 December.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 31 January 2019 Iorfa moved to

for an undisclosed fee. He would make his debut 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 ...

on 16 February 2019, where he would score his first goal and second career goal, with the last kick of the game to draw 2-2. The following season, he was voted as Sheffield Wednesday

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 ...

for the 2019–20 season. In December 2020, he ruptured his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

in a match against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, meaning he would miss the remainder of the 20-21 season. He would return in time for the start of the 21-22 season after Wednesday had suffered relegation without him, and would make his return against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

in the first round of the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

. Following his return from injury, Iorfa would sign a new 2 year deal keeping him at the club until the summer of 2023. Following promotion back to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

on option was taken in Iorfa's contact for him to stay at the club.

International career

Iorfa has been capped by England at

under 18 ''Under Eighteen'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Marian Marsh, Anita Page, Regis Toomey, and Warren William. It is based on the short story "Sky Life" by Frank Mitchell Dazey and Agnes Chri ...

, under 20 and

under 21 Under may refer to: * "Under" (Alex Hepburn song), 2013 * "Under" (Pleasure P song), 2009 *Bülent Ünder (born 1949), Turkish footballer *Cengiz Ünder (born 1997), Turkish footballer *Marie Under (1883–1980), Estonian poet * Under (restaurant) ...

levels. According to his father, Iorfa will consider playing for Nigeria only after his 23rd birthday.

Personal life

His father — also named Dominic Iorfa — played as a striker and represented Nigeria at

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, and under-23 levels.

Career statistics

Honours

Sheffield Wednesday *

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

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

England U21 *

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Individual *Football League Young Player of the Month: January 2015 * Sheffield Wednesday Player of the Year: 2019–20

References

External links

*
England profile
at the FA {{DEFAULTSORT:Iorfa, Dominic 1995 births Living people Footballers from Southend-on-Sea English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players English Football League players England men's youth international footballers English people of Nigerian descent Black British sportsmen