Osaore Emmanuel Onariase (born 21 October 1996) 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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

. Born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, Onarise came through the ranks at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, signing his first professional contract in April 2015. He subsequently joined

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 2016. After a loan spell with

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

, Onarise left Brentford and joined

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 ...

. Further loan spells came with Cheltenham Town and

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

. In 2019, Onarise signed permanently for Dagenham for one season, before returning to the Football League with

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. After two seasons with Scunthorpe, he signed for Dagenham for a third time. He spent two seasons with Dagenham & Redbridge before signing for

in 2023.

Career

West Ham United

After failing a trial with

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 ...

club

and subsequently spending time with

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

London club

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

, Onariase re-signed for the Hammers at the age of 12. Originally a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he progressed through the

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

and was developed into a

at U14 and U15 level. Despite only being signed to a schoolboy contract, Onariase received his maiden call into the first team squad for a Premier League match versus

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 14 March 2015 and remained an unused substitute during the 3–0 defeat. Onariase signed his first professional contract in April 2015, but elected to depart Upton Park in January 2016.

Brentford

On 29 January 2016, Onariase signed an 18-month contract with the Development Squad at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

for an undisclosed fee. After good performances for the

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

early in the 2016–17 season, suspension to

Harlee Dean Harlee James Dean (born 26 July 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central defender for club Birmingham City. He began his career at Dagenham & Redbridge, and had a number of spells on loan at non-League clubs in the Es ...

saw Onariase receive his maiden first team call up versus

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 1884 ...

on 18 October 2016 and he remained an unused substitute during the 0–0 draw. Onariase was an unused substitute on two further occasions and on 1 January 2017, he joined

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 ...

strugglers

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

until the end of the 2016–17 season. He made the first senior appearance of his career the following day with a start in a 2–0 defeat to

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 ...

. Onariase scored the first senior goal of his career with a late consolation in a 2–1 defeat to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

on 11 February. He finished the season with 24 appearances. After signing a new two-year contract on 22 June 2017, Onariase was included in the first team squad for its 2017–18

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

in France. He failed to win a further first team call up before departing

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

on 31 August 2017.

Rotherham United

On 31 August 2017, Onariase joined

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 ...

club

on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. After making two

EFL 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 Le ...

appearances and receiving just one call into a league squad, Onariase re-joined League Two club Cheltenham Town on loan on 1 January 2018. He made just five appearances during the remainder of the 2017–18 season. After the Millers' promotion to the Championship for the 2018–19 season, a failure to make an appearance during the first two months of the campaign saw Onariase depart 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 loan for the remainder of the season in October 2018. He was released when his contract expired at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Dagenham & Redbridge (loan and permanent transfer)

On 25 October 2018, Onariase joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

on a loan which was later extended until the end of the 2018–19 season. He made 31 appearances during his spell and signed a one-year contract with the club on 4 July 2019. Onariase made 32 appearances and scored two goals during the truncated 2019–20 season. He departed the Daggers in August 2020 and made 63 appearances and scored two goals during his two spells at Victoria Road.

Scunthorpe United

On 3 August 2020, Onariase signed a two-year contract with League Two club

for an undisclosed fee. During a relegation-threatened

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season affected by hernia problems, he made 28 appearances and scored two goals. Onariase made 34 appearances and scored two goals during the 2021–22 season and departed the club in March 2022. He made 62 appearances and scored four goals during his time at

Glanford Park Glanford Park is a football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the current home of team Scunthorpe United. Opened in 1988 at a construction cost of £2.5 million, it was the first new purpose-built Football League st ...

Return to Dagenham & Redbridge

On 15 March 2022, Onariase returned to National League club Dagenham & Redbridge for an undisclosed fee and signed a contract running until the end of the 2023–24 season. He made 10 appearances and scored one goal during what remained of a 2021–22 season in which the Daggers finished one place outside the playoff zone.

Hartlepool United

On 17 July 2023, Onariase signed for

ahead of their first season back in the National League following relegation. He made his Hartlepool debut on the opening match of the 2023–24 season in a 3–2 away defeat to

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 ...

Personal life

Onariase attended

St Thomas the Apostle College St. Thomas the Apostle College is a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys in Nunhead, London. A co-educational Sixth Form was opened in 2015. The school was rebuilt and the new school building was opened by the Archbishop of Southwark, Pet ...

and was

head boy Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...

. He is of Nigerian descent.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Onariase, Manny 1996 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Croydon People from Croydon English men's footballers English people of Nigerian descent Black British sportsmen Men's association football central defenders Brentford F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players