Henry Oliver Ochieng (born 11 November 1998) is a 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 last played as 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 ...

for

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

. Born in England, he represents Kenya internationally.

Club career

Ochieng was raised in Ilford and attended St Aubyn's School in

Woodford Green Woodford Green is an area of Woodford in north-east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the west. Epping Fo ...

and later

Forest School Forest School or Forrest School may refer to: Educational philosophy * Forest school (learning style), a learner centred outdoor learning approach. Religious philosophy * Thai Forest Tradition, a Theravada school of Buddhism in Thailand. * Sri La ...

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

. He started his career with local junior side

Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest District, Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area de ...

before being spotted and signed by the youth team 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 ...

in 2009. He signed a two-year scholarship 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 ...

in 2015. Ochieng made his first-team debut on 8 November 2016 as an 81st-minute substitute for Žan Benedičič in Orient's 1–0 away defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion U23 in the

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 ...

. He signed his first professional contract in December. He made his

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 ...

debut on 25 March 2017 as an 81st-minute substitute for Nigel Atangana in Orient's 3–0 defeat away to

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

. Ochieng was released by Leyton Orient in March 2018. Ahead of the 2018–19 season, Ochieng signed for newly promoted National League club Braintree Town. Ochieng made five appearances for the Iron before joining

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

on 28 March 2019. He joined Wingate & Finchley for the 2019–20 season. On 30 January 2020, it was announced by Wingate & Finchley that Ochieng had been sold for an undisclosed fee to

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

side

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

, returning to professional football following 31 appearances for the club. The following day, Cork City officially announced the signing of Ochieng. In January 2021, Ochieng joined

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 ...

side

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, signing a contract with the under-23s until the end of the 2020–21 season. Ochieng joined

Billericay Town Billericay Town Football Club is a football club based in Billericay, Essex, England. The club are currently members of and play at New Lodge. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three o ...

in December 2021. On 15 July 2022, Ochieng joined rivals

. On 13 February 2023, he joined

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

on an eighteen-month contract. On 27 October 2023, Ochieng returned to Chelmsford, following his departure from Aldershot. On 17 June 2024, Ochieng left Chelmsford for a second time.

International career

Ochieng, whose parents were born in Kenya, was called up by the Kenya national team for their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

in November 2018, but the match was later cancelled. He instead made his debut for the Kenya U23 against Mauritius national football team, Mauritius on 14 November 2018 in 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualification.Ochieng' hoping to realise Olympic dream with Kenya
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Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ochieng, Henry 1998 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Redbridge People from Ilford People educated at Forest School, Walthamstow English men's footballers People with acquired Kenyan citizenship Kenyan men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Leyton Orient F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Welwyn Garden City F.C. players Wingate & Finchley F.C. players Cork City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Hemel Hempstead Town F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Isthmian League players English people of Kenyan descent League of Ireland players Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Black British sportsmen