James Bamidele Oluwafemi Alabi (born 8 November 1994) is an English footballer who plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for Bath City. He has previously played for

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

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 ...

, Mansfield Town, Forest Green Rovers, Accrington Stanley, Ipswich Town, Grimsby Town,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, Tranmere Rovers, Dover Athletic, Leyton Orient, Eastleigh, Bromley and

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

Career

Alabi was born in London Borough of Southwark and began his career at Tottenham Hotspur, before departing the club after not being offered a professional contract. Alabi later joined

, playing for the club's academy in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

before moving to Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. After a season at Lennoxtown he moved back to Stoke City for the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season. On 21 February 2013 he joined League One side

on loan for a month. After seeing him in training Irons manager Brian Laws compared him as a 'technically better' version of John Gayle, who Laws believes was one of his best signings in his first spell at Scunthorpe. He made his professional debut on 23 February against Hartlepool United at Glanford Park, scoring 10 minutes after coming on as a 67th-minute substitute. On 26 March 2013 his loan spell at Scunthorpe was extended until the end of the

season. He remained at Glanford Park for the remainder of the season, playing in nine matches as they failed to avoid relegation. On 31 October 2013, Alabi joined Mansfield Town on a one-month loan. He made his debut for Mansfield the next day against Southend United but was sent-off after for a late tackle. Alabi then joined Forest Green Rovers on a one-month loan on 28 November 2013. He made his debut on 30 November 2013 in an

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

first round tie against

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

. He played in six games for Forest Green without scoring before returning to Stoke at the end of December 2013. On 11 March 2014, Alabi joined League Two side

for a second loan spell with the Iron. He made one appearance for Scunthorpe before returning to Stoke. On 9 August 2014, Alabi joined Accrington Stanley on a one-month loan. He played three times for Stanley before returning to Stoke. In January 2015 Alabi had a trial with Dutch side

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

. He was released by Stoke at the end of the 2014–15 season and joined Ipswich Town, after impressing Mick McCarthy by scoring 2 goals in 2 appearances for the under 21s side on trial, on a one-year deal on 24 August 2015. On 25 August 2015, Alabi made his Ipswich debut, scoring in a 4–1 win against Doncaster Rovers in a League Cup second round match. On 25 November 2015, Alabi joined National League side Grimsby Town, on loan until 3 January 2016. Following his release by Ipswich, Alabi signed for National League side

, on a deal until the end of the 2015–16 season. Alabi joined Tranmere Rovers from Chester on 10 July 2017.He was placed on the transfer list in May 2019, but removed by the club in July 2019. On 16 January 2020, Alabi signed for Eastleigh, on loan from Leyton Orient until the end of the 2019–20 Season.On 4 September 2020, Alabi signed for Bromley, as a free agent previously from Leyton Orient in the 2020–21 season.On 1 July 2022, Alabi left Bromley following the expiry of his contract. On 9 July 2022, Alabi joined newly promoted National League club

. Following the club's relegation, Alabi was released after one season. On 12th January 2024 Bath City confirmed the signing of Alabi until the end of the season.

Personal life

Born in England, Alabi is of Nigerian descent.

Career statistics

Honours

Leyton Orient * National League: 2018–19
Bromley *

: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabi, James 1994 births Living people English men's footballers English people of Ghanaian descent Black British sportsmen Men's association football forwards Stoke City F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Chester F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Bath City F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Footballers from Southwark