Joshua Akinola Ogunfaolu-Kayode (born 4 May 2000) 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 plays as 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 ...

for

EFL 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

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

, on loan from

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 ...

club Rotherham United. Born in Nigeria, Kayode represents Ireland internationally.

Club career

Rotherham United

Kayode was born in Lagos, Nigeria, however, he grew up in Dublin, Ireland before moving to start his career in the youth team of Rotherham United. He made his professional debut in August 2017 in the

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defeat to Manchester City U21. On 20 November 2017 he signed his first professional contract, a deal until the summer of 2020. On 19 September 2018, he joined National League side

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

on a one-month youth loan. In early August 2019 he joined National League North side

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

on loan until January 2020, with conditions attached that meant he could still feature for Rotherham in the

. After returning from Gateshead, Kayode signed a new -year deal extending his stay at Rotherham United until the summer of 2022. He then moved on loan to

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

for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. This loan was formally extended in May 2020 to cover any potential extension to the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 4 August 2020, Kayode returned to

, on a one-year loan. In April 2021 whilst on loan at Carlisle, Kayode signed a new contract with ''the Millers'' that would keep him at the club until the end of the 2023–24 season. He scored his first goal for Rotherham in an

tie against Crewe Alexandra on 4 January 2022. In pre-season ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, Kayode would sustain a hamstring injury minutes after scoring the equaliser for Rotherham United in a friendly against Mansfield Town. After recovery, and in the need for game time, Kayode left Rotherham United on loan - signing for MK Dons on the 29th of August 2022. He would debut for MK Dons the following day as MK Dons suffered a 1–2 defeat to Cheltenham Town in the EFL Trophy. On 3 September Kayode would make his League bow for the Dons, starting on the bench in a 1–0 loss away to Exeter City, his second League appearance coming versus Bolton Wanderers.

International career

Kayode was called up the Republic of Ireland under-21 team for the first time in October 2020, for the European Championship qualifier against Italy. He was called up for a second time in November 2020, making his debut from the bench against Iceland under-21 on 15 November 2020. He made his full debut and scored his first under-21 international goal on 18 November 2020, against Luxembourg under-21 in Luxembourg City.

Career statistics

Honours

Rotherham United * League One runner-up: 2021–22 *

: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kayode, Joshua 2000 births Living people Footballers from Lagos Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian emigrants to Ireland Irish people of Nigerian descent Rotherham United F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriates in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Black Irish sportspeople