Reuben Omojola Folasanje Agboola (born 30 May 1962) is a former

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 ...

who played at

left back 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 ...

. He made 268 league appearances in a 13-year career in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, and made nine appearances for

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

between 1991 and 1993, appearing at the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations. He began his career as an amateur at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in July 1978, after leaving youth side

Cheshunt F.C. Cheshunt Football Club is a football club based in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Theobalds Lane. History Original club The original Cheshunt Football Club was formed around 1880 and played in ...

He turned professional with the "Saints" in April 1980, and helped the club to reach the

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and to achieve a second-place finish in the First Division in 1983–84. He was sold to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in January 1985 for £150,000. The club struggled, and he was loaned out to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

in 1986. After regaining his first team spot, he helped Sunderland win back their top-flight status following promotions in 1987–88 and 1989–90. Loaned out to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in November 1991, he was allowed to move on to Swansea City twelve months later. He ended his career following spells with non-league clubs

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

and Gosport Borough.

Club career

Southampton

Agboola was born in Camden, London. His family moved to

Waltham Cross Waltham Cross is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, located north of central London. In the south-eastern corner of Hertfordshire, it borders Cheshunt to the north, Waltham Abbey to the east, and Enfield to the south ...

, Hertfordshire when he was a schoolboy where he played for Cheshunt's youth teams whilst also attending Southampton's London Selection Centre. In July 1978, he joined Southampton as an amateur before signing as a professional in April 1980, having made his reserve team debut in April 1979. His first team debut came at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

on 29 November 1980, in the same match as Danny Wallace, when the "Saints" held

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

to a 1–1 draw.saintsplayers.co.uk After the match manager

Lawrie McMenemy Lawrence McMenemy MBE (born 26 July 1936) is an English retired football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton. He is rated in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war Englis ...

said: ''"I was thrilled coming to Old Trafford ... knowing I would put the two youngsters in. And why not?

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager, who managed Manchester United F.C., Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 197 ...

showed everyone about playing kids at Old Trafford years ago. Even if we had lost I would have enjoyed the game for their sake."'' He retained his position in the team for the next few games before the fit again

Nick Holmes Nicholas John Arthur Holmes (born 7 January 1971) is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist of British gothic metal/ doom metal band Paradise Lost and Swedish death metal band Bloodbath. History and style Holmes formed Paradis ...

regained his place. In his first two seasons as a professional he made only eleven appearances, but in November 1982 he eventually claimed the number 3 shirt as his own, ousting Steve Baker, where he formed a partnership with

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 ...

international

Mick Mills Michael Dennis Mills MBE (born 4 January 1949) is an English former footballer who played for Ipswich Town, Southampton and Stoke City. He managed Stoke City, Colchester United and Birmingham City. During his career he achieved Ipswich To ...

. In 1983 McMenemy decided to adopt the continental idea of a sweeper, and Agboola's "quick and alert defending" ideally suited him to the role, to such good effect that in 1983–84 Southampton recorded their highest-ever final position, second place behind

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, as well as reaching the

FA Cup Semi-final The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. Location The semi-finals have always been contested at neutr ...

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

where they lost 1–0 to Everton in

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. He won the club's Best Away Player award. After the first six games of the following season he was replaced by Kevin Bond and after a few sporadic appearances, he was sold to

in January 1985 for £150,000. During his five years as a professional with the Saints, Agboola made a total of 112 appearances in all competitions.

Sunderland

He made his official debut for Sunderland on 29 January 1985 in a 1–0 defeat at his former club, Southampton. He had started in an earlier match at

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; ...

against

, but this match was abandoned because of a frozen pitch and was expunged from the records. He initially found it difficult to hold down a regular first team place as Sunderland struggled in vain to avoid relegation from the First Division at the end of his first season. As Sunderland continued to struggle (now under the management of Agboola's mentor, Lawrie McMenemy), Agboola spent a part of the 1986–87 season on loan at

. In the following season he had his best season for Sunderland, as (now under manager Denis Smith) they stormed back into the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

as champions of the Third Division. This success was followed two years later by a return to the top flight; the "Black Cats" finished sixth and lost 1–0 to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

in the play-off Final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, however Swindon were found to have made illegal payments to their players and so Sunderland were promoted instead. Sunderland again struggled at the highest level and Agboola was loaned out to

in November 1990. He played nine games for

John Rudge John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

's "Valiants" in 1990–91. He left Roker Park in November 1991, having played 170 games for Sunderland in league and cup competitions.

Later career

Agboola joined

Frank Burrows Frank Burrows (30 January 1944 – 24 November 2021) was a Scottish football player and manager who played as a central defender. Life and career Frank Burrows began his football career at Scottish club Raith Rovers. In 1965 he moved south to ...

's Swansea City in November 1991 and made 28 appearances before retiring from professional football. The "Swans" battled against relegation in 1991–92, before reaching the play-offs in 1992–93, losing to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

at the semi-final stage. He subsequently turned out for

of the

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in the 1993–94 season after signing for Geoff Chapple's side in August 1993. He later ended his career at non-league club Gosport Borough.

International career

Agboola was eligible to represent

due to his father. He was first selected by coach

Clemens Westerhof Clemens Westerhof (born 3 May 1940) is a Dutch football manager, who has worked in various football positions on the African continent since 1989. He is most noted for his success with the Nigerian national team. Under Westerhof, the Super ...

for Nigeria whilst with Sunderland, appearing in an

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

qualifying match against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

on 13 April 1991 thus becoming one of the first non-Nigerian born players to represent his native country. He was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to a Nigerian father and English mother. The "Super Eagles" qualified for the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal, and made it to the semi-finals, where they were defeated by Ghana; Nigeria then beat

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

in the third place play-off. He made a total of nine appearances for Nigeria, seven in the Nations Cup and two in

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

qualifying matches.

Later life

He returned to

where he became the landlord at the "Sporting View" bar at the Southampton Sports Centre before moving to

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

in 2004 to run a bar.

Career statistics

Source:}Sunderland career details

Honours

Sunderland *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

champion: 1987–88 *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

play-offs: 1989–90 Nigeria *

third-place finish:

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agboola, Reuben 1962 births Footballers from Camden Town Living people English people of Nigerian descent Black British sportspeople English people of Yoruba descent Yoruba sportspeople Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers Association football fullbacks Cheshunt F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Woking F.C. players Gosport Borough F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players 1992 African Cup of Nations players