Thomas Sowunmi (born 25 July 1978) is a retired

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 ...

. Sowunmi was born in Nigeria to a Hungarian mother and a Nigerian

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

father and spent the first nine years of his life in the African state. He started playing football aged 13 and began a professional football career with Dunaferr. Sowunmi left for

Vasas Budapest Vasas may refer to: * Vasas SC, Hungarian sports club *Győri Vasas, former name of Hungarian sports club Győri ETO (1950-65) *Mihály Vasas (born 1933), Hungarian footballer and manager *Zoltán Vasas Zoltán Vasas (born 5 November 1977) is ...

in 1998 but returned to his first club in 2001. He made his first appearance for Hungary in August 1999, in a 1–1 draw against Moldova. Sowunmi was the first

person of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

to represent Hungary at football. He spent a short spell in France with AC Ajaccio but returned to Hungary with Ferencvaros in 2003. He was signed by FC Slovacko in 2005 but after one season became involved in a dispute with the club. Eventually he was released from his attachment to the Czech team following police and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

intervention. Sowunmi signed for Scottish club Hibernian on 6 February 2007 after impressing manager

John Collins John Collins may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Collins (poet) (1742–1808), English orator, singer, and poet * John Churton Collins (1848–1908), English literary critic * John H. Collins (director) (1889–1918), American director an ...

while on trial. In just his second match he came on as a half-time substitute in a Scottish Cup quarter-final tie at Queen of the South and scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 win. Sowunmi was released by Hibernian in June, and Sowunmi re-signed for Vasas Budapest in September 2007.

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