Ridwan Oluwatobi A. T. "Toby" Ajala (born 27 September 1991) is an English 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 for Faversham Town.

Early life

Ajala was born in

Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

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 ...

, and moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

aged five. He played youth football in Dublin for Home Farm, before returning to London aged 16.

Career

Ajala began his senior career with

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

side Ilford in 2008. He then played for Buntingford Town in the Herts Senior County League & former Bedfordshire League side Southill Alexander before going back to play for Danny Bailey at

Middlesex County Football League The Middlesex County Football League is a football competition based in England loosely drawing teams from the central, northern and western parts of Greater London. The league was founded in 1984 and initially had only one division, although it ...

side Interwood until 2011 when he had a trial with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

before joining

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 ...

club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

, though he never played for their first team. He returned to Interwood before playing in the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

for Hayes & Yeading United in the 2011–12 season. Ajala has also had trials with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Bristol City

Ajala joined

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

for the 2012–13 season, signing a contract until January 2013 then to the end of the 2012–13 season. He was awarded the number 35 shirt and made his professional début for the club on 16 April 2013 in a 0–1 home defeat to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, a match in which City were also relegated. He came on as an 89th-minute substitute for

Neil Kilkenny Neil Martin Kilkenny (born 19 December 1985) is a professional footballer who plays for Australian club Western United. A midfielder, he began his career in the youth system at Arsenal, and went on to play league football for Oldham Athletic, ...

AFC Wimbledon

Ajala joined League Two side

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

on a short-term loan deal in 2012. He made his debut for the

Football 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 in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tie against

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

on 2 December 2012. He made an assist for the equaliser but it proved only to be a consolation as the match ended 2–1 to MK Dons. He was recalled by Bristol City for upcoming matches.

Non-league

Ajala signed for

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

on 31 January 2014. He played 15 times for the Wings, before leaving at the end of the season. Ajala signed a one-year deal with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on 20 July 2014. On 9 September 2015, it was announced that Ajala had signed for

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

On 4 January 2016, Ajala re-joined

, on a deal until the end of the season. Ajala signed for

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 ...

in June 2016 after turning down a new deal at Torquay. Ajala joined

for the second time in August 2017 and made his only appearance in the first half of the

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

2017/18 opener versus Truro City. Ajala signed for

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 ...

in August 2017 and made his debut versus

Oxford City Oxford City Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Marston, Oxford. They currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Marsh Lane. ...

on 19 August 2017. Ajala signed for Thamesmead Town in September 2017 and made seven league appearances for the club and one cup appearance. He scored his only goal in a 4–2 home defeat to Greenwich Borough on 30 September 2017. Ajala signed for

Harlow Town Harlow Town Football Club is an English association football, football club based in Harlow, Essex. The club is a former member of the and plays at The Harlow Arena. The club is best known for its exploits in the 1979–80 FA Cup, in which it ...

in November 2017. He made his debut for the club in a 1–0 win over

Leiston Leiston ( ) is an English town in the East Suffolk non-metropolitan district of Suffolk, near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at the ...

on 7 November 2017. Ajala signed for

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

in February 2018 and made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw with

Folkestone Invicta Folkestone Invicta Football Club is a association football, football club based in Folkestone, Kent, England. They are currently members of the and play at Cheriton Road. History The club was established in 1936 and joined the East Kent Wedne ...

on 24 February 2018. He scored his first goal for the club two weeks later, on 10 March 2018, coming off the bench to score his side's only goal in a 3–1 defeat to

. Ajala signed for Ashford United in November 2018 and made his debut for the club in a 3–0 win over Greenwich Borough. Ajala spent the first half of the 2019–20 season with

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

, before joining

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

in February 2020. He joined

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

for 2021–22. He left the club in February 2022 due to injury. Ajala joined Bowers & Pitsea for 2022-23. Following a brief return to Ashford United, he joined Faversham Town in January 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ajala, Toby 1991 births Living people English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Home Farm F.C. players Ilford F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Burnham F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Thamesmead Town F.C. players Harlow Town F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Glebe F.C. players Romford F.C. players Sittingbourne F.C. players Bowers & Pitsea F.C. players Faversham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players Southern Counties East Football League players Footballers from the London Borough of Newham English people of Yoruba descent Yoruba sportspeople