Eddie Oshodi

Edward Abdullai Mobalaji Olatunji Afo Oshodi (born 14 January 1992) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a defender for Hendon.

Eddie Oshodi

Oshodi celebrating a goal for Forest Green Rovers in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Edward Abdullai Mobalaji Olatunji Afo Oshodi[1]
Date of birth	14 January 1992[2]
Place of birth	Brent, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3]
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current team	Hendon
Youth career
0000–2008	Watford
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2011	Watford	1	(0)
2010–2011	→ Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)	0	(0)
2011	→ Rushden & Diamonds (loan)	12	(1)
2011–2015	Forest Green Rovers	117	(5)
2015	Hemel Hempstead Town	17	(2)
2015–2016	St Albans City	19	(5)
2016–2018	Wealdstone	52	(7)
2019–	Hendon	14	(2)
National team
2007–2008	England U16	3	(0)
2008–2009	England U17	12	(0)
2012–2013	England C	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:23, 12 December 2017 (UTC)

He began his career at Watford in the Championship and spent time on loan at Dagenham & Redbridge and Rushden & Diamonds before moving to Forest Green Rovers in 2011.

In 2015, Oshodi announced his retirement from the game at the age of 23, but returned to playing at semi-professional level shortly thereafter, signing for Hemel Hempstead Town and then St Albans City.

He represented England U16, U17 and C at international level.

Club career

Watford

Oshodi started his career with Watford's youth system. His first involvement with the first team came when he was named on the bench for a 1–0 League Cup third round win over Premier League side West Ham United on 23 September 2008. He made his first team debut for Watford during the 2009–10 season on 29 September in a 3–2 Championship home defeat against Coventry City, replacing the injured Lee Hodson as a substitute in the 78th minute.[4] He was still an academy scholar at the time.[5]

On 25 November 2010, Oshodi signed on loan for League One side Dagenham & Redbridge until January 2011.[6] He joined Conference side Rushden & Diamonds on a three-month loan on 24 January 2011.[7] He scored his first senior career goal on 22 February 2011, in a 2–0 Conference win against Eastbourne Borough.[8] He made 12 appearances during his time with the club.[8]

Forest Green Rovers

On 7 October 2011, Oshodi signed for Conference side Forest Green Rovers, who were managed by his former youth team coach at Watford, Dave Hockaday, on a two-year deal.[9][10] He made his Forest Green debut the next day in a 0–0 away draw against Fleetwood Town.[11]

In August 2012, Oshodi was named Forest Green captain at the age of 20 for the beginning of the 2012–13 season. He scored his first goal for the club on 4 September 2012 in a home win against Ebbsfleet United.[12] In January 2013 he agreed a new two-and-a-half-year extension to his contract.[13] In January 2014, he spent a week training with League One side Brentford, having played under manager Mark Warburton in the academy at Watford.[14]

Oshodi made his hundredth league appearance for Forest Green on 8 April 2014 in a 1–1 draw with Kidderminster Harriers.[15] His first appearance of the 2014–15 season saw him come on as a substitute on 86 minutes in a 2–0 win over FC Halifax Town on 13 September 2014.[16] On 29 November 2014, he scored the opening goal, as well as an own goal, in a 2–1 win over Dartford.[17]

On 2 February 2015, Oshodi revealed that he was stepping away from football to focus on his charity work and that he had come to a mutual agreement to leave Forest Green.[18][19][20]

Semi-professional football

Oshodi signed for Conference South side Hemel Hempstead Town in March 2015.[21] He was sent off in successive months for Hemel in October 2015, and left the club in November with manager Dean Brennan saying he needed to "balance the books".[22] In December 2015 Oshodi signed for another National League South side, St Albans City.[23]

Wealdstone FC

Osodi signed for Wealdstone in the summer of 2016 and played two seasons with the club making over 50 league appearances before retiring in May 2018.

Hendon

In December 2019, Oshodi joined Hendon FC.[24]

International career

Oshodi is eligible to play for England and Nigeria.[25] Oshodi represented the England U16 and U17 teams and made three appearances at the 2009 European U17 Championship, as England crashed out in the group stage. In February 2012, Oshodi was called up to the England C team for a 2011–13 International Challenge Trophy match against Italy Lega Pro[26] and played the full 90 minutes of the 1–1 draw.[27] He then earned another call up to the England C squad in August 2012 for another 2011–13 International Challenge Trophy match against Belgium U23.[28] Oshodi played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win over Belgium to earn his second cap.[29]

Career statistics

As of match played 9 December 2017

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Watford	2009–10[30]	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2010–11[8]	Championship	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	1	0	—		2	0
Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)	2010–11[8]	League One	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
Rushden & Diamonds (loan)	2010–11[8]	Conference Premier	12	1	—		—		—		12	1
Forest Green Rovers	2011–12[31]	Conference Premier	30	0	1	0	—		1[lower-alpha 1]	0	32	0
	2012–13[31]	Conference Premier	41	1	3	1	—		1[lower-alpha 1]	0	45	2
	2013–14[31]	Conference Premier	34	3	0	0	—		2[lower-alpha 1]	0	36	3
	2014–15[31]	Conference Premier	12	1	2	0	—		0	0	14	1
	Total		117	5	6	1	—		4	0	127	6
Hemel Hempstead Town	2014–15[31]	Conference South	7	2	—		—		—		7	2
	2015–16[32]	National League South	10	0	2	0	—		—		12	0
	Total		17	2	2	0	—		—		19	2
St Albans City	2015–16[31]	National League South	19	5	—		—		—		19	5
Wealdstone	2016–17[32]	National League South	34	4	2	0	—		14[lower-alpha 2]	3	50	7
	2017–18[31]	National League South	18	3	0	0	—		0	0	18	3
	Total		52	7	2	0	0	0	14	3	68	10
Career total			218	20	10	1	1	0	18	3	247	24

1. Appearances in FA Trophy
2. Four appearances in the Middlesex Senior Cup; four appearance and a goal in the Middlesex Senior Charity Cup; six appearances and two goals in the FA Trophy

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 322. ISBN 9781845966010.
2. "Eddie Oshodi". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
3. "First Team". Watford F.C. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
4. "Watford 2 – 3 Coventry". BBC Sport. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
5. "Watford vs Coventry City". Watford F.C. Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
6. "Watford's Eddie Oshodi joins Dagenham & Redbridge". BBC Sport. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
7. "Watford's Eddie Oshodi joins Rushden & Diamonds". BBC Sport. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
8. "Games played by Eddie Oshodi in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
9. "Rovers snap up Oshodi". Forest Green Rovers FC. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
10. "Defender Eddie Oshodi joins Forest Green Rovers". BBC Sport. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
11. "Fleetwood Town 0–0 Forest Green Rovers". BBC Sport. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
12. "Forest Green 4–1 Ebbsfleet United". BBC Sport. 4 September 2012.
13. "Eddie Oshodi signs new Forest Green deal". BBC Sport. 5 January 2013.
14. "Brentford monitor Forest Green Rovers defender". Get West London. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
15. "Forest Green 1–1 Kidderminster Harriers". BBC Sport. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
16. "Forest Green Rovers 2–0 FC Halifax Town". BBC Sport. 13 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
17. "Forest Green 2–1 Dartford". BBC Sport. 29 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
18. "My mind wasn't fully into football says Forest Green defender Eddie Oshodi". Stroud News & Journal. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
19. "Popular Forest Green defender Eddie Oshodi swaps football for charity work". Stroud News & Journal. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
20. "Forest Green defender quits football at 23". BBC Sport. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
21. "Fans' favourite Diarra heads out on loan with Oshodi set to join". Hemel Today. 12 March 2015. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
22. "Defender Oshodi leaves Hemel Town after up and down season". Hemel Today. 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
23. "St Albans City FC is delighted to announce the signing of highly-rated defender Eddie Oshodi". St Albans City. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
24. Squad – Eddie Oshodi – Greensnet – Official Hendon FC, hendonfc.net
25. "Official: EDDIE OSHODI joins Dagenham & Redbridge". All Nigeria Soccer. 4 November 2013.
26. "England call for FGR quartet". Stroud News & Journal. 8 February 2012.
27. "England held by Italy". The Football Association. 28 February 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
28. "Three Lions Emerge From Forest Green". Football Conference. 29 August 2012. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
29. "Victory for Three Lions in Belgium". Football Conference. 13 September 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
30. "Games played by Eddie Oshodi in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
31. "E. Oshodi – Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
32. "E. Oshodi – Aylesbury Utd". Aylesbury United FC. Retrieved 5 July 2016.