Dele Adebola

Crewe Alexandra

He made his first team debut in the 1992–93 season in the Third Division at the age of 17, and in the following season gained experience by playing on loan at Bangor City in the Welsh Premier League and Conference side Northwich Victoria. He made a significant impact for Crewe in 1996–97, his 16 goals proving crucial in the club's promotion to the First Division. He soon proved himself capable of scoring goals at that level, and attracted interest from several bigger clubs. Disappointed when Crewe rejected an offer for him from West Ham United, he made it clear to the club that he wanted to leave, and reluctantly the club made him available for transfer. In February 1998, Adebola was signed by manager Trevor Francis for fellow First Division club Birmingham City for a fee of £1 million.

Birmingham City

With seven goals in the remainder of that season, and scoring in each of his first five matches (in all competitions) in 1998–99, his future at Birmingham looked bright. In his first full season he scored 13 goals, but in 1999–2000 he was less productive, fell out of favour, and at the end of the season was put on the transfer list. Las Palmas, newly promoted to La Liga, announced that they had signed him, only for the move to fall through on medical grounds. Though remaining on the transfer list, he was restored to the first team, and his goals helped Birmingham to reach the 2001 Football League Cup Final. The manager said he kept him on the…

In March 1998 new Northern Ireland manager Lawrie McMenemy, on discovering Adebola to be a British citizen born abroad and therefore eligible to play for any of the home countries, selected him for his first match in charge, a friendly against Slovakia. Adebola had to withdraw due to injury, but did express an interest in playing for the country. He was also selected in Nigeria's provisional squad for the 1998 World Cup, but failed to make the cut. Both Northern Ireland and Nigeria continued their pursuit of the player; in October 1998 McMenemy reported that Adebola was unwilling to play for Nigeria, and did not want to commit to Northern Ireland because he had his sights set on playing for England. In March 1999, McMenemy made a final abortive attempt to persuade him to play for Northern Ireland. Despite his lack of form at club level, he was still sufficiently highly rated by the Nigerian selectors to be included in the preliminary squad for the 2000 African Cup of Nations and, following talks with coach Jo Bonfrere, in the squad for a World Cup qualifier in July 2000. However, he did not accept any of these invitations.

As of match played 29 November 2011.

Born in Lagos, Lagos State, Adebola was brought up in Liverpool after arriving in England as a baby with his family; as a schoolboy, he played in the same representative sides as Robbie Fowler. When offered a YTS place by Liverpool, the team he supported, he believed that trying to progress as a fellow left-footed striker at the club at the same time as Fowler would not be a good idea. Consequently, he accepted a similar offer from Crewe Alexandra.