Lanre Oyebanjo

Early career

Oyebanjo was born in Hackney, London to a Nigerian father and an Irish mother. He joined the West Ham United youth system at the age of 10 and while a ball boy for a first-team match in 2004 entered the pitch to retrieve a second ball, while play went on around him. He was released by West Ham aged 16 when he has not offered a scholarship. Oyebanjo started his senior career with Isthmian League Division One North club Waltham Forest in 2006 while studying for his A-levels. Aged 16 he became one of the youngest players in Waltham Forest's history, making his debut in a 2–0 home defeat to Barking in the Essex Senior Cup on 7 November 2006. He made 21 appearances for Waltham Forest in the 2006–07 season before joining Brentford as a member of their youth system. He progressed into Brentford's first-team squad and was an unused substitute in their 2–0 defeat at home to Luton Town on 27 November 2007. However, he finished 2007–08 without making any appearances for Brentford.

Histon

Following a trial, Oyebanjo signed for Conference Premier club Histon on a short-term contract on 30 July 2008 to provide cover for Craig Pope. He made his debut as a 72nd-minute substitute for Pope in Histon's 1–0 defeat away to Mansfield Town on 12 August 2008, having been on the bench for their opening match of 2008–09. He started the following match, a 1–1 draw away to York City on 16 August 2008, and later that month signed a new two-year contract with Histon. Having…

Oyebanjo represented the Republic of Ireland at under-19 level, making his debut in a 1–0 defeat to Portugal in the Under-19 Midlands International Tournament on 18 August 2008. He appeared in their two remaining matches at the tournament, a 1–0 defeat to Ukraine on 19 August 2008 and a 2–0 loss to Spain on 21 August. He appeared in three 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification matches in November 2008, including victories over Malta and Liechtenstein and a defeat to France. Oyebanjo featured in their three 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite qualification matches in June 2009. The matches against Belgium and Switzerland resulted in defeat, but when Oyebanjo captained the Republic of Ireland against Sweden, the team recorded a 2–1 victory. He finished his under-19 career with nine caps and in August 2010 was named the FAI Under-19 International Player of the Year. He made his under-21 debut as an 84th-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw away to Georgia on 14 November 2009 in a 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 2 match. Three days later, he started the Republic of Ireland's 1–1 away draw against Armenia in the same competition. Having been an unused substitute against Armenia on 3 March 2010, he entered a 5–0 home qualification win over Estonia on 10 August as an 87th-minute substitute. Oyebanjo was on the bench for the Republic of Ireland's opening 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 7 match against…

Oyebanjo primarily plays at right back but is capable of playing at centre back.

Oyebanjo graduated from City, University of London with a BSc in Mathematics & Finance. As of 2017, he was working as a financial planner.