Tom Taiwo

Chelsea

Taiwo was a student at St Mary's Catholic High School in Menston. He joined Chelsea from Leeds United along with Michael Woods in a controversial move after Ken Bates accused Chelsea of tapping up the youngsters. Leeds received £5 million in compensation for the pair after threatening to take Chelsea to court. He broke his leg two days before he was due to make his youth team debut for the "Blues". His parents were accused of taking backhanders to influence his decision; Taiwo stated that these "false claims" were highly "upsetting" to him. Taiwo joined League Two club Port Vale on a month's loan in August 2008. He made his debut, coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute, at home to Bournemouth, in the 3–1 win on 30 August. Vale sent him back to Chelsea in September after they decided not to extend his loan. Taiwo went on a trial with Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer in March 2009.

"I always felt like I was playing catch-up. The club had a glut of players in my position and I was unlucky enough to suffer a serious injury. There's always somebody younger than you coming through. I was disappointed, but I also have to look back and say I wasn't good enough. That can be quite a painful thing to say. As a young footballer, you can be quite blinded at times. It was the first time in my life I'd ever suffered a real setback. I had to face the fact that I wasn't as good as I hoped I'd be."

Carlisle United

In July 2009, Carlisle United…

Although he has played for England at youth level, he is eligible to represent Nigeria through his paternal grandfather. He was named as a substitute in all of England's games at the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, however, he did not feature in the defeat to Spain in the final. He did, though, make it off the bench in the 1–1 draw with Belgium and the 1–0 semi-final victory over France.

Taiwo "has a reputation as a tough-tackling and wholehearted player".

Carlisle United

Football League Trophy: 2010–11; runner-up: 2009–10 Falkirk

Scottish Cup runner-up: 2014–15