Dele Adebola

Bamberdele "Dele" Adebola (born June 23, 1975 in Lagos) is a Nigerian Football (soccer), who plays as a striker for Bristol City F.C..

Early life

Arriving in England as a small boy with his family, Adebola was brought up in Liverpool; as a schoolboy, he played in the same representative sides as Robbie Fowler. When offered a Youth Training Scheme place by Liverpool F.C., 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 F.C..

Club career

Crewe Alexandra

He made his first team debut in the 1992-93 in English football season in the Football League Third Division at the age of 17, and in the following season gained experience by playing on loan at Bangor City F.C. in the League of Wales and Football Conference side Northwich Victoria F.C.. He made a significant impact for Crewe in 1996-97 in English football, his 16 goals proving crucial in the club's gaining promotion to the Football League 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 F.C., 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 F.C. 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 in English football, his future at Birmingham looked bright. In his first full season he scored 13 goals, but in 1999-2000 in English football he was less productive, fell out of favour, and at the end of the season was put on the transfer list. UD 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 2000-01 in English football Football League Cup final.

A serious knee injury,
sustained later that season when the player slid into a goalpost, effectively marked the end of his Birmingham career. A spell on loan at Oldham Athletic A.F.C. towards the end of the 2001-02 in English football season helped him back to fitness, but new manager Steve Bruce chose not to renew his contract.

Crystal Palace

He played one season at Crystal Palace F.C. under former manager Trevor Francis, where he proved his fitness, making 48 appearances in all competitions.

Coventry City

Again released at the end of that season, Gary McAllister took him to Coventry City F.C., where he initially failed to find any form, finishing the season out on loan to Burnley F.C., ironically a club that had been keen to buy him before his injury. It was only when recalled to the Coventry side on a regular basis in 2004-05 in English football, first under Peter Reid and particularly under Micky Adams, playing with the likes of Stern John and Gary McSheffrey that his form picked up. Even though Adebola failed to score a huge amount of goals, he became a fan favourite at Coventry, and most fans were sad to see him leave.

Bristol City

On 30 January 2008, Adebola moved to Bristol City F.C. for an undisclosed fee, despite Coventry wanting to renew his contract, which would end in the summer. Adebola made his debut for Bristol City on 2 February in a 3–0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers F.C. but scored in just seven minutes on his home debut to help Bristol City defeat Sheffield Wednesday F.C. 2–1.

International career

In March 1998 new Northern Ireland national football team 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 national football team provisional squad for the 1998 FIFA 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 he 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 national football team.

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 however 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 again failed to accept any of these invitations.