Emmanuel Osadebe

Emmanuel Osadebe

Personal information
Full name	Emmanuel Ebuka Osadebe [1]
Date of birth	(1996-10-01) 1 October 1996 (age 28) [2]
Place of birth	Dundalk, Ireland
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Forest Green Rovers
Number	6
Youth career
0000–2014 [3]	Dundalk
2014–2015	Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2017	Gillingham	42	(3)
2017–2019	Cambridge United	16	(0)
2018	→ Newport County (loan)	3	(0)
2019–2020	Macclesfield Town	25	(4)
2020–2022	Walsall	81	(6)
2022–2024	Bradford City	27	(1)
2024–	Forest Green Rovers	40	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:35, 2 January 2025 (UTC)

Emmanuel Ebuka Osadebe (born 1 October 1996) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League club Forest Green Rovers.

Club career

Osadebe started playing football with his local side Dundalk. ^[3] He joined Gillingham from Tottenham Hotspur Foundation College Programme in May 2015. He made his Gillingham debut on 8 August 2015 in 4–0 home win over Sheffield United where he was named Man of the Match. ^[4] However, it later emerged that Osadebe had been ineligible to play, with Gillingham having mistakenly registered his previous club with the Football League and the FA as Tottenham rather than Dundalk. As a result, Gillingham received a £4,000 suspended fine, but escaped a points deduction. ^[5]

In November 2015 Osadebe was invited to train with the Republic of Ireland U21 squad ahead of their friendly against Norway, but did not feature in the matchday squad. ^{[6] [7]} As his parents hail from Nigeria, Osadebe is also eligible to represent Nigeria.

Osadebe received the 2015–16 Gillingham Goal of the Season award for his solo effort against Bury in November 2015. ^[8] He signed a new one-year deal with Gillingham, with the option of a further one-year extension, at the conclusion of the 2015–16 season, ^[9] however he was released by the club a year later. ^[10]

On 31 May 2017, Osadebe joined League Two side Cambridge United on a two-year deal. ^[11] On 18 January 2018, Osadebe joined Newport County on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season. ^[12] He made his debut for Newport five days later against Morecambe as a half-time substitute. ^[13] His loan arrangement at Newport was terminated on 23 March 2018 and he returned to Cambridge United.

He was released by Cambridge United at the end of the 2018–19 season. ^[14] In the summer of 2019 he was signed by Macclesfield Town on a one-year deal.^{[ citation needed ] [15]} On 1 February 2020 it was announced that he was one of three players to have left financially troubled Macclesfield during the January 2020 transfer window, following a meeting with the English Football League. ^[16]

On 3 September 2020, he joined Walsall on a free transfer. In his almost two years there, he played 91 games, scoring 8 goals. ^[17]

On 10 June 2022, Osadebe joined fellow League Two side Bradford City for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-year contract. ^[18] Osadebe’s first league game for Bradford came to an end after just seven minutes when he broke his leg in two places against Doncaster Rovers. ^[19]

On 18 January 2024, Osadebe signed for fellow League Two club Forest Green Rovers for an undisclosed fee. ^[20] Even after some great performances for Forest Green Rovers including goals against Barrow, Wrexham and former club Walsall, he could not keep them up and they will play in the National League in the 2024–25 season. He was kept on by Forest Green Rovers in their 2023–24 retained list.

Career statistics

As of match played 1 January 2025

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
Gillingham	2015–16 [21]	League One	18	2	1	0	0	0	2 [a]	0	21	2
	2016–17 [22]	League One	24	1	1	0	3	0	3 [b]	0	31	1
	Total		42	3	2	0	3	0	5	0	52	3
Cambridge United	2017–18 [23]	League Two	4	0	0	0	1	0	2 [b]	0	7	0
	2018–19 [24]	League Two	12	0	0	0	1	0	3 [b]	1	16	1
	Total		16	0	0	0	2	0	5	1	23	1
Newport County (loan)	2017–18 [23]	League Two	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
Macclesfield Town	2019–20 [25]	League Two	25	4	0	0	2	0	3 [b]	0	30	4
Walsall	2020–21 [26]	League Two	38	3	0	0	0	0	3 [b]	0	41	3
	2021–22 [27]	League Two	43	3	2	1	1	0	4 [b]	1	50	5
	Total		81	6	2	1	1	0	7	1	91	8
Bradford City	2022–23 [28]	League Two	10	0	0	0	0	0	2 [c]	0	12	0
	2023–24 [29]	League Two	17	1	1	0	1	0	2 [b]	1	21	2
	Total		27	1	1	0	1	0	4	1	33	2
Forest Green Rovers	2023–24 [29]	League Two	20	3	—		—		—		20	3
	2024–25 [30]	National League	20	0	1	0	—		2 [d]	0	23	0
	Total		40	3	1	0	0	0	2	0	43	3
Career total			234	17	6	1	9	0	26	3	275	21

1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in EFL Trophy
3. Appearances in League Two play-offs
4. One appearance in FA Trophy, one appearance in National League Cup

References

1. "A Football Disciplinary Commission" (PDF). The Football League. p. 3. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
2. "Emmanuel Osadebe". 11v11. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
3. "O'Neills LFA Youth Cup Champions | Dundalk Football Club". Archived from the original on 25 July 2014.
4. "Gillingham's Emmanuel Osadebe played against Sheffield United but was not registered correctly".
5. "Gillingham fined £4k for fielding ineligible player Emmanuel Osadebe". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
6. "Republic of Ireland call-up for Gillingham midfielder Emmanuel Osadebe". Kent Online. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
7. "Republic of Ireland 0 - 0 Norway | 2016 - Under-21 Friendlies | 999942364 | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
8. "Bradley Dack walks away with several trophies at Gillingham FC player-of-the-year awards". Kent Online. May 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
9. "Emmanuel Osadebe: Gillingham midfielder signs new one-year deal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
10. "Retained List Announced" . Retrieved 24 May 2017.
11. "Emmanuel Osadebe Becomes the U'S Third Summer Acquisition" . Retrieved 31 May 2017.
12. "Emmanuel Osadebe: Cambridge midfielder joins Newport on loan". BBC Sport. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
13. Osadabe Newport debut
14. "David Forde: Cambridge United release former Millwall keeper". BBC Sport. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
15. "Emmanuel Osadebe: Macclesfield sign midfielder after Cambridge exit". BBC. 23 June 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
16. "Emmanuel Osadebe, Theo Vassell & Miles Welch-Hayes leave Macclesfield Town". BBC Sport. 1 February 2020.
17. "Saddlers snap up Emmanuel Osadebe". www.saddlers.co.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
18. "Emmanuel Osadebe: Bradford City sign Walsall midfielder for undisclosed fee". BBC. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
19. "Emmanuel Osadebe: Bradford City midfielder suffers double leg break in Doncaster draw". BBC. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
20. "Forest Green sign Bradford midfielder Osadebe". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
21. "Games played by Emmanuel Osadebe in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
22. "Games played by Emmanuel Osadebe in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
23. "Games played by Emmanuel Osadebe in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
24. "Games played by Emmanuel Osadebe in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
25. "Games played by Emmanuel Osadebe in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
26. "Games played by Emmanuel Osadebe in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
27. "Games played by Emmanuel Osadebe in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
28. "Games played by Emmanuel Osadebe in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
29. "Games played by Emmanuel Osadebe in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
30. "E. Osadebe: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 2 January 2025.

External links

• Emmanuel Osadebe at Soccerbase