| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leon Zion Oluwatobi Ayinde | ||
| Date of birth | 5 September 2004 | ||
| Place of birth | Cork, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Ipswich Town | ||
| Number | 36 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| St. Mary's | |||
| 2018–2023 | Cork City | ||
| 2023– | Ipswich Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2023– | Ipswich Town | 0 | (0) |
| 2024–2025 | → Rochdale (loan) | 27 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| Republic of Ireland U17 | |||
| 2025– | Republic of Ireland U21 | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 09:24, 14 October 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 09:24, 14 October 2025 (UTC) | |||
Leon Zion Oluwatobi Ayinde (born 5 September 2004) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a Winger for EFL Championship club Ipswich Town and is a Republic of Ireland youth international.
Ayinde was born in Cork and played youth football with St. Mary's and Cork City before being signed by Ipswich Town. He would go on to spend a season on loan with Rochdale.
Ayinde first played junior football for Munster Senior League side St. Mary's, before joining by local League of Ireland club Cork City at Under-14 level. [1]
On 28 March 2022 Ayinde made his senior debut for Cork at the age of 17 in the Munster Senior Cup in a 3–0 win over Midleton.
On 31 January 2023 Ayinde was signed by EFL Championship side Ipswich Town. [2] Ayinde mad his first appearance on the bench for Ipswich on 9 August 2023 in an EFL Cup match vs Bristol Rovers.
On 30 August 2024 it was announced that Ayinde had joined National League side Rochdale on loan for half a season. [3] On January 8 it was announced that Anyinde’s loan had been extended until the end of the season. [4]
Ayinde is eligible to play for both the Repbulic of Ireland and Nigeria.
In October 2025 Ayinde received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland U21s, [5] with him making his debut in his hometown of Cork at Turners Cross in a Euros qualifier against Slovakia. Ayinde was brought on as a substitute in the 68th minute however after only six minutes he had to be taken off due to an injury. [6]
| Club | Season | League | National cup [a] | League cup [b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cork City | 2022 | LOI First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 [c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ipswich Town | 2023–24 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2025–26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Rochdale (loan) | 2024–25 | National League | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 [d] | 0 | 34 | 3 |
| Career total | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 36 | 3 | ||