External links
- Noble Okello at Soccerway
- Noble Okello at the Canadian Soccer Association
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Noble Okello Ayo [1] | ||
| Date of birth | July 20, 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Phoenix Rising FC | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| North York Hearts | |||
| Mooredale SC | |||
| 2013–2018 | Toronto FC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2018 | Toronto FC III | 16 | (1) |
| 2017–2018 | Toronto FC II | 23 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Toronto FC | 23 | (1) |
| 2019 | → Toronto FC II (loan) | 19 | (0) |
| 2020 | → HB Køge (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2021 | → Toronto FC II (loan) | 3 | (1) |
| 2023 | New England Revolution II | 10 | (1) |
| 2024 | Atlanta United 2 | 26 | (3) |
| 2025– | Phoenix Rising | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016 | Canada U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2018 | Canada U20 | 5 | (3) |
| 2018 | Canada U21 | 4 | (0) |
| 2020 | Canada | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of December 27, 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of January 10, 2020 | |||
Noble Okello Ayo (born July 20, 2000) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Phoenix Rising FC of the USL Championship.
Okello began playing soccer at age six with the North York Hearts SC. [1] He later played for Mooredale SC before joining the Toronto FC Academy in 2013. [2] On August 20, 2017, he was part of the U17 side that beat Juventus U17 to capture the inaugural International Youth Soccer Cup. [3]
In 2016, he appeared in one match for Toronto FC III in League1 Ontario. [4] In 2017, he scored one goal in 13 appearances [5] and made a further two appearances in 2018. [6]
In September 2017, Okello signed his first professional contract with Toronto FC II in the USL. [2] [7] On October 6, 2017, he made his professional debut against Bethlehem Steel FC. [8] Following the conclusion of USL season, Okello was invited to train with the U19 team of VfL Wolfsburg. [9] On January 10, 2018, he played a full 90 minutes for their U19 side in a 2–1 victory over Hallescher FC where he scored the equalizing goal in the 88th minute [10] He then returned to Toronto, to join the Toronto FC first team's 2018 pre-season training camp. [11] It was later reported that VfL Wolfsburg had made three separate transfer bids to sign Okello, which would see his club receive a six figure transfer fee in addition to appearance fees and sell on percentage fee. [12]
In January 2019, Okello signed a first-team contract with Toronto FC in Major League Soccer. [13] [14] He made his first-team debut for Toronto on August 14 against Ottawa Fury FC in the second leg of their 2019 Canadian Championship semi-final series. [15] He made his MLS debut on July 21, 2020, against the New England Revolution. [16] [17] He was loaned to the second team for some matches in 2021. [18] He scored his first goal for TFCII on June 30, converting a penalty kick against Tormenta FC. [19] Upon completion of the 2021 season, Okello's option for the 2022 season would be picked up by Toronto. [20] After appearing in four of the first five matches of the 2022 season, Okello suffered an injury that kept him out of action for five months. [21] After the end of the 2022 season, he departed the club, upon the expiry of his contract. [22]
On September 25, 2020, Okello was sent out on loan to Danish 1st Division club HB Køge, the same club that his teammate Rocco Romeo was also on loan with. [23] On September 30, he made his debut for Køge, coming on as a second-half substitute and scored a goal from 35 metres out. [24] [25]
In February 2023, he went on trial with MLS club LA Galaxy. [26] Afterwards, he went on trial with the New England Revolution. [27] In March 2023, he signed a contract with their second team, New England Revolution II, in MLS Next Pro. [28]
In December 2023, he signed a contract with Atlanta United 2 for the 2024 season. [29] He scored his first goal on May 8, 2024 against Carolina Core FC. [30]
Okello signed with Phoenix Rising FC on December 27, 2024. [31]
Okello made his debut in the Canadian youth system attending a camp in September 2016 with the Canada U17 team. [1] He was named to the roster for the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, where he made his international debut on April 22, 2017 against Costa Rica U17. [1]
In May 2018, Okello was called up to the Canadian U21 side for the 2018 Toulon Tournament. [32] In October 2018, Okello was named to the Canadian U20 squad for the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. [33] He scored a brace in the tournament opener against Dominica, a 4–0 victory. [34] Okello was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship on February 26, 2020. [35]
Okello was named to the Canadian senior team for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. [36] Okello made his senior debut on January 7, 2020, against Barbados as a substitute in a 4–1 victory. [37]
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Toronto FC III | 2016 [4] | League1 Ontario | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2017 [5] | 13 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 1 | |||||
| 2018 [6] | 2 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | |||
| Toronto FC II | 2017 | USL | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2018 | 22 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 22 | 0 | ||||||
| 2019 | USL League One | 19 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 19 | 0 | |||||
| 2021 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 45 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 1 | ||
| Toronto FC | 2019 | MLS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 1 [a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2021 | 14 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | — | 3 [b] | 0 | 20 | 2 | ||||
| 2022 | 8 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 2 | ||
| HB Køge (loan) | 2020–21 | Danish 1st Division | 12 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 1 | ||
| New England Revolution II | 2023 | MLS Next Pro | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 106 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 117 | 6 | ||
| Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 0 |
