Emmanuel Oyeleke

Early years

Oyeleke began his career at Premier League side Chelsea, playing in the youth teams from U9 to U14 level. He moved to Queens Park Rangers and played for two seasons at U15 and U16 level. Oyeleke moved to the FootballCV Academy in 2009. During the 2009–10 season, Oyeleke made appearances for the Academy in the Conference Youth Alliance, the Central Conference Reserve League, the Northamptonshire County U18s Cup and the FA Youth Cup. Oyeleke scored in the Central Conference Reserve Cup final versus Halesowen Town on 27 April 2010, levelling the score at 1–1 and helping the Academy to a 3–2 shootout victory. While at the Academy, Oyeleke had trials with Premier League side Stoke City and Championship sides Burnley and Derby County.

Brentford

Oyeleke signed for League One side Brentford in May 2010 on a two-year scholarship. His maiden call-up to the first team squad came in the last game of the 2010–11 season, when he was an unused substitute in a 4–4 league draw at Huddersfield Town. Oyeleke's first involvement with the first team during the 2011–12 season came on 12 November 2011, when he was an unused substitute for a 1–0 FA Cup first round victory over Basingstoke Town. His Brentford debut came in the following round, in a 1–0 defeat to Wrexham in the FA Cup, when he came on at half time as a substitute for Myles Weston. He made his league debut and first start on 31 December, in a 3–3 draw with Milton Keynes Dons at Griffin Park. Brentford conceded three goals in the first half and as a result, Oyeleke was substituted at half-time. Brentford performed an "astonishing comeback" to draw the match, 3–3. He was not called into the first team squad again during the 2011–12 season. Oyeleke signed his first professional contract in April 2012, a one-year deal to be a part of the development squad. In the summer of 2012, Oyeleke was included in the squad for Brentford's pre-season tour of Germany and made substitute appearances in matches versus ZFC Meuselwitz and FC Erzgebirge Aue. Oyeleke was an unused substitute on 9 occasions for the first team during the 2012–13 season and failed to make an appearance, though he made regular appearances for the development squad and furthered his development by gaining experience playing as a right back.

Oyeleke made a number of appearances in Brentford's 2013–14 pre-season matches and was the subject of loan interest from League Two side AFC Wimbledon, though Dons manager Neal Ardley's interest later cooled. On 6 August 2013, Oyeleke made his first competitive appearance for the club in nearly 20 months in a 3–2 extra time League Cup victory over Dagenham & Redbridge. He started the match and played 54 minutes, before being substituted for Farid El Alagui. He was again made available for loan on 27 February and made seven appearances and scored one goal for the development squad during the 2013–14 season.

It was announced on 27 June 2014 that despite being overage, Oyeleke had signed a new one-year deal to remain part of the development squad, after impressing on loan away from Griffin Park during the 2013–14 season. Oyeleke made 11 development squad appearances (scoring once) during the 2014–15 season and was released at the end of the campaign, having made just three first team appearances for the Bees.

Northampton Town (loan)

Over a year since his previous first team match, Oyeleke joined League Two promotion challengers Northampton Town on a one-month loan on 28 January 2013. His first appearance for the club came on 2 February against Rotherham United, starting in a 3–1 away defeat and being substituted at half time for Roy O'Donovan. Oyeleke returned to Griffin Park on 26 February, when his loan expired, having made just two appearances.

Aldershot Town (loans)

On 9 August 2013, Oyeleke joined Conference Premier side Aldershot Town on loan until 22 December. He made his debut for the club the following day, coming on as a first-half substitute for Adam Mekki in a 1–1 draw at Grimsby Town. In the following game, he scored his first goal for Aldershot (the first competitive goal of his career) in a 3–0 victory at home to Dartford. He followed up with two more goals and after scoring his fourth goal in a 6–0 rout of Tamworth on 21 December, his loan was extended until 28 January 2014. Oyeleke returned to Brentford on 30 January after his loan expired. He made 33 appearances during his spell and scored four goals.

On 27 March 2014, Oyeleke returned to the Shots for his second loan spell of the 2013–14 season, agreeing a deal to stay until the end of the campaign. He went straight into the starting lineup for a 1–0 win over Hyde two days later. He scored the first goal of his second spell in a vital 4–1 win over playoff challengers Alfreton Town on 8 April, scoring the third with a neat finish from close range. Oyeleke scored on the final day of the season in a 2–1 defeat to Hereford United, with other results going the Shots' way to securing their position in the Conference Premier for the 2014–15 season with a 19th-place finish. Oyeleke made 40 appearances across his two spells with Aldershot during the 2013–14 season, scoring six goals. Looking back on his time at the Recreation Ground, Oyeleke said "I learnt a lot mentally at Aldershot; I learnt how to manage games. I learnt a lot about changing during a game and obviously physically I learnt because of the physicality of the games".

Oyeleke rejoined the Shots on 16 October 2014, on a loan running until 13 January 2015. He made his second debut for the club two days later, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw at Dartford. A leg injury kept him out of the team for three weeks, before he returned to the starting lineup for a 2–0 win over Kidderminster Harriers on 12 November. Oyeleke made 11 appearances for the Shots before returning to Brentford on 17 January 2015, after his loan expired.

Woking (loan)

On 26 March 2015, Oyeleke joined Conference Premier side Woking on a one-month loan. He made his debut as a late substitute for Kevin Betsy in a 2–2 draw with Welling United on 4 April. Oyeleke's spell came to an end after the final game of the season, his fifth appearance, after the Cards failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Exeter City

On 7 May 2015, Oyeleke signed for League Two side Exeter City. He made 11 appearances during the 2015–16 season and scored one goal, versus Premier League club Sunderland in the first round of the League Cup in the early weeks of the season. He was released at the end of the campaign.

Return to Aldershot Town

After recovering from a long-term injury, Oyeleke rejoined National League club Aldershot Town on 13 February 2017, on a contract running until the end of the 2016–17 season. After a month away on loan and recovering from a hamstring injury, he made his third debut for the club as a substitute for Jim Kellerman after 70 minutes of a 2–0 victory over Solihull Moors on 1 April and signed a new one-year contract at the end of the month. He finished the season with six appearances after the Shots fell to Tranmere Rovers in the National League play-offs.

Canvey Town (loan)

Immediately after arriving at Aldershot Town on 13 February 2017, Oyeleke was loaned to Isthmian League Premier Division club Canvey Island for one month to gain match fitness. He scored his first goal for the club with the winner versus Burgess Hill Town on 25 February. Oyeleke suffered a hamstring injury during the final match of his loan.

Career statistics

Honours

FootballCV Academy