Dipo Akinyemi

Afolabi Oladipo Christopher "Dipo" Akinyemi (born 10 June 1997) is a professional footballer who plays for National League South club Welling United.

Dipo Akinyemi
Personal information
Full name Afolabi Oladipo Christopher Akinyemi[1]
Date of birth (1997-06-10) 10 June 1997[2]
Place of birth Enfield, England
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Welling United
Youth career
2011–2014 Potters Bar Town
2014–2015 Stevenage
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Potters Bar Town 7 (1)
2015–2018 Stevenage 15 (1)
2015 → Aldershot Town (loan) 4 (1)
2016 → St Neots Town (loan) 6 (1)
2016 → Dulwich Hamlet (loan) 5 (5)
2016 → St Albans City (loan) 15 (3)
2016–2017 → Billericay Town (loan) 7 (1)
2017 → Dulwich Hamlet (loan) 16 (5)
2017–2018 → Bishop's Stortford (loan) 29 (8)
2018–2019 Dulwich Hamlet 53 (17)
2019 → Cheshunt (loan) 10 (5)
2019 Braintree Town 2 (0)
2019– Welling United 20 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 04:45, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

Akinyemi began his career in the youth academy at Potters Bar Town in 2011, breaking into the first-team in 2014. He subsequently joined Stevenage's academy at the end of that year, before making his first-team debut at the start of the 2015–16 season. During his time at Stevenage, Akinyemi was loaned out to Aldershot Town, St Neots Town, Dulwich Hamlet on two occasions, St Albans City, Billericay Town and Bishop's Stortford respectively. He signed for Dulwich on a permanent basis in March 2018 and helped the club to promotion to the National League South during the remainder of the 2017–18 season. Akinyemi joined Cheshunt on loan in August 2019. He left Dulwich to sign for Braintree Town in November 2019, before joining divisional rivals Welling United a month later.

Career

Potters Bar Town

Akinyemi started his career at Potters Bar Town's academy, joining the Hertfordshire club's youth set-up in 2011 having impressed youth manager John Gibbs whilst playing Sunday league football.[3] Akinyemi was part of the Potters Bar U18 team that knocked out full-time academy sides two years running in the FA Youth Cup.[3] After three years in the academy at Potters Bar,[3] Akinyemi made his first-team debut on 6 September 2014, starting the match and scoring just after half-time in a 4–0 away victory against Bedford Town.[4] He went on to make seven league appearances in the Southern Football League Division One Central over the next two months.[5]

Stevenage and loan spells

After his spell in the first-team at Potters Bar, Akinyemi joined League Two club Stevenage's academy at the end of 2014.[3] He trained with the Stevenage first-team towards the end of the 2014–15 season and was an unused substitute in two of the club's league matches in April 2015.[6] Akinyemi signed professional terms with Stevenage in the summer of 2015,[3] before making his debut under new manager Teddy Sheringham when he started in the opening league game of the 2015–16 season, a 2–0 loss to Notts County at Broadhall Way.[7] He scored his first goal for the club in his third appearance, netting the first goal of the game when he "finished off a fine counter attack" in an eventual 2–2 draw away at Newport County on 15 August 2015.[8] Akinyemi made 16 appearances during the season, the majority coming in the first half of the campaign, scoring one goal.[9]

Akinyemi joined National League club Aldershot Town on a one-month loan deal on 10 November 2015.[10] The idea behind the loan move was to help aid Akinyemi's development as he had only just started playing competitive first-team football.[11] He made a scoring debut for Aldershot a day after signing, netting courtesy of a header to briefly restore parity in an eventual 2–1 home defeat to Lincoln City.[12] Akinyemi made four appearances during the brief loan spell,[9] scoring once, before returning to his parent club at the start of December 2015.[6] Aside from two substitute appearances upon his return from Aldershot, Akinyemi found first-team opportunities limited at Stevenage.[9] He was subsequently loaned out to Southern Football League Premier Division club St Neots Town on 6 February 2016 on a month's youth loan.[13] Akinyemi made six appearances during the spell, his one-goal coming in St Neots' 3–1 home win over Bideford in his second appearance.[14] He then joined Isthmian League Premier Division club Dulwich Hamlet on loan, his third loan spell of the campaign, on 25 March 2016, for the remainder of the season.[15][16] As he did for Aldershot, Akinyemi scored on his debut for Dulwich, scoring the club's second goal in a 2–2 draw away at Enfield Town when he connected with a cross unmarked at the far post on 27 March 2016.[17] He scored both of Dulwich's goals in his next game, a 2–1 home victory over Tonbridge Angels,[18] before netting his fourth goal in three games in a 2–0 home win against Bognor Regis Town on 2 April 2016.[19] He scored five goals in seven games during the loan spell as Dulwich narrowly missed out on promotion via the play-offs, returning to Stevenage upon the expiry of the loan agreement.[14]

Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Akinyemi joined St Albans City of the National League South on a loan deal until January 2017.[20] He once again made a goalscoring debut, this time finding the net on the opening day of the season when he scored the first goal in a 2–0 home win over Concord Rangers at Clarence Park.[21] Akinyemi was recalled by Stevenage at the end of November 2016 having made 21 appearances in all competitions during the loan spell, 11 of which as a substitute, scoring five times.[6][14][22] Stevenage stated their intention to loan out Akinyemi straight away and he joined Isthmian League Premier Division club Billericay Town on 6 December 2016 on a one-month loan deal.[23] He made seven appearances during a busy month at Billericay, scoring one goal.[14] At the start of January 2017, Akinyemi rejoined Dulwich Hamlet on loan for the remainder of the season,[24] scoring the first goal of his second spell in a 2–0 win over Needham Market on 18 February 2017.[25] Three days later, Akinyemi scored four goals in Dulwich's 7–1 win over Barkingside in the London Senior Cup, all four goals coming within the space of 14 second-half minutes.[26][27] He scored 10 times in 19 appearances in all competitions during the loan spell.[14]

Akinyemi signed for Southern Football League Premier Division club Bishop's Stortford on a season-long loan deal on 26 July 2017.[28] The move meant that Akinyemi was reunited with Bishop's Stortford manager Kevin Watson, who was assistant manager at Stevenage when Akinyemi broke into the first-team.[29] He made his Stortford debut on the opening day of the 2017–18 season, playing the whole match in a 2–1 defeat away at Tiverton Town on 12 August 2017.[14][30] Akinyemi scored his first goal for the club in a 5–0 away victory against Dunstable Town on 26 September 2017.[31] He remained a regular throughout the loan spell, scoring ten times in 36 appearances in all competitions, including four goals in his final four games for the club throughout February 2018.[14] The season-long loan deal was cut short when he was recalled by Stevenage at the start of March 2018.[32]

Non-League

Upon his recall, Akinyemi signed for Isthmian League Premier Division club Dulwich Hamlet on a permanent basis on 6 March 2018, having previously been on loan at the south London club on two separate occasions earlier in his career.[33] Stevenage allowed him to join Dulwich on a free transfer, in return for a "significant percentage of any future sale".[33] He made his third Dulwich debut on the same day his signing was announced, scoring twice in a 3–1 away win at league leaders Billericay Town.[34] He went on to make 14 appearances and score four goals in all competitions as Dulwich won promotion to the National League South after winning the Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs.[14][35] Akinyemi scored the decisive penalty in the final as Dulwich secured a won 4–3 win on penalties over Hendon after the two teams had played out a 1–1 draw after extra-time.[36] He played regularly during Dulwich's first season in the National League South, scoring 16 times in 41 appearances.[6]

Having made three appearances for Dulwich at the start of the 2019–20 season,[6] Akinyemi joined Cheshunt of the Isthmian League Premier Division on a two-month loan deal on 25 August 2019.[37] He made his debut for Cheshunt in the club's 1–1 draw with Corinthian Casuals a day later and scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 home loss to Bognor Regis Town on 14 September 2019.[38] Akinyemi scored five times in ten appearances during the two-month loan agreement.[38] With first-team opportunities limited back at Dulwich,[6] he signed for fellow National League South club Braintree Town on 22 November 2019.[39] After just three appearances at Braintree,[6] he moved to another National League South club in the form of Welling United on 13 December 2019.[40] He scored four times in 12 appearances during the remainder of the 2019–20 season.[6]

Style of play

Akinyemi has always been deployed as a centre forward.[3] His youth manager at Potters Bar Town, John Gibbs, stated he was particularly impressed with Akinyemi's work ethic and strength, also singling out his attitude and dedication as plus-points.[3] He has also been described as being "pacy and strong" and "a real threat" so long as he is calm on the ball.[41]

Career statistics
As of match played 15 December 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Potters Bar Town 2014–15[42] SL Division One Central 7100—0071
Stevenage 2014–15[43] League Two 00———00
2015–16[9] League Two 151001000161
Total 151001000161
Aldershot Town (loan) 2015–16[9] National League 41———41
St Neots Town (loan) 2015–16[14] SL Premier Division 61———61
Dulwich Hamlet (loan) 2015–16[44] IL Premier Division 55——2[lower-alpha 1]075
St Albans City (loan) 2016–17[45] National League South 15331—3[lower-alpha 2]1215
Billericay Town (loan) 2016–17[46] IL Premier Division 71———71
Dulwich Hamlet (loan) 2016–17[47] IL Premier Division 165——3[lower-alpha 3]51910
Bishop's Stortford (loan) 2017–18[14][48] SL Premier Division 29810—6[lower-alpha 4]23610
Dulwich Hamlet 2017–18[14][35] IL Premier Division 11400—3[lower-alpha 5]0144
2018–19[6][14] National League South 381333—004116
2019–20[6] National League South 4000—0040
Total 531733—305920
Cheshunt (loan) 2019–20[38] IL Premier Division 105——00105
Braintree Town 2019–20[6] National League South 20——1[lower-alpha 6]030
Welling United 2019–20[6] National League South 124——00124
2020–21[6] National League South 8300—1093
Total 20700—10217
Career Total 19255741019821966
  1. Two appearances in Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs
  2. Two appearances in the FA Trophy, one appearance and one goal in the Herts Senior Cup
  3. Three appearances and five goals in the London Senior Cup
  4. Two appearances and one goal in the FA Trophy, one appearance and one goal in the Southern Combination Challenge Cup, two appearances in the Herts Charity Cup and one appearance in the Herts Senior Cup
  5. Two appearances in the Alan Turvey Trophy and one in Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs
  6. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy

Honours

Dulwich Hamlet

References
  1. "Retained List 2015–16" (PDF). English Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. "Dipo Akinyemi". 11v11. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  3. "Nice one Dipo". Potters Bar Town F.C. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  4. "Super Scholars back to winning ways". Potters Bar Town F.C. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  5. "Potters Bar Town – Dipo Akinyemi". Potters Bar Town F.C. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  6. "Soccerway – Dipo Akinyemi". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  7. "Stevenage 0–2 Notts County". BBC Sport. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  8. "Newport County 2–2 Stevenage". BBC Sport. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  9. "Games played by Dipo Akinyemi in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  10. "Dipo Akinyemi: Aldershot Town sign Stevenage striker on loan". BBC Sport. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  11. "Dipo Akinyemi joins Aldershot Town on loan". Stevenage F.C. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  12. "Aldershot Town 1–2 Lincoln City". BBC Sport. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  13. "Dipo Akinyemi joins St Neots Town on loan". Stevenage F.C. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  14. "Aylesbury United – Dipo Akinyemi". Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  15. "Dipo Akinyemi joins Dulwich Hamlet on loan". Stevenage F.C. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  16. "Dulwich Hamlet have signed Stevenage striker Dipo Akinyemi on loan until the end of the season". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  17. "Enfield Town 2–2 Dulwich Hamlet". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. 27 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  18. "Dulwich Hamlet 2–1 Tonbridge Angels". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  19. "Dulwich Hamlet 2–0 Bognor Regis Town". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  20. "Duo join St Albans City on loan". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  21. "St Albans City 2–0 Concord Rangers". Soccerway. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  22. "Dipo Akinyemi returns to Stevenage from St Albans City". Hertfordshire Advertiser. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  23. "Dipo Akinyemi loaned to Billericay". Stevenage F.C. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  24. "Dipo Akinyemi joins Dulwich on loan". Stevenage F.C. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  25. "Dulwich Hamlet 2–0 Needham Market". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. 18 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  26. "Dulwich Hamlet 7–1 Barkingside". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  27. "Dipo flying at Dulwich Hamlet". Stevenage F.C. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  28. "Dipo Akinyemi leaves on loan". Stevenage F.C. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  29. "Midweek loan round-up". Stevenage F.C. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  30. "Tiverton Town 2–1 Bishop's Stortford". Tiverton Town F.C. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  31. "Dunstable Town 0–5 Bishop's Stortford" (PDF). Bishop's Stortford F.C. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  32. "Dipo (sort of) returns to Borough". Bishop's Stortford F.C. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  33. "Dipo Akinyemi joins Dulwich Hamlet". Stevenage F.C. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  34. "Billericay Town 1–3 Dulwich Hamlet". FootballWebPages. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  35. "Dulwich Hamlet – Fixtures & Results". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  36. "Dulwich Hamlet rip up the script to earn promotion to National League South". South London Press & Mercury. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  37. "Dulwich Hamlet's Akinyemi and Yusuff head out on loan". Non-League Daily. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  38. "Cheshunt – Appearances – Afolabi Akinyemi". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  39. "Dipo Akinyemi departs Dulwich for Braintree". Braintree Town. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  40. "Welling sign Henry and Akinyemi". Non-League Daily. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  41. "Dipo Akinyemi could have a big future in the game, says Stevenage assistant manager". The Comet. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  42. "Games played by Dipo Akinyemi – Potters Bar". Potters Bar Town FC. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  43. "Games played by Dipo Akinyemi in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  44. "Games played by Dipo Akinyemi – Dulwich Hamlet". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  45. "St Albans City Match Results 2016–17". St Albans City F.C. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  46. "First Team Fixtures & Results 16/17". Billericay Town F.C. Archived from the original on 8 October 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  47. "Dipo Akinyemi". Dulwich Hamlet F.C. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  48. "Fixtures & Results – 2017–18". Bishop's Stortford F.C. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
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