Omorinsola Omowunmi Ajike Babajide (born 17 June 1998), known as Rinsola Babajide, is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Spanish Liga F club UDG Tenerife. A former England youth international up to under-21 level, she made her senior Nigeria debut in October 2023.[3]
 Babajide with Liverpool in 2020 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Omorinsola Omowunmi Ajike Babajide[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 June 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | London, England[2] | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | UDG Tenerife | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Crystal Palace | |||
| 2015–2016 | Millwall Lionesses | 31 | (7) |
| 2017–2018 | Watford | 15 | (3) |
| 2018–2022 | Liverpool | 45 | (10) |
| 2021–2022 | → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | Real Betis | 38 | (9) |
| 2023– | UDG Tenerife | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016–2017 | England U19 | 9 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | England U20 | 6 | (0) |
| 2019 | England U21 | 8 | (2) |
| 2023– | Nigeria | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:53, 3 July 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 October 2023 | |||
She previously played for Liverpool, Millwall Lionesses, Watford and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Club career
editMillwall Lionesses
editShe joined Millwall Lionesses from Crystal Palace in January 2015,[4] but made her professional debut on March 18 against the London Bees in a FA WSL match which ended in a draw.[5]
Watford
editIn February 2017, Babajide completed a transfer to Watford Ladies.[6] She scored her first competitive goal for the club in a 3–2 loss to London Bees in a FA WSL Spring Series fixture.[7] Babajide finished as Watford's joint top scorer in the 2017 Spring Series, with three goals.[8]
Liverpool
editHer transfer to Liverpool was announced on 25 January 2018.[9] Babajide was part of the squad that saw Liverpool relegated to the Championship in 2020.[10]
Babajide was Liverpool's second highest goal scorer in the 2018/19 WSL season with two campaign goals.
Babajide was then Liverpool's joint-second WSL goal scorer in the 2019/20 season with one single league goal. She didn't feature for Liverpool in the second half of the 2020/21 Championship season after refusing to train[11] with the first team squad and was then subsequently moved down into the age group development squad away from the first team.[12]
Brighton & Hove Albion
editOn 26 July 2021, Brighton & Hove Albion Women Football Club announced the signing of Rinsola on a season-long loan deal from Liverpool Women.[13]
On 3 July 2023, after an 18-month spell with Real Betis, Babajide joined fellow Liga F side UDG Tenerife on a two-year deal.[14]
International career
editEngland
editIn August 2018, Babajide was part of the England U20s squad that claimed bronze at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.[15] In September 2020 she was included in a training camp for the England senior team.[16][17]
Nigeria
editDue to her Nigerian parents, Babajide was also eligible to represent Nigeria.[18] She received her first call up in October 2023 and made her debut on 25 October 2023, starting in a 1–1 draw with Ethiopia during 2024 Olympic qualifying.[19]
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of match played 11 May 2019
| Club | Season | League | League Cup[a] | FA Cup[b] | Continental[c] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Millwall Lionesses | 2015 | FA WSL 2 | 17 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 23 | 5 | |
| 2016 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 17 | 4 | |||
| Total | 31 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 9 | ||
| Watford | 2017 | FA WSL 2 | 9 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 3 | ||
| 2017–18 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Total | 15 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 3 | ||
| Liverpool | 2017–18 | FA WSL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2018–19 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 18 | 5 | |||
| Total | 21 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 67 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 17 | ||
- ^ Includes the FA WSL Cup
- ^ Includes the FA Women's Cup
- ^ Includes the UEFA Women's Champions League
Honours
editEngland U20s
- FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup third place: 2018
Individual
References
edit- ^ a b "List of Players – England" (PDF). FIFA. 24 September 2016. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ "Rinsola Babajide on IWD and fighting racism". Olympics.
- ^ "Nigeria call up former England starlet Rinsola Babajide for 2024 Olympics qualifiers". espn.co.uk. 14 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ Aloia, Andrew; Garry, Tom (18 March 2015). "Women's Super League Two 2015 club-by-club season preview". BBC. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ Christopher-Browne, Philippa (20 March 2015). "BABAJIDE: IT WAS A GOOD FIRST GAME". millwall.fawsl.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ Matthews, Anthony (10 February 2017). "Watford Ladies announce signing of six players ahead of Spring Series opener at Aston Villa". Watford Observer. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ Kingsley, Igho (27 February 2017). "Babajide Scores First Competitive Goal For Watford Before Linking Up With England Squad". allnigeriasoccer.com. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ "Ladies sign England U20 international Babajide". a Liverpool Football Club. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ "Rinsola Babajide: Liverpool Ladies sign England U20 striker from Watford Ladies". BBC Sport. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- ^ "Liverpool's relegated women underfunded and in disarray". The Guardian. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "Babajide requests to leave Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "I understand Liverpool forward Rinsola Babajide is now training with the U21s". Twitter. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ "Babajide joins Albion on loan". www.brightonandhovealbion.com. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Rinsola Babajide apuntala el ataque de la UDG Tenerife" (in Spanish). UD Granadilla Tenerife. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "ENGLAND WIN BRONZE MEDAL AT FIFA U20 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP". The FA. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ^ FULL MATCH | England vs England | Lionesses Training Match. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- ^ Veevers, Nicholas (9 September 2020). "With eight new faces in the England squad, find out a bit more about each of them". The Football Association.
- ^ "Photo confirmation : Liverpool's Nigeria-eligible winger joins Real Betis Feminas".
- ^ "Ajibade scores stunner to rescue 1-1 draw for Super Falcons against Ethiopia". Vanguard.
External links
edit- Rinsola Babajide at Soccerway
.