Tunde Owolabi

Tunde Owolabi
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-07-26) 26 July 1995
Place of birthAntwerp, Belgium
PositionStriker
Team information
Current team
Warrington Rylands
Youth career
2011–2012Royal Cappellen
2013–2014FC United of Manchester
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2015–2017New Mills
2017Hyde United
2017Prescot Cables
2017Stalybridge Celtic
2017Glossop North End
2017–2018Prescot Cables
2018Skelmersdale United 10 (0)
2018–2019Radcliffe 36 (22)
2019Victoria Hotspurs
2019–2020FC United of Manchester 28 (28)
2020–2021Hamilton Academical 7 (0)
2021Finn Harps 31 (10)
2022St Patrick's Athletic 28 (5)
2023Cork City 28 (4)
2024Macclesfield 14 (9)
2024Southport 7 (0)
2024–2025Radcliffe 22 (3)
2025–Warrington Rylands
2025 → Stalybridge Celtic (loan) 8 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10:32, 2 November 2025 (UTC)

Tunde Owolabi (born 26 July 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Warrington Rylands.

Early and personal life

Owolabi's Nigerian father Ganiyu was also a professional footballer.[1] He was born and raised in Antwerp, where his father was playing at the time for Royal Antwerp.[2] Owolabi played for Belgian club Royal Cappellen's under 17 side before the family moved to England in 2012, when he was 18 years old.[3]

Career

Owolabi played for the FC United of Manchester development team during the 2013–14 season.[4] He played for New Mills, moving from them to Hyde United in February 2017.[5] By December 2017 he had played for Prescot Cables (twice), Stalybridge Celtic and Glossop North End.[6] After moving to Skelmersdale United in February 2018, without scoring in 10 games,[7] he then played for Radcliffe, scoring 26 goals in the 2018–19 season,[1] which earned him the Supporters Player Award from the Northern Premier League Player Awards.[8] He left Radcliffe in the summer of 2019 to move to Malta, to join Victoria Hotspurs[9] before returning to England later that summer, signing with FC United of Manchester in August 2019.[4] He signed a new contract with the club in November 2019.[10] He scored 35 goals in 41 games in all competitions for the club during the 2019–20 season.[11]

He signed a one-year contract with Scottish club Hamilton Academical in July 2020,[12] having previously been linked with a transfer to Grimsby Town.[13] He made his professional debut for Hamilton on 8 August 2020 in a Scottish Premier League match against Ross County.[14] On 1 February 2021, Owolabi was released by Hamilton alongside teammate Justin Johnson, via mutual consent.[15]

On 7 March 2021, Owolabi signed a one-year deal with Irish club Finn Harps.[16] He scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over second placed St Patrick's Athletic on 20 August 2021, taking him up to 5 goals for the season.[17][18] Owolabi scored a total of 12 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions during his time with Finn Harps.[2]

On 24 December 2021, Owolabi signed for League of Ireland Premier Division runners up, Dublin club St Patrick's Athletic, who had also just won the 2021 FAI Cup.[19][20] On 11 February 2022, Owolabi made his debut for the club in the 2022 President of Ireland's Cup against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium, scoring in the penalty shootout as his side lost 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.[21] His first goal for Pat's came on 25 February 2022 when he came off the bench and pulled a goal back for his side 10 minutes later in a 2–1 defeat against Sligo Rovers at Richmond Park.[22] On 23 May 2022, Owolabi scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over rivals Bohemians at Richmond Park.[23] Owolabi made his first appearance in European football on 21 July 2022 in a 1–1 draw with Slovenian side NŠ Mura in the UEFA Europa Conference League.[24]

On 10 December 2022, Owolabi signed for Cork City for the 2023 season.[25]

On 28 December 2023, it was announced that Owolabi had agreed terms with Northern Premier League Premier Division side Macclesfield.[26]

On 22 June 2024, Owolabi joined National League North side Southport.[27] In September 2024, he returned to Radcliffe on a one-year deal.[28] In May 2025, he joined Northern Premier League Premier Division side Warrington Rylands.[29] In October he returned to one of his former clubs, Stalybridge Celtic, on an initial one month loan.[30] He scored in his first match for the club.[31]

Career statistics

As of end of 2024–25 season
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League CupOther Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Skelmersdale United2017–18[7]NPL Division One North100———100
Radcliffe2018–19[32]NPL Division One West362230106[a]34625
FC United of Manchester2019–20[11]NPL Premier Division 282830208[b]74135
Hamilton Academical2020–21[14]Scottish Premiership700020—90
Finn Harps2021[2]LOI Premier Division311032——3412
St Patrick's Athletic2022[2]LOI Premier Division 28510—3[c]0325
Cork City2023[2]LOI Premier Division 28421—2[d]2327
Macclesfield2023–24[33]NPL Premier Division169——5[e]32112
Southport2024–25[2]National League North7010—0080
Radcliffe 2024–25[2]National League North 22300—3[f]0253
Career total 2138113350271526799
  1. ^1 appearance in the FA Trophy; 3 appearances and 1 goal in the Manchester Premier Cup; 2 appearances and 2 goals in the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy
  2. ^5 appearances and 6 goals in the FA Trophy; 3 appearances and 1 goal in the Manchester Premier Cup
  3. ^1 appearance in the President of Ireland's Cup & 2 appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ^Appearance(s) in the Munster Senior Cup
  5. ^Three appearances and two goals in FA Trophy, two appearances and one goal in NPL Premier Division play-offs
  6. ^Appearance(s) in FA Trophy

References

  1. ^ ab"Tunde setting Radcliffe's sights higher after promotion". Bury Times. 30 May 2019.
  2. ^ abcdefgTunde Owolabi at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  3. ^McCadden, Mark (6 June 2021). "Finn Harps star Tunde Owolabi on his journey from non league to Ballybofey". Buzz.ie.
  4. ^ ab"FC United of Manchester – News Story". fc-utd.co.uk.
  5. ^"Hyde bring in Owolabi | Non League Daily". Archived from the original on 23 January 2021.
  6. ^"Owolabi Returns To Cables". 22 December 2017.
  7. ^ ab"Tunde Owolabi – Skelmersdale United F.C. First Team". www.pitchero.com.
  8. ^"2018/19 NPL Roll of Honour". thenpl.co.uk. 18 June 2019.
  9. ^"Victoria Hotspurs sign Tunde Owolabi". Victoria Hotspurs. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  10. ^"FC United of Manchester – News Story". fc-utd.co.uk.
  11. ^ ab"FC United of Manchester – Profile – Tunde Owolabi". www.fcunited.ru.
  12. ^"Hamilton Academical sign Tunde Owolabi from FC United of Manchester". BBC Sport. 29 July 2020.
  13. ^"Grimsby Town miss out on Tunde Owolabi". Grimsbylive. 4 August 2020 – via grimsbytelegraph.co.uk.
  14. ^ ab"Games played by Tunde Owolabi in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  15. ^"Hamilton Accies release attacking duo Tunde Owolabi and Justin Johnson". Daily Record. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  16. ^Lee, Ethan (7 March 2021). "Harps sign Tunde Owolabi | Finn Harps FC".
  17. ^Foley, Alan (20 August 2021). "Hat-trick hero Owolabi secures the spoils for Harps as St Pat's feel the pinch". The42.
  18. ^Ashmore, Chris (20 August 2021). "Tunde Owolabi hat trick shocks high-flying Saints". Irish Examiner.
  19. ^"Owolabi Becomes A Super Saint!". stpatsfc.com.
  20. ^"St Pat's complete signing of Tunde Owolabi". 24 December 2021 – via rte.ie.
  21. ^Fennessy, Paul (11 February 2022). "Memorable return for Jack Byrne as Shamrock Rovers beat Pat's on penalties". The42.
  22. ^Goulden, David (25 February 2022). "Former Saint Keena haunts old club on Sligo debut" – via rte.ie.
  23. ^"Saints hero Tunde Owolabi puts Bohs to sword after thumping home derby hat-trick". independent. 23 May 2022.
  24. ^"Chris Forrester inspires revival as St. Patrick's Athletic keep the tie alive". The Irish Times.
  25. ^"Tunde Owolabi signs for City!". Cork City FC Shop.
  26. ^Leah, Ben (28 December 2023). "TUNDE OWOLABI JOINS THE SILKMEN". Macclesfield FC Official Website.
  27. ^"Welcome Tunde". southportfc.net. 22 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  28. ^"Tunde Owolabi returns to Radcliffe". radcliffefc.com. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  29. ^"Talented forward Tunde Owolabi finds new home in the NPL". www.thenpl.co.uk. 19 May 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  30. ^Dhamrait, Taran (3 October 2025). "Club News - Striker Tunde Owolabi signs on loan". Stalybridge Celtic. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  31. ^"Match Report - Northern Premier - West - Saturday October 4th, 2025". Stalybridge Celtic. 4 October 2025. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  32. ^"StackPath". www.radcliffefc.com.
  33. ^"Macclesfield | Appearances | Babatunde Owolabi | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk.
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