Oluwatomiwo Ameobi (born 16 August 1988) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a forward. Having come through the youth academy at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, he went on to play in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

before appearing for Non-League sides

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

and

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around ...

. In 2011 he moved to play in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and had spells in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

with

BÍ/Bolungarvík The Vestri men's football team, commonly known as Vestri, is the men's football department of the Íþróttafélagið Vestri multi-sport club and is based in Ísafjarðarbær, Iceland. As of 2024, it plays in the Icelandic top-tier Besta deild ka ...

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town in the Southern Peninsula district of Iceland, not far from Þorbjörn, a tuya (a type of flat-topped, steep-sided volcano). It is one of the few towns with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work ...

and VPS. In 2014 Ameobi moved to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and had spells with both

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

and

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

Career

The 2007–08 season was Ameobi's first campaign in the

first team. He previously played for the club's reserve side, which finished sixth in Division One Central of the Central League in 2006–07. Ameobi signed his first professional contract with Leeds United on 8 August 2007. He had been offered the contract on 8 May, but had to wait three months to sign the deal as the club had been placed under a transfer embargo. He made his first appearance of the pre-season in Leeds United's 2–0 defeat against

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

side

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

on 6 August. He started the match, which was the club's final pre-season fixture, and was replaced after 75 minutes. Ameobi made his debut for Leeds on 28 August, against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. He was loaned out to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

in November 2007. Ameobi returned to Leeds before joining Doncaster on 22 July. On 24 September 2008, he was loaned to

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

side

. He later returned to Doncaster after just two appearances. Ameobi signed for

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

outfit

on loan in January 2009. He returned to Doncaster the following month, having played five games for Mansfield, but was released from his contract on 7 May. In September 2009, Ameobi signed for

. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 away win over Hayes & Yeading in January 2010 and also in that month represented Forest Green in the 3rd round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. At the end of the season he was released by the club having made 28 league appearances and having scored 5 times. In July 2010, it was announced that Ameobi was on trial with

. He subsequently signed a contract for the club having impressed in their pre-season friendlies. On 4 September 2010, he featured in the 2–2 draw away at Billingham Synthonia coming on as a half-time substitute. Later in the season Ameobi returned to the side, making appearances during Bay's title challenge against Jarrow Roofing and Newcastle Benfield. On 14 May 2011, Ameobi played his first game in an Icelandic league, and there in the second division. Ameobi's opponents were ÍR, but BÍ/Bvk. lost the game on Torfnesvöllur, 1–2. He scored BÍ/Bvk.'s goal in the game. Ameobi scored again in the second match of the season, winning

Haukar Knattspyrnufélagið Haukar (, ) is an Icelandic multi-sport club from Hafnarfjörður with divisions in Association football, Football, Haukar Handball, Handball, Basketball, Haukar RC, Rugby union, Karate, Skiing & Chess. Club history The clu ...

away at Ásvellir, 2–1. On 12 April 2013, Ameobi signed a 1+1 year contract with Finnish League team

Vaasan Palloseura Vaasan Palloseura, commonly referred to as VPS, is a Finnish football club, based in Vaasa. It currently plays in the first tier of Finnish football (''Veikkausliiga''). The club's current manager is Jussi Nuorela. The club plays its home matc ...

. After his contract with Finnish team

expired, he returned to

. Ameobi played his debut, after his return to Whitley Bay, on 28 December 2013 against Guisborough Town. Ameobi signed with NASL club

on 31 March 2014. He scored on his debut in a 1–1 draw with the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

. Ameobi spent four seasons in Edmonton. After the 2017 season, with the future of FC Edmonton and the NASL in doubt, Ameobi was released from FC Edmonton. Ameobi would leave Edmonton as the club's second all-time leading scorer. On 21 February 2018, Ameobi signed with

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

side

for the 2018 season. On 31 January 2019, Ameobi returned for a second spell with

after the club joined the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

Personal life

Ameobi was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, Tyne and Wear. Ameobi is the younger brother of striker

Shola Ameobi Foluwashola "Shola" Ameobi (born 12 October 1981) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent 14 years at Newcastle United, making 397 official appearances and scoring 79 goals, and received a winner's medal ...

and the older brother of former

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

winger

Sammy Ameobi Samuel Oluwaseyi Jesutoromo Ameobi (born 1 May 1992) is a former professional footballer. He is the younger brother of fellow players Shola and Tomi Ameobi. He began his career with Newcastle United, joining the club's youth academy in 2008. A ...

. Ameobi now lives in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and is a qualified solicitor, having graduated from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ameobi, Tomi 1988 births Living people Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Black British sportsmen English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate men's footballers in Finland English expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Newcastle United F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Tomi Ameobi Tomi Ameobi Vaasan Palloseura players Whitley Bay F.C. players FC Edmonton players FC Cincinnati players English Football League players National League (English football) players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players USL Championship players Canadian Premier League players Tomi Ameobi 1. deild karla players Veikkausliiga players Tomi 21st-century English sportsmen