Ademola Bankole (born 9 September 1969) is a Nigerian former

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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

. As a

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

having played for 15 different clubs during his career, his most notable stint came with

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

, a club he played for on two occasions, registering over 50 league appearances. He was the goalkeeping coach at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

for nine years.

Career

Born in

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State located at the south western part of Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokut ...

, Bankole began his career with Shooting Stars in his native Nigeria. He moved to England in 1995, signing for

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 ...

, spending a month with the club prior to signing with

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. He left Orient in September 1996 having registered no games, joining

. He made six appearances for the club between 1996 and 1998. He played seven games in 1997 on loan at

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, formed in 1919. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...

, earning the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award in the

Cheshire Senior Cup The Cheshire County Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Cheshire Senior Cup, is a football knockout tournament founded in the 1879–80 season and involves teams from Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, England. I ...

final in a 3–0 victory over

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

. In 1998, Bankole moved to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

, making only one substitute appearance for the club. Bankole was sent out on loan to

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

while the club were in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, acting as cover. Bankole returned to Crewe for a fee of £50,000 in the summer of 2000. Here, he had his greatest success as a player, featuring in 52 league games. While contracted to Crewe, Bankole was called up to the preliminary

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

squad prior to the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

but did not make the final squad. Towards the end of his stint with Crewe and being out of the first-team, Bankole joined

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

in a three-month loan deal. In the summer of 2004, Bankole was released by Crewe, temporarily joining

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

, Windsor & Eton and

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks FA, they are currently members of the . The club were established in October 1870 and have played at ...

in non-league before being picked up by

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in February 2005. He spent a year-and-a-half with the Bees, before signing to

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

in July 2006. He made six appearances for each club. Bankole left MK Dons in early 2008, joining

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial problems and faces liquidation. In 1889, Nuneaton S ...

before being signed by

as goalkeeper cover for

Aidan Davison Aidan John Davison (born 11 May 1968) is a football coach and former professional footballer who is goalkeeping coach of League 1 side Wrexham. As a player, he played as a goalkeeper from 1987 until 2008. Having started his career with non-lea ...

following Mark Cousins being taken ill with appendicitis, also signing as a temporary coach for the club. Bankole did not make an appearance for Colchester, but was named as permanent goalkeeping coach at the club following Davison's retirement and subsequent move to the United States. Bankole spent nine years as Colchester's goalkeeping coach until he left in the summer of 2017 when the club had a restructuring of backroom staff. Since 2019 George has been a coach with the QPR under 18 and 23 squads.

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bankole, Ademola 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Abeokuta Footballers from Ogun State Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Shooting Stars S.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Windsor & Eton F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Colchester United F.C. non-playing staff Yoruba sportspeople 20th-century Nigerian sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England