Alexander Oluwatayo Akande (; born 9 February 1989), more commonly known as Alex Akande or Alex Tayo Akande, is a 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 plays as a striker. Born in Nigeria, he played for the

Hong Kong national football team The Hong Kong national football team (; recognised as Hong Kong, China by FIFA) represents Hong Kong in international association football, football and is controlled by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China, the governing body for foot ...

Club career

Tai Chung and Eastern

Akande arrived in Hong Kong in 2008 and played for Tai Chung in the

Hong Kong Second Division League Hong Kong Second Division League () is the third level of association football, football league in Hong Kong founded in 1909. The top two teams are promoted to the Hong Kong First Division League, Hong Kong First Division. Competition format ...

. His prolific performance soon drew interest of

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

side

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

. Akande joined

in January 2009 and finished the season with 6 goals.

Tai Chung and Kitchee

Akande returned to Tai Chung in the 2009–10 season. After scoring 3 goals in 12 matches for Tai Chung in half a season, he joined

Kitchee Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional Association football, football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won 12 List of Hong Kong football champion ...

in mid-season following the departure of Kitchee's Spanish striking duo Albert Virgili Fort and Raul Torres. The transfer also gave Akande an opportunity to play in the

2010 Lunar New Year Cup The 2010 Lunar New Year Cup is a football tournament held in Hong Kong on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year of the Tiger (2 February 2010). Format The teams play against each other in 45-minute matches like TIM Trophy, but if the matches are ...

as he played for Kitchee against Pegasus Invitation team and Korean side

Pohang Steelers The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Ko ...

. In two 45 minutes matches, Akande scored against Pegasus Invitation in a 1–0 win and assisted his teammates in a 1–1 draw against the

2009 AFC Champions League The 2009 AFC Champions League was the 28th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 7th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the Nati ...

winner. Despite losing the title to Pohang Steelers due to one less goal scored, Akande was named the MVP of the tournament. Akande scored 4 more goals for Kitchee in local competitions during his half-season spell .

Tai Chung

Akande once again returned to Tai Chung and played a full season for the team in the 2010–11 season. His 3 goals in 19 matches were not enough to save Tai Chung from relegation.

Rangers and Hong Kong Sapling

Akande's 4th season in Hong Kong began with joining

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. He was loaned to

Hong Kong Sapling Hong Kong Sapling Football Club () was a Hong Kong football club, which since 2020 does not compete in the Hong Kong football league system. History On 11 August 2011, Mutual withdrew from the Hong Kong First Division League due to financial pro ...

, a development team formed by the

Hong Kong Football Association The Football Association of Hong Kong, China Limited (HKFA; ) is the governing body of association football in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. Its current chairman is Eric Fok. History The HKFA was established in 1914. It is one of the ...

, in the mid-season after a slow start at

. Akande found his scoring touch soon after joining

, where he scored 9 goals in 12 matches. However the HKFA decided not to continue running

after the team failed to avoid relegation. As a result,

were disbanded after the season.

Tai Po

Akande joined another Hong Kong First Division club

Tai Po Tai Po is an List of areas of Hong Kong, area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Mark ...

in the 2012–13 season, in which he played one of his best seasons in his career. He scored 5 goals including a hat-trick against

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun () or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the mo ...

in the quarter-final for the 2012–13 Senior Shield that contributed the team's first ever title-triumph in the tournament. He finished the season with a tally of 19 goals in all competitions. His performance also earned him a place in the Hong Kong League XI for the

2013 Lunar New Year Cup The 87th 2013 Lunar New Year Cup (), also known as the China Mobile Satellite Communication Cup () due to sponsorship reason, is the annual Association football, football event held in Hong Kong in Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year. The name of thi ...

where he played against

Busan I'Park Busan IPark FC () is a South Korean professional football club based in Busan that competes in K League 2, the second tier of the South Korean football pyramid. They play their home games at the Busan Gudeok Stadium. Busan IPark was founded as ...

from Korea and

Muangthong United Muangthong United Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in Muang Thong Thani, Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi province. The club plays in the Thai League 1, the top-flight football league of Thailand. Muangthong United has pa ...

from Thailand in this annual International tournament. However, despite his prolific performance up front, the team's vulnerable defense cost them the place in the top-tier league. Tai Po were involved in a relegation battle-turmoil in which totally 6 teams were fighting to avoid relegation on the final day of the league. He opened the score for Tai Po in a huge battle against

Yokohama FC Hong Kong Metro Gallery Football Club () is a Hong Kong football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong Second Division. History The team began as Fourway Athletics (), it joined Hong Kong First Division in 2008–09 season as a competition mem ...

, another team in this turmoil. Yet Tai Po conceded a heart-breaking final-second goal which cancelled their lead and sent them to relegation dramatically.

Second spell at Kitchee

Following the relegation of Tai Po, Akande rejoined Kitchee. The club began the season with an International exhibition match with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He had the chance to play against the defending

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 ...

champions, and scored a brilliant goal in the 2–5 defeat as he turned Man United's defender Alex Buttner inside out before firing home. Akande also had his first opportunity in continental competition as he was chosen as one of the four foreign players for the 2013 AFC Cup quarter-final match against Al-Faisaly from Jordan. Kitchee lost the 1st leg at home in a 1–2 defeat to the Jordanian side with Akande once equalized the score in the early 2nd half.

were eliminated from the competition with a same scoreline in the 2nd leg. The season ended well for both Kitchee and Akande, as Kitchee had an invincible season as the league champions with 16 points above the runners-up

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

, while Akande added 10 more goals to his tally in all local competitions. Kitchee began their new season with an international exhibition match against PSG at Hong Kong Stadium on 29 July 2014. Akande once again found the back of the net against a European giant in this 2–6 defeat with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat-trick. The same season Kitchee appointed former Spanish International and Atletico Madrid goalkeeper

José Francisco Molina José Francisco Molina Jiménez (born 8 August 1970) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently manager of Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan Super Giant. Eleven years of his extensive professional care ...

as their head coach. Aiming for higher success in the

2014 AFC Cup The 2014 AFC Cup was the 11th edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia. Al-Kuwait were the two-time defending champions, but were eliminat ...

and the 2015 AFC Champions League Playoffs. However Akande picked up an injury in a training session in early season which forced him to miss the rest of the season. After a successful surgery he went to the United States for his rehab with specialized physical therapy. The rehab was a success and he was ready to return for the next season.

Dalian Yifang

Following the bankruptcy of Yanbian Fude, Akande moved to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club Dalian Yifang on 28 February 2019. He made his debut three days later in a 1–1 draw against

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

Third spell at Kitchee

Having made only a few appearances for Dalian, Akande was released by the club. On 31 March 2021, Kitchee confirmed that Akande has rejoined the club.

Shanghai Jiading Huilong

On 1 July 2023, Akande joined

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

club Shanghai Jiading Huilong.

International career

Akande was born in Nigeria, but after living for more than seven years in Hong Kong, he obtained his Hong Kong residency and became eligible to play for the Hong Kong national team in October 2015. He was immediately called up by the Hong Kong national team for the friendly match against Myanmar on 7 November 2015 at Mongkok Stadium. Akande made his international debut in this match and scored his first international goal for Hong Kong in the 5–0 victory. He soon made his international debut for Hong Kong in a friendly match against

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

on 7 November 2015. He also scored on his debut in this 5–0 win. Akande started in the 2018 World Cup AFC qualification second round match against Maldives on 12 November 2015 in which Hong Kong defeated the home side in a narrow 1–0 win. He then played against China and Qatar in the same competition. Hong Kong finished the group stage as the 2nd runners-up and secured a direct entry to the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying third round. Since making his International debut and the managerial change of

in mid-season, Akande has recovered his scoring form before the injury by scoring 10 goals in 18 matches including 2 goals in the League Cup final victory which saw

lifted this trophy for the historical fifth times. On 9 November 2016, Akande scored four goals to lead Hong Kong to a 4–2 victory over

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

in the 2017 EAFF East Asian Cup Second Round. Akande played all the remaining three 2018 World Cup AFC qualification second round matches of the Hong Kong national team against Maldives, China and Qatar. Hong Kong completed the group stage as the 2nd runners-up and secured a direct entry to the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying third round.

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2020''.

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Hong Kong's goal tally first.''

Honour

Club

;Tai Po *

Hong Kong Senior Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the football knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the fourth oldest football tournament in Asia. Traditionally, only teams that play in the Hong K ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

;Kitchee *

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

: 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Hong Kong First Division The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the third oldest in Asia, after Calcutta and Bombay. Moreover, it is the oldest top-flight league system ...

: 2013–14 *

: 2016–17,

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. T ...

: 2016–17, 2017–18,

Hong Kong Sapling Cup Hong Kong Sapling Cup (), currently known as JC Sapling Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong domestic football (soccer), football competition contested by the Hong Kong Premier League teams. The objective of the Cup is to provide more p ...

: 2017–18, 2019–20 *

Hong Kong League Cup Hong Kong Football Association League Cup () was an annual football competition contested by clubs in the top-tier Hong Kong domestic football league. The cup was relaunched for the 2014–15 season after being discontinued in the 2012–13 seaso ...

: 2015–16 *

Hong Kong Community Cup Hong Kong Community Cup (), formerly known as Hong Kong Community Shield (), was a football super cup competition in Hong Kong played between the winners of the Hong Kong Premier League (previously the Hong Kong First Division League) and the Ho ...

: 2016–17

References

External links

*
Alexander Oluwatayo Akande
at HKFA * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akande, Alexander Oluwatayo 1989 births Living people Footballers from Lagos Yoruba sportspeople Hong Kong men's footballers Hong Kong men's international footballers Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian emigrants to Hong Kong Men's association football forwards Hong Kong First Division League players Hong Kong Premier League players China League One players Chinese Super League players Hong Kong Rangers FC players Resources Capital FC players Hong Kong Sapling players 21st-century Hong Kong sportsmen Eastern Sports Club footballers Kitchee SC players Yanbian Funde F.C. players Dalian Professional F.C. players Shanghai Jiading Huilong F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Naturalised footballers of Hong Kong Hong Kong expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China Hong Kong expatriate sportspeople in China Hong Kong League XI representative players 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen