Wilfred Oluwafemi Onyedinma (born 24 November 1996) is a Nigerian 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 for

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

side

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

in his fourth spell with the club. A versatile player, he can be deployed as a wing-back,

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

wide midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or winger.

Early life

Onyedinma was born in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Nigeria, and his parents moved the family to England, along with his brother and two sisters, when Fred was aged three. He grew up in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

Plumstead Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Plumstead has been settled since ancient times, and London's earliest timber structure has been found here. ...

and

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

, and attended Corelli College in

Kidbrooke Kidbrooke is an area of south-east London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich south-east of Charing Cross and north west of Eltham. The district takes its name from the Kyd Brook, a watercourse which runs from Orpington to Lewisha ...

. He played local football, representing the Blackheath district as a youngster alongside

Alex Iwobi Alexander Chuka Iwobi ( ; born 3 May 1996) is a Nigerian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Fulham F.C., Fulham and the Nigeria national football team, Nigeria national team. Iwobi began his caree ...

Joe Gomez Joseph Dave Gomez (born 23 May 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Liverpool and the England national team. Gomez began his career at Charlton Athletic, breaking into the first team at 17 and playi ...

and

Kasey Palmer Kasey Remel Palmer (born 9 November 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Hull City. Born in England, he represented his country of birth up to under-21 level, before electing to play for Jamaica at ...

, before he was spotted by

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

scout and former player Andy Massey, and subsequently signed for the club at the age of 12.

Career

Early career

Onyedinma made his senior debut for

on 4 January 2014 in 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

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. He came on as a 62nd-minute substitute for

Richard Chaplow Richard David Chaplow (born 2 February 1985) is an English retired professional footballer and coach who was most recently the head coach of USL Championship side Orange County SC. He is a former England under-21 international. Club career Bu ...

as Millwall lost 4–1. He later made his full debut against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

and was named

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 ...

Wycombe Wanderers

On 27 November 2014, Onyedinma joined League Two outfit

on a loan deal, lasting until January 2015. On 31 December 2014, his loan spell at Wycombe was extended to the end of the 2014–15 season as part of the

Paris Cowan-Hall Paris Declan Joseph Cowan-Hall (born 5 October 1990) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward and winger. Having started his career as a youngster at Portsmouth, he went on to play in the Football League for Grimsb ...

transfer deal. On 30 August 2018, Onyedinma rejoined Wycombe Wanderers – this time in League One – on loan until 1 January 2019. After returning to Millwall in January 2019 for the remainder of the season, Onyedinma found first-team opportunities hard to come by despite praise for his performances in training from manager Neil Harris. On 30 July 2019, it was confirmed that Onyedinma would be returning to Wycombe for a third stint, this time on a permanent three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. On 6 July 2020, Onyedinma scored twice in the second leg of Wycombe's League One play-off semi-final match against

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

to secure a 2–2 draw and a 6–3 win on aggregate. In the final against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

on 13 July, Onyedinma won the penalty that led to Wycombe's match-winning goal, securing promotion 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 ...

for the first time in the club's history.

Luton Town

Onyedinma signed for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

for an undisclosed fee on 25 May 2021. He scored and assisted a further two goals on his debut for the club, a 3–0 victory over

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

on 7 August 2021. On 28 July 2023, Onyedinma joined

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

on a season-long loan. On 24 May 2024, Luton announced he would be leaving in the summer when his contract expired,

Return to Wycombe Wanderers

On 10 September 2024, Onyedinma signed for

, beginning his fourth separate stint with the club.

Career statistics

Honours

Millwall *

EFL League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Wycombe Wanderers *EFL League One play-offs:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Luton Town *

EFL Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-o ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

*
Millwall profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onyedinma, Fred 1996 births Living people Footballers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Millwall F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players English Football League players Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Rotherham United F.C. players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Premier League players 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen