Joshua Oluwadurotimi Emmanuel (born 18 August 1997) is an English 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

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for club

FC Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League (division), National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replac ...

. Emmanuel came through the youth academies of

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

before signing professional terms with the latter and going on to make 23 league appearances for the Tractor Boys between 2015 and 2019, as well as spending time on loan initially with

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

. His loan spell during the 2017–18 season with

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 ...

saw him make 31 appearances for The Millers as they were promoted to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

through the play-offs. He went on to have a spell with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

before signing with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. He joined

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in 2020 and was part of the team who were champions of

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 ...

during his first season.

Club career

Ipswich Town

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Emmanuel was a schoolboy at

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

before joining the youth setup at Ipswich. After progressing through the ranks at Ipswich Town, Emmanuel was called up by Manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. McCarthy b ...

for the first team on the pre-season tour of Ireland. After being given a number 29 shirt ahead of the new season, Emmanuel signed a professional contract at the club in August 2015, and made his competitive Ipswich debut against

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 ...

on 8 August 2015 in the first match of the 2015–16 season, in which he set up a goal for Kévin Bru in a 2–2 draw. He then had a handful of first team appearances throughout August before losing his first team place soon after. After his loan spell at Crawley Town came to an end, it wasn't until on 29 April 2016 when he made another appearance for the side, in a 3–2 win over

MK 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 the 2016–17 season, Emmanuel started the season on the substitutes bench and did not make his first appearance of the season until 24 September 2016 in a 1–0 loss to

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 ...

. However, he appeared in several matches before being demoted to the substitutes bench after Adam Webster, who recovered from his injury. He then signed a two-year contract with the club, keeping him until 2019. Towards the end of the 2016–17 season, Emmanuel then began playing in the right-midfield position. By the end of the 2016–17 season, Emmanuel made the total of 17 appearances in all competitions.

Crawley Town (loan)

To gain first team experience, Emmanuel joined

on loan on 26 November 2015, where he made his debut for the club in a 3–1 loss against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

three days later. He returned to Ipswich on 3 January 2016.

Rotherham United (loan)

Emmanuel joined

on a season-long loan deal on 13 July 2017. He made his Rotherham United debut, starting the match and playing the full 90 minutes, in a 2–0 loss 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 ...

in the opening game of the season. He went on to make 31 league appearances for Rotherham as the club earned promotion to the EFL Championship, and was voted the club's young player of the year.

Shrewsbury Town (loan)

In August 2018 Emmanuel joined

on loan for the 2018–19 season. He made 14 league appearances for the Shrews before returning to Ipswich on 18 January 2019, after being recalled from his loan spell.

Bolton Wanderers

On 2 September 2019, Emmanuel joined

on a contract until the end of the season, following his release from

a few hours earlier. He made his debut on 14 September, starting against

in a 6–1 defeat. On 26 June it was announced Emmanuel would be one of 14 senior players released at the end of his contract on 30 June.

Hull City

On 7 August 2020, it was announced that Emmanuel would join newly relegated

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

club

on a free transfer. Emmanuel signed a two-year deal, with an optional one-year extension. Emmanuel played his first game for the club on 5 September 2020, in the first round of the

EFL 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 ...

away against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, which Hull won on penalties after a 0–0 draw. In November 2021, Emmanuel fell ill before a game with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

having fainted. The illness kept him side-lined for the best part of a year. On 18 May 2022, Hull City exercised an option for an additional year on his contract.

Grimsby Town

On 31 January 2023, Emmanuel signed a deal with

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 ...

until the end of the season for an undisclosed fee. Upon signing for Grimsby, he had not played football since November 2021 due to illness, manager

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, he was a left back from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, bar a brief loan spell with Burton Albion i ...

commented that "He fainted, and without going into too much detail, they weren't quite sure why, but, as I said, he's been playing, he's been training and I think he's got sick of getting fit for no reward at the end of it," In reality, if we can get anything like the Josh Emmanuel of his career so far then the reality is we're getting somebody who us above the level, so that's what we all hope for and I'm sure Josh is exactly the same." Emmanuel was part of the Grimsby team that reached the quarter finals 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 ...

following a 2–1 win away at

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 ...

side

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. Following the victory in an interview with the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'', Emmanuel opened up about his illness saying it was a clot that initially stunted his speech and he was unable to move the left side of his body. On 9 May 2023, it was announced that Emmanuel would not be retained for the 2023–24 season and would be leaving the club when his contract expires on 30 June. With it announced the likelihood that Emmanuel would be seeking to find a club higher up the Football League system.

Carlisle United

On 23 November 2023, Emmanuel joined League One club

on a contract until the end of the season having been training with them for a number of weeks. Following the club's relegation, he was released upon the expiration of his contract.

Doncaster Rovers

On 6 September 2024, Emmanuel joined League Two

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 ...

on a short term contract.

FC Halifax Town

On 8 March 2025, Emmanuel joined

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

Personal life

Emmanuel is of Nigerian descent. Growing up in Harlow, Essex, Emmanuel supported

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and was raised as a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, crediting it for force in his life. Emmanuel revealed that he used to play rugby when he was young and was even offered a trial at

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

but made it clear he wanted to be a footballer and wouldn't consider rugby as an alternative.

Career statistics

Honours

Rotherham United *

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 ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Hull City *

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 ...

Individual *

Young Player of the Year: 2017–18

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emmanuel, Josh 1997 births Living people Footballers from London Footballers from Harlow English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Ipswich Town F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players FC Halifax Town players English Football League players National League (English football) players English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Black British sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen