Joshua Akinola Ogunfaolu-Kayode (born 4 May 2000) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

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 ...

. Born in Nigeria, Kayode represents Ireland internationally.

Club career

Rotherham United

Kayode 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, however, he grew up in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland playing for St.Mochta's FC in Clonsilla before moving to start his career in the youth team of

. He made his professional debut in August 2017 in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

defeat to Manchester City U21. On 20 November 2017 he signed his first professional contract, a deal until the summer of 2020. On 19 September 2018, Kayode 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 Chesterfield on a one-month youth loan. In early August 2019 he joined

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

side

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

on loan until January 2020, with conditions attached that meant he could still feature for Rotherham in the

. After returning from Gateshead, Kayode signed a new -year deal extending his stay at

until the summer of 2022. He then moved on loan to League Two side

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 ...

for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. This loan was formally extended in May 2020 to cover any potential extension to the season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 4 August 2020, Kayode returned to

, on a one-year loan. In April 2021 whilst on loan at Carlisle, Kayode signed a new contract with ''the Millers'' that would keep him at the club until the end of the 2023–24 season. He scored his first goal for Rotherham in an

tie against

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' ...

on 4 January 2022. In pre-season ahead of the 2022–23 campaign, Kayode would sustain a hamstring injury minutes after scoring the equaliser for Rotherham United in a friendly against Mansfield Town. After recovery, and in the need for game time, Kayode left Rotherham United on loan - signing for MK Dons on the 29 August 2022. He would debut for MK Dons the following day as MK Dons suffered a 1–2 defeat to Cheltenham Town in the EFL Trophy. On 3 September Kayode would make his League bow for the Dons, starting on the bench in a 1–0 loss away to Exeter City, his second League appearance coming versus Bolton Wanderers. In July 2024, Kayode joined fellow League One side

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 ...

on a season-long loan deal. In August 2024, Kayode scored his first goal for Shrewsbury Town, against Notts County in the Carabao Cup. He returned to Rotherham on 12 January 2025.

International career

Kayode was called up the Republic of Ireland under-21 team for the first time in October 2020, for the European Championship qualifier against Italy. He was called up for a second time in November 2020, making his debut from the bench against Iceland under-21 on 15 November 2020. He made his full debut and scored his first under-21 international goal on 18 November 2020, against Luxembourg under-21 in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

Career statistics

Honours

Rotherham United *

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 ...

second-place promotion: 2021–22 *

: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kayode, Joshua 2000 births Living people Footballers from Lagos Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian emigrants to Ireland Irish people of Nigerian descent Rotherham United F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriates in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Black Irish sportspeople 21st-century Irish sportsmen 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen