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Leon Aderemi Balogun (born 28 June 1988) 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
centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
or
right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
for club
Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a professional Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the A ...
. Balogun has previously played for
Türkiyemspor Berlin Türkiyemspor Berlin is a Turkish association football club from Berlin. The club began in 1978 as a loose association of young footballers playing recreationally as ''Kreuzberg Gençler Birliği'' (Kreuzberg Youth Union), named after the Ber ...
,
Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...
,
Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...
,
Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...
,
Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German professional association football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was bri ...
,
Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...
,
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...
,
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...
, a previous spell at Rangers and
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 ...
.


Club career


Early career

He made his
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
debut on 19 April 2009 for
Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...
in a game against
Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...
. After his contract with 2. Bundesliga side
Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...
expired in summer 2014, he was without a club for three months until he joined fellow leaguer
Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German professional association football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was bri ...
. He signed a contract until the end of the 2014–15 season.


Brighton & Hove Albion

On 22 May 2018, Balogun signed a two-year deal with
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 ...
club
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...
. Balogun made his competitive debut for the Sussex club coming on as an early substitute against
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 ...
replacing injured
Lewis Dunk Lewis Carl Dunk (born 21 November 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Brighton & Hove Albion and the England national team. Dunk started his youth career at Wimbledon before joining Brighton & Hove ...
. The Seagulls went on to beat United 3–2 at
Falmer Stadium Falmer Stadium, currently known as the American Express Stadium for sponsorship reasons and more commonly referred to as the Amex, is a association football, football stadium in Falmer, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. With a capacity o ...
. He scored his first goal for the Albion to make it 2–0 against bitter rivals
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...
at Falmer Stadium where he scored in 25 seconds after being subbed on replacing
Pascal Groß Pascal Alexander Groß ( born 15 June 1991) is a German professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder or full-back (association football), full-back for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Germany national football ...
as a result of a
Shane Duffy Shane Patrick Michael Duffy (born 1 January 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Norwich City and the Republic of Ireland national team. Duffy came through the youth academy at Everton, where he comp ...
red card for head butting. The game finished 3–1 to the Albion to claim the boasting rights in the M23 derby. On 27 August 2019, Balogun played in his first ever
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 ...
match in a 2–1 away win over
Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...
.


Wigan Athletic

Balogun signed for
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...
on 31 January 2020 on a six-month loan deal. On 25 June 2020, he signed a short term permanent contract with the Latics until the end of the 2019–20 season.


Rangers

Balogun signed for
Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
club
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 ...
on 24 July 2020 on a one-year contract, with an option in the club's favour to extend for a further year. He made his debut for Rangers a week later, on 1 August, in a
Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
match against
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
where he impressed during a 1–0 win. During February 2021, he deputised at right back after an injury to club captain James Tavernier and the suspension of reserve player Nathan Patterson. Balogun previously played at right back earlier in his career when in Germany. On 9 April 2021, Balogun signed a new one-year contract with
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 scored his first goal for the club on 27 October 2021, in a
Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
group stage match against
Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...
. Balogun left Rangers in June 2022 after his contract expired, with his final appearance coming in their 2022 Scottish Cup Final victory. Rangers legend
Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former association football, footballer who has since worked as a Manager (association football), manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Jo ...
commented two months later that he had been "surprised" by Balogun's departure, and suggested that the club should re-sign him.


Queens Park Rangers

Balogun signed a one-year contract with
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 ...
on 26 August 2022. He scored his first goal for the club on 22 October 2022, which proved to be the winner, against his former club Wigan Athletic.


Return to Rangers

He returned to Rangers on 12 July 2023, a year after departing from the club as a free agent. His return was one celebrated by the club and its fans, as well as Balogun himself, who felt as though he had “come home”.


Aris Limassol

On 20 June 2025, Balogun signed a one-year contract with
Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...
club
Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a professional Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the A ...
.


International career

Born to a Nigerian father and German mother, Balogun was called up by
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, ...
for a March 2014 friendly against Mexico as a replacement for
Joseph Yobo Joseph Michael Yobo (born 6 September 1980) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He was the captain of the Nigerian national team until his international football retirement in June 2014, and was Nigeria's ...
. Balogun entered at half-time, but was injured after 20 minutes in a collision with signage on the touchline. He fractured his foot and was set to miss 2–3 months after surgery. However, he later confirmed to news media that his injury did not require surgery. On 25 March 2015, he played his second game for Nigeria in a 1–0 loss against Uganda. He played his third game for the country on 13 June 2015 when he featured in a 2–0 win over Chad in the opening game of qualifying for the 2017 African Nations Cup. In June 2018, he was named in Nigeria's final 23-man
squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...
for the
2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
in Russia. Balogun played in every minute of the three games Nigeria played in, including a 2–0 win over
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, but were eliminated after finishing 3rd in their group. Balogun was included in Nigeria's squad for the
2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...
. His first appearance in the competition came in Nigeria's second group game against
Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
in which Nigeria won 1–0 to seal qualification into the knockouts. Balogun made 4 appearances in the competition where The Super Eagles finished as bronze medallists.


Personal life

Balogun was born in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, West Germany to a Nigerian-Yoruba father and a German mother. Balogun was raised
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
and attended a Catholic
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, but was not religious as a child. However, during the hardships of his early footballing career he became more devout. Balogun speaks fluent English and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, but does not speak Yoruba, as his parents tried to assimilate him into German culture. In November 2019 Balogun said there needed to be a collective response from players to racism in football.


Career statistics


Club


International

:''Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Balogun goal.''


Honours

Rangers *
Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
:
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 ...
*
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2021–22 *
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
: 2023–24 *
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
runner-up: 2021–22 Nigeria *
Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...
third place:
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balogun, Leon 1988 births Living people German Christians Nigerian Christians Converts to Christianity from atheism or agnosticism Footballers from Berlin German men's footballers Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Nigeria men's international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Türkiyemspor Berlin players Hannover 96 II players Hannover 96 players SV Werder Bremen II players SV Werder Bremen players Fortuna Düsseldorf II players Fortuna Düsseldorf players SV Darmstadt 98 players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players 1. FSV Mainz 05 II players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Aris Limassol FC players Regionalliga players Bundesliga players 3. Liga players 2. Bundesliga players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Cypriot First Division players German expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England German expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland German expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus German sportspeople of Nigerian descent German people of Yoruba descent Nigerian people of German descent Yoruba sportspeople Queens Park Rangers F.C. players 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen