Michael Adewale A. Oluwabunmi Bakare (born 1 December 1986) 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 for Glacis United. Formerly 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 ...

, Bakare converted to a defender later in his career.

Career

Early career

Bakare started his senior career in the 2006–07 season, playing for Hertford Town and

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an outer London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Leyton, Walthamstow and Chingford. The borough's administrative headquarters are at Waltham Forest Town Hall, wh ...

. The following season, Bakare signed for

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

. In 2008, Bakare signed for

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

, before spells with

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

, and

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River ...

. In 2010, Bakare joined

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

. It was here where he first made a real impact, converting from a full back and midfielder to a forward player. Following an impressive 9 goals in 14 games early in the 2011/12 season, Bakare joined

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

club Chelmsford City, in a free transfer on 19 October 2011. He continued to impress at his new club, scoring 5 goals in 10 games, which earned Bakare a move to Football League side,

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

on 17 January 2012.

Macclesfield Town

Bakare signed on a free transfer, and made his first appearance as a substitute against Swindon Town on 21 January 2012. He was however limited to substitute appearances at Macclesfield, not starting a single game, and was released by the club, following their relegation at the end of the 2011/2012 season, making only 9 appearances. His last game was against Southend United on 5 May 2012.

Southport

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

club

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

took Bakare on trial in July 2012. After a single appearance in a friendly against

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the Liverpool County Premier League and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool Count ...

it was announced manager Liam Watson had signed the player to a contract for the 2012–13 season at the club's AGM on 27 July 2012.

Droylsden (loan)

In October 2012 he joined

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the mid-19th cen ...

on loan and scored on his club debut on 27 October as the club beat Colwyn Bay.

2013–2016

From then on he has been somewhat of a journeyman, going on to play for Chelmsford City, Dover Athletic,

Tonbridge Angels Tonbridge Angels Football Club is a professional association football club based in Tonbridge, Kent, England. The team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded as Tonb ...

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

Bury Town Bury Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Ram Meadow. History Early history The club was established by William Lake at a meeti ...

VCD Athletic VCD Athletic Football Club (short for Vickers, Crayford & Dartford Athletic Football Club) is a semi-professional football club based in Crayford in south-east London, England. The club was founded in 1916, during the First World War, as a compa ...

and

Witham Town Witham Town Football Club is a semi professional English football club based in Witham, Essex. The club are currently members of the and play at the Simarco Stadium. History Clubs named Witham Town have been in existence since the mid 19th ce ...

before rejoining his former club

for the 2015/16 season.

Wrexham

On 22 June 2016, he joined

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, along with his Welling teammate Nortei Nortey, on a 1-year deal. He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2016–17 season, in a 0–0 draw with Dover Athletic. On 24 November 2016, he joined Billericay Town on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

from Wrexham until January 2017. He made his debut in a league match against Metropolitan Police where he won his side a penalty before converting it himself, in a game that finished 1–1. Following the end of his loan spell, Bakare returned to Wrexham where his contract was cancelled by mutual consent on 23 January 2017.

Warrington Town

Bakare signed for Warrington Town on 23 March 2017.

Connah's Quay Nomads

In August 2017, Bakare joined

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

side

Connah's Quay Nomads Connah's Quay Nomads Football Club () is a Welsh professional association football, football club based in Connah's Quay, Flintshire. They play in the . The club was founded in 1946 as Connah's Quay Juniors and adopted the Connah's Quay Nomads ...

, alongside his brother Mathias, after a successful trial period. In May 2018, he scored in the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

final, helping his team to a 4–1 win. In December 2018, Bakare extended his contract with Connah's Quay for a further year.

Hereford

On 16 February 2021, Bakare 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

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

on a short-term deal.

Iceland

On 13 July 2021, Bakare signed for Icelandic 1. deild karla side

Fjölnir Fjölnir ( ) is a List of legendary kings of Sweden, legendary king in Norse mythology said to have been the son of Freyr (Frey) and his consort Gerðr (Gertha). The name appears in a variety of forms, including Fiolnir, Fjölner, Fjolner, and F ...

, joining a team outside of the UK for the first time.

Leatherhead

In November 2021, he returned to England and signed for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Premier Division side

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

Arbroath

In February 2022, Bakare signed a short-term deal with

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

side

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

until the end of the season.

HIFK

In July 2022, Bakare joined

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

side

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

until the end of the year.

Enfield Town

In March 2023, Bakare returned to England and signed for

Premier Division club

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 333,587 in 2021. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Hig ...

on a contract till the end of the season.

Glacis United

In August 2023 Bakare joined Glacis United in the

Gibraltar Football League The Gibraltar Football League is the only senior tier of association football in Gibraltar, founded in 2019 as the Gibraltar National League after a merger of the Gibraltar Premier Division, which served as the top division of football on the R ...

. He was appointed player-manager the following season.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakare, Michael 1986 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Hertford Town F.C. players Waltham Forest F.C. players Welwyn Garden City F.C. players Leyton F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Southport F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Bury Town F.C. players VCD Athletic F.C. players Witham Town F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Warrington Town F.C. players Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. players Hereford F.C. players Ungmennafélagið Fjölnir players Leatherhead F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players HIFK Fotboll players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Veikkausliiga players English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Black British sportsmen English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate men's footballers in Finland English expatriate sportspeople in Finland 21st-century English sportsmen