Odeluga Joshua Offiah (born 26 October 2002) 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 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 ...

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 ...

for club

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

Club career

Brighton & Hove Albion

In his youth, Offiah was a member of the

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

academy, and in 2016 won the Kent Youth Cup with their U13 side before joining

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 ...

's academy in 2017. Offiah made his professional footballing debut on 24 August 2021, coming on as a 68th minute substitute for Taylor Richards in the 2–0 EFL Cup second round victory over

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 ...

side

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. He made his first start for the "Seagulls" on 8 January 2022, playing 55 minutes of the 2–1 – after extra-time – away win over

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

of the Championship in the FA Cup third round. On 31 January, Offiah committed his future with Brighton by signing a new contract that runs until June 2024. Offiah was among the substitutes in Brighton's

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 ...

semi-final 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 ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

on 23 April 2023, where he remained on the bench in the eventual penalty shootout defeat. He made his Premier League debut and first professional league match of his career three days later, coming on as 88th minute substitute for Albion goalscorer Facundo Buonanotte in the 3–1 away loss at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. He made his first ever Premier League start vs Bournemouth on 28 April 2024. On 9 June 2025, Offiah extended his contract with Brighton until 30 June 2026.

Heart of Midlothian (loan)

On 18 August 2023, Offiah signed a new contract with Brighton running until June 2025, whilst signing a season-long loan with Heart of Midlothian of the

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 ...

. He made a goalscoring debut two days after signing, with a powerful header crashing in off the underside of the crossbar, scoring Hearts' second in the eventual 4–0 home win over

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

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

in the

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 ...

second round. Offiah returned to Brighton in December 2023 following the termination of his loan spell.

Blackpool (loan)

On 30 August 2024, it was announced that Offiah would join

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 ...

club

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on a season-long loan.

Preston North End

On 5 July 2025, Offiah joined

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 ...

club

on a permanent deal, signing a four-year contract.

Personal life

Offiah was born in Camden to Nigerian parents. He is the nephew of former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player

Martin Offiah Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted ...

and cousin of Tyler Offiah.

Career statistics

References

External links

Odeluga Offiah
at Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Offiah, Odel 2002 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Camden English people of Ghanaian descent Sportspeople of Ghanaian descent English men's footballers English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Men's association football defenders Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen