Rashid Olatokunbo Oladobe Alao Yussuff (born 23 September 1989) is an English

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Chatham Town.

Career

Early years

Yussuff is of Nigerian descent but was born in Poplar, London on 23 September 1989. He is often nicknamed ''Toks'' as an abbreviation of his middle name Olatokunbo. Yussuff began his career as a trainee at Charlton Athletic Academy in July 2006 at the age of 17. He scored eight league goals for the under-18 squad in the 2007–08 Premier Academy League, as well as scoring two goals for the under-18s in the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

. In spite of this, however, he failed to break into the first team and on 1 November 2008 the 19-year-old midfielder was loaned out to

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

side

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

on an initial one-month deal. Yussuff made his debut for Northwich Victoria on 8 November 2008 in a 1–0 defeat to

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

. He went on to make six more appearances for "The Vics" with his last match being a 1–0 defeat to

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

on 26 December 2008, after which he returned to his parent club. The midfielder would make his only appearance for "The Addicks" as a 79th minute substitute for Lloyd Sam in the Third Round of the

2008–09 FA Cup The 2008–09 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON for sponsorship reasons) was the 128th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. A record 762 clubs were accepted for the competition; one club, South N ...

in which

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

beat

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

1–0 at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

on 13 January 2009, in front of a crowd of 13,997. On 26 March 2009, Yussuff was loaned out to Conference side

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1946 from the merger ...

for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. He made his debut for Ebbsfleet United on 31 March 2009 in a 1–0 win over Altrincham. Yussuff scored his first professional league goal for Ebbsfleet United on 13 April 2009 in a 2–1 victory over

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

. Yussuff made 8 league appearances for "The Fleet" in total, the last being a 2–2 draw against Salisbury City on 26 April 2009 before returning to his parent club. Yussuff was subsequently released by Charlton Athletic at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Gillingham

Yussuff joined League One side Gillingham on trial in July 2009, impressing manager

Mark Stimson Mark Nicholas Stimson (born 27 December 1967) is an English former footballer and manager. He is currently assistant manager of Cray Wanderers. He signed his first professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur in 1985, but was unable to gain ...

enough to be awarded a one-year contract for the 2009–10 season. Yussuff made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 8 August 2009 as an 87th-minute substitute for Jack Payne in a 5–0 win over

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

. Yussuff also came on as a second-half substitute for Jack Payne in a 1–0 defeat to Norwich City in the Second Round of the

2009–10 Football League Trophy The 2009–10 Football League Trophy, known as the 2009–10 Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is the 29th Football League Trophy, a knockout competition for English football clubs in Leagues One and Two, the third and fourth ti ...

on 6 October 2009. Yussuff would go on to make 7 more league appearances for Gillingham in the 2009–10 season, the last being a 1–1 draw against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

on 26 January 2010. Gillingham were relegated to League Two at the end of the 2009–10 season following a 3–0 defeat by

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

on 8 May 2010. This resulted in Mark Stimson being sacked on 10 May 2010. Yussuff was subsequently released by the club on 11 May after new "Gills" manager

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at the ...

decided not to renew his contract.

AFC Wimbledon

On 30 June 2010, Yussuff signed for Conference side

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

. He made his debut for "The Dons" on 17 August 2010 as an 83rd-minute substitute for Sammy Moore in a 2–0 win over

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which runs eas ...

. Yussuff's first starting appearance for "The Dons" came in a 1–0 defeat to

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

on 24 August 2010. He scored his first goal for AFC Wimbledon in a 2–1 win over

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 ...

on 9 October 2010. Yussuff was a key member of "The Dons" squad during their push for promotion, scoring 6 league goals in 40 appearances in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. The midfielder's biggest honour to date for "The Dons" came when manager Terry Brown selected him to start in the 2011 Conference play-off final against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

on 21 May 2011 at the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...

in front of a crowd of 18,195. The match went down to a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

after the game ended 0–0 in extra time with AFC Wimbledon eventually winning 4–3, resulting in promotion to the football league. Yussuff will also be remembered as being part of the starting eleven in AFC Wimbledon's inaugural football league match against

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 ...

on 6 August 2011, which ultimately ended in a 3–2 defeat. Yussuff scored his first football league goal in a 2–0 victory over

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

on 13 August 2011. In total Yussuff scored 5 league goals in 40 appearances during the 2011–12 season. Yussuff made his 100th league appearance for AFC Wimbledon in a 1–0 win over

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

on 16 March 2013. In January 2014, Yussuff was released by AFC Wimbledon having made 150 league appearances for the club.

Íþróttabandalag Akraness

On 31 March 2017 he signed a contract with ÍA Akranes.

Chatham Town

In July 2023 Yussuff signed for Chatham Town.

International career

Rashid Yussuff made his only appearance for England under-18s on 27 March 2007 in a 4–1 win over Netherlands under-18s, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute for

Daniel Sturridge Daniel Andre Sturridge Johnson (born 1 September 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Since 2023, he has worked as a television pundit for Sky Sports. Sturridge was scouted by Aston Villa and played for ...

Honours

AFC Wimbledon *

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 ...

play-off winner:

Arka Gdynia *

I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

: 2015–16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yussuff, Rashid 1989 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Poplar, London Black British sportsmen English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Charlton Athletic F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Margate F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Żebbuġ Rangers F.C. players Arka Gdynia players Íþróttabandalag Akraness players Ungmennafélagið Víkingur players Chatham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Ekstraklasa players III liga players IV liga players Maltese Premier League players Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players English expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Poland English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland 21st-century English sportsmen