Stephen Ademolu (born November 20, 1982) is a former Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player and current coach/trainer.

Club career

Early career

Ademolu played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

at the

University of North Carolina at Pembroke The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNC Pembroke or UNCP) is a public university in Pembroke, North Carolina, United States. UNC Pembroke is a master's level degree-granting university and part of the University of North Carolina syste ...

during his first year and at

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...

during his second and third. At the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, he became the school's top scorer with twelve goals and six assists. Ademolu was also named 2001 School's Top Male Athlete and Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year for the first time in the school's history. At Cleveland State University, during his sophomore year, Ademolu was named Newcomer of the Year, first team All-Horizon League, first team NSCAA All-Ohio and third team All-Great Lakes Region. He was also top scorer with eleven goals and six assists. In his junior year, he was named Horizon League Player of the Year, third-team All-Ohio, 16th in the nation in goals per game, 28th in the country in points per game, he led his CSU Team and the Horizon League with twelve goals and six assists and tied a school record with eight points on three goals and two assists against UIC in one game. During his youth ages, Ademolu played for the Windsor FC Nationals scoring a total of 120 goals in the Ontario Youth Soccer League, also winning Top Goal Scorer of the Year and MVP in 1996–97. Ademolu led the Windsor FC Nationals to back to back Ontario Cups.

Trellborg

In 2005, Ademolu signed for

Trelleborgs FF Trelleborgs Fotbollsförening, more commonly known as Trelleborgs FF or simply Trelleborg, is a Swedish football club located in Trelleborg. Formed 6 December 1926, the club plays in Superettan, the second tier in the Swedish football league s ...

in Sweden, he came in halfway through the season before getting relegated but the highlight for Ademolu was scoring his first goal in a derby game against

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

. He was named team MVP for the 2005 season. In 2006, he played in the Swedish 2nd Division and scored seven goals before being sold to

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag () is a Norwegian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Tromsø. They play their home games at the Romssa Arena which has a seating capacity of 6,801. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Despi ...

Tromsø

Ademolu spent two-and-a-half seasons at Tromsø where he made history when he scored a crucial goal in a

2005–06 UEFA Cup first round The first round of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearanc ...

second leg encounter against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

which helped send Tromsø into the 2005–06 UEFA Cup group stage where they would face off against

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

Løv-Ham

After two-and-a-half seasons at Tromsø, Ademolu left to get more playing time in 2008 with Løv-Ham in the

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

. Ademolu scored twelve goals and had seven assists in 23 games, before moving on to

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

where he signed for

FK Ekranas Panevėžio Ekranas is a Lithuanian football club, from the city of Panevėžys. It won 7 top-tier champion and 5 national cup titles throughout its existence. History The club was founded in 1964 and for 24 years competed in the top tier of L ...

for two years in 2009.

Ekranas

With Ekranas, Ademolu was named in his first year playing as one of the top five players in the country. Ekranas went on to win the 2009 A Lyga Championship. Ademolu then went on to help his team win a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

(the 2010 A Lyga Championship and the 2009–10 Lithuanian Football Cup). During his time at Ekranas, Ademolu played in 2009 Champions League qualifying matches where Ekranas lost 6–4 on aggregate against

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

and the following year narrowly lost to Finnish side

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

by a score of 2–1 on aggregate.

Windsor Stars

Ademolu returned to Canada in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

during a brief stint with

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

side

Windsor Stars Windsor City FC (formerly Windsor Border Stars, Windsor Stars, and Windsor TFC) is a Canadian soccer team, based in Windsor, Ontario, that plays in League1 Ontario. The club was founded in 2004 and has previously competed in the Canadian Profe ...

. In January 2012, he signed with the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

but did not make any appearances due to complications with the American system of applying for a visa.

International career

During his college years, he was called up to the Canadian Olympic team for the

2004 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2004 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament was the eleventh edition of the CONCACAF Pre-Olympic Tournament, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by CONCACAF to determine which men's under-23 national tea ...

. He made his senior debut in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in November 2005 against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. On January 22, 2006, he featured in a friendly at

Torero Stadium Torero Stadium is an outdoor stadium in San Diego, California, located on the campus of the University of San Diego (USD). Opened in 1961, it is the home of the San Diego Toreros football and men's and women's soccer teams. The Toreros compete i ...

against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In January 2010, he was called up for a friendly against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

in which he started. Ademolu was called up to play against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

on May 24, 2010, before playing

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

five days later.

Coaching career

In addition to running the Ademolu Soccer Academy, Ademolu has also worked as the

University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

men's and women's assistant coach along with local Windsor clubs.

Personal life

Ademolu is of

n and

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, ...

n descent. Ademolu has seven brothers and one sister. His twin brother O'Nicholas also played for the

Cleveland State Vikings The Cleveland State Vikings, or Vikes, are the athletic teams of Cleveland State University. Before as Fenn College they were known as the Fenn College Foxes or Fenn Foxes. Cleveland State competes in NCAA Division I. The Vikings have competed ...

.Nicholas Ademolu - Men's Soccer
/ref> His cousin Michael Carter played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. In recent years, Ademolu has featured as a sports columnist for the Urban Book Circle and for

RedNation Online ''RedNation Online'' is a Canadian online magazine for Canadian soccer news. The site covers Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vanco ...

Honours

Ekranas *

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (). History The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Lithuanian Football Cup The Lithuanian Football Federation Cup (), also known as Hegelmann LFF Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian football cup competition contested in a knockout tournament format. The winner of the cup gains entitlement to participate in th ...

Lithuanian Supercup The Lithuanian Supercup () or LFF Supercup is an annual football match contested between the champions of the previous A Lyga season and the holders of the Lithuanian Football Cup. It is organised by and named after Lithuanian Football Federation a ...

: 2010 Oakville Blue Devils *

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual *

Second Team All Star:

Notes

References

External links

* (archived) * *
Stephen Ademolu
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ademolu, Stephen 1982 births Living people Men's association football forwards Canadian men's soccer players Soccer people from Ontario Sportspeople from Windsor, Ontario Black Canadian men's soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent Canadian twins Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Lithuania Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States University of North Carolina at Pembroke alumni Cleveland State Vikings men's soccer players Trelleborgs FF players Tromsø IL players Løv-Ham Fotball players FK Ekranas players Windsor City FC players Atlanta Silverbacks FC players Detroit City FC players Blue Devils FC players Allsvenskan players Superettan players Eliteserien players A Lyga players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players League1 Ontario players National Premier Soccer League players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen