Timothy Emeka Iroegbunam (born 30 June 2003) 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

. He is a product of the

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

and Aston Villa academies.

Career

Youth career

Iroegbunam played youth football in Sutton Coldfield for Sutton United - where at under-8s level, he played alongside future West Brom and Aston Villa teammate Louie Barry. Iroegbunam started his career at

, appearing once on the bench for a

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

game against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

on 23 May 2021. On 29 July 2021, Iroegbunam signed for

in an undisclosed deal, joining their under-23 academy side.

Senior career

On 5 December 2021, Iroegbunam appeared on the senior bench for Aston Villa, in a 2–1 Premier League victory over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

. After featuring on the bench several more times, Iroegbunam made his Premier League debut on 26 February 2022, as a late substitute for

Philippe Coutinho Philippe Coutinho Correia (born 12 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Brazil national team. He is known for his combination of vision, ...

in a 2–0 away victory over

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. On 18 March 2022, Iroegbunam signed a contract extension, running until 2027. On 30 April 2022, Irogebunam was given his first Premier League start for Aston Villa, in a 2–0 victory over

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...

playing 73 minutes before being substituted for

Douglas Luiz Douglas Luiz Soares de Paulo (born 9 May 1998), known as Douglas Luiz, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Aston Villa and the Brazil national team. Douglas Luiz is a product of the Vasco da G ...

. On 1 September 2022, Iroegbunam signed for

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 system ...

club

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...

on a season-long loan deal. He made his EFL debut on 3 September, in a 1–0 defeat to

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

. On 25 February 2023, Iroegbunam scored his first goal in senior football, QPR's only goal in a 3–1 defeat to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

International career

On 18 March 2022, Iroegbunam was given his first international call-up when he was named in the England under-20 team for the upcoming matches against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. In the same international break, Iroegbunam was included in the England U19 team and made his international debut on 23 March 2022, in a 3–1

UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

win over

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. On 17 June 2022, Iroegbunam was named in the England squad for the

2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2022) was the 19th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (69th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footba ...

finals. Iroegbunam featured heavily in the tournament, coming off the bench on 1 July 2022 to play in England's 3–1 extra time victory over

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the final. On 21 September 2022, Iroegbunam made his England U20 debut as a substitute during a 3–0 victory over

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

at the

Pinatar Arena The Pinatar Arena is an association football stadium located in San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain. The 3,000-seat stadium is part of the larger Pinatar Arena Football Center which also includes a sports club, hotel, training fields, and other a ...

Personal life

Born in England, Iroegbunam is of

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

descent.

Career statistics

Honours

England U19s *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and Englan ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Aston Villa F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Iroegbunam, Tim 2003 births Living people People from Great Barr Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers English sportspeople of Nigerian descent Men's association football midfielders Aston Villa F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Premier League players Black British sportsmen England men's youth international footballers Queens Park Rangers F.C. players English Football League players