Viv Efosa Solomon-Otabor (born 2 January 1996) 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 winger for

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

club Al Orooba. He joined

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

as a 16-year-old, and made his senior debut while on loan at

Conference 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 Leagues and step 2 o ...

club Oxford City in 2014. He first played for Birmingham in the League Cup in August 2015, and spent time on loan to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

clubs

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in 2016–17,

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 ...

for the 2017–18 season, and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in 2018–19. He made 33 appearances in the

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 ...

for Birmingham, and turned down their offer of a new contract in 2019. He spent the 2019–20 season with

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

club

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

before returning to England for a season with another League One club,

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. Solomon-Otabor was born in England to Nigerian parents, and was an unused substitute for the Nigerian national team in October 2019.

Personal life

Solomon-Otabor was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to parents originally from

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

, Nigeria. He is the nephew of Nigerian international footballer Thompson Oliha, and his father, Victor-Banks Otabor, played domestically for Bendel Insurance, NNPC and Eagle Oil. He attended

Bishop Thomas Grant School Bishop Thomas Grant School (BTG) is a coeducational Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form, situated in the Streatham area of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The school is named after the first Catholic Bishop of Southwark, Th ...

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

, and supported

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 ...

as a boy; his friends included fellow Anglo-Nigerian future footballer

Joe Aribo Joseph Oluwaseyi Temitope Ayodele-Aribo (born 21 July 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Southampton and the Nigeria national team. He began his club career at Staines Town then spent four years with Charl ...

Club career

Early career

As a youngster, Solomon-Otabor played football with Hampton & Richmond Borough, and was a member of

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

's academy, before taking up a scholarship with

in July 2012. In February 2014, he joined

club Oxford City on a youth loan until the end of the season. He played 12 league matches, 7 as a member of the starting eleven, and scored once, in a 2–0 win away to Gloucester City, as Oxford City finished 20th. Solomon-Otabor signed his first professional contract with Birmingham, of one year with the option of a second, in June 2014. In November, he described his strengths as speed, dribbling, and ability to play with both feet. He was a regular in the development squad over the season, and was a member of the team that won the

Birmingham Senior Cup The Birmingham Senior Cup is a regional Association football, football competition for Birmingham County FA club teams, organised by the Birmingham County Football Association. It began in 1876 and is the oldest County Football Association, count ...

. His under-21 coach, Richard Beale, believed the player had the potential to progress to the first team but needed to work harder at the defensive aspects of the game.

Birmingham City

Birmingham took up the option for a further year on his contract, and he showed enough progress in pre-season and into the start of the 2015–16 season that manager

Gary Rowett Gary Rowett (born 6 March 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who is head coach of club Oxford United. As a player, he was a defender, and played in the Premier League for Everton, Derby County, Leicester City ...

decided to keep him at the club instead of allowing him out on loan again. Rowett remarked on his physical development and his improved defensive work, rated him as "probably the quickest player we have got in the squad", and highlighted his having "roasted first team defenders in training". Solomon-Otabor was given a

squad number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to id ...

"with a view to participation in" the second-round League Cup tie at home to Gillingham on 25 August 2015. He did indeed participate, as a second-half substitute, replacing Koby Arthur after 77 minutes. Birmingham won 2–0. He 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 15 September at home to

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 ...

, replacing

David Cotterill David Rhys George Best Cotterill (born 4 December 1987) is a Welsh former footballer who played as a winger. Born in Cardiff, Cotterill began his career at Bristol City before signing for Premier League Wigan Athletic where he spent two season ...

for the last ten minutes of what proved to be Birmingham's first defeat of the season. With Birmingham 3–2 ahead away at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on 7 November, Solomon-Otabor came on as an 80th-minute substitute for

Jon Toral Jon Miquel Toral Harper (born 5 February 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Indian Super League club Mumbai City. A product of the Barcelona and Arsenal academies, Toral spent the 2014–15 sea ...

. Deep into stoppage time, he scored his first senior professional goal, a solo effort that completed a 5–2 win: after a run down the left, "a neat turn that left

Richard Stearman Richard James Michael Stearman (born 19 August 1987) is an English former professional footballer who is first team coach at Swansea City. He was a versatile defender, being able to play in any defensive slot although primarily a centre half or ...

on his backside was followed by a clinical finish". After twelve substitute appearances in all competitions, Solomon-Otabor made his first start on 28 December, replacing the rested

Demarai Gray Demarai Remelle Gray (born 28 June 1996) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq FC, Al-Ettifaq. Born in England, he plays for the Jamaica natio ...

for the visit of

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

. The ''

Milton Keynes Citizen The ''Milton Keynes Citizen'' is the only freely distributed local newspaper in Milton Keynes. The newspaper is owned by National World. The ''MK Citizen'' was founded by Bill Alder and 1981 and they sold to EMAP in 1987 and the purchase was c ...

'' reported that Dons were lucky not to concede a penalty when a defender appeared to handle Solomon-Otabor's 36th-minute cross. Rowett "thought Viv looked a little bit nervous, which is understandable, but he's worked hard in the second-half and contributed to some of the moments and certainly the performance. ... Every time he comes on the pitch, he does what we ask him to do; he stays wide, he crosses the ball, he gets into good positions." He remained in the starting eleven for the next match, at home to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, with Gray about to complete his transfer to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, and a few days later signed a three-and-a-half-year contract, due to expire at the end of the 2018–19 season. Those were his only starts; he made eleven more appearances over the season, but all were as a substitute. Nevertheless, his performances earned him the club's Young Player of the Season award for 2015–16.

Loan spells

Having played little during 2016–17, Solomon-Otabor joined

club

on 31 January 2017 on loan until the end of the season. Birmingham manager

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football executive, Manager (association football), manager, and former Association football, footballer who played predominantly as a Forward (association football), forward. He is currently v ...

hoped he would be able to progress a conversion from winger to striker. He made only four appearances, all as a substitute, before his loan expired. In late July 2017, Solomon-Otabor signed for

, newly promoted to League One, on loan until 6 January 2018. He made his debut as a second-half substitute in the opening fixture of the season, and put in what the ''

Blackpool Gazette The ''Blackpool Gazette'' (locally marketed as simply ''The Gazette'') is an English daily newspaper based in Blackpool, Lancashire. Published every day except Sunday, it covers the towns and communities of the Fylde coast. It was founded as '' ...

'' called a "lively" performance in the next match, the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

defeat away to

. He played regularly through the first half of the campaign, and his loan was extended to the end of the season. He went on to make 47 appearances (44 in League One) in which he scored five goals. Behind

Jota Jota may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Iota (Ι, ι), the name of the 9th letter in the Greek alphabet; * (figuratively) ''Something very small'', based on the fact that the letter Iota (lat. i) is the smallest character in the alphabet; * The name of the ...

, Jacques Maghoma and loanee

Connor Mahoney Connor Anthony Mahoney (born 12 February 1997) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder#Winger, right winger for club Barrow A.F.C., Barrow. He played for Accrington Stanley F.C., Accrington Stanley ...

in the pecking order, Solomon-Otabor was used sparingly by Birmingham in the early part of the 2018–19 season. His last appearance was in November against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

: he came on in the first half for the injured Jota and was himself substituted after 65 minutes. Solomon-Otabor joined League One club

on 31 January 2019 on loan until the end of the season. He did not become a regular in the side: he made seven league appearances, scored once, and played in both legs of Portsmouth's play-off semi-final defeat to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

CSKA Sofia

On his return to Birmingham, the club offered him a one-year contract, which he chose to decline, instead signing a three-year deal with

of the

. He made 22 appearances in all competitions, scored once in 19 First League matches, and represented CSKA Sofia in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, before Bulgarian football was suspended in mid March 2020 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Solomon-Otabor's contract was cancelled for financial reasons during the hiatus. Following a controversial international match between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in October 2019, he became a target for racial abuse from supporters of opposing clubs and of his own; the club itself spoke out in support of him.

Return to British football

Solomon-Otabor signed a short-term deal with

, newly relegated to League One after entering

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

, on 4 September 2020. He made his debut the next day in a 3–2 EFL Cup defeat away to

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

. On 5 October 2020, Solomon-Otabor extended his contract with Wigan until January 2021, but soon afterwards he injured an ankle, required surgery, and his contract expired before he was able to play again. Having proved his fitness to Wigan's satisfaction at the end of January 2021, he signed on again to the end of the season, and returned to competitive action on 6 February. His first goal for the club opened the scoring in a 2–0 win away to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

on 9 March. He finished the season with two goals from 31 appearances in all competitions. Wigan made him an offer of terms for the coming season, but he had not accepted it by the time his existing contract expired at the end of June. After a period without a team, Solomon-Otabor signed for

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 ...

club

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

on 24 November 2021 on a short-term contract until January 2022. After making two starts and five appearances as a substitute, he left the club upon the completion of his contract.

Rukh Lviv

In January 2022, Solomon-Otabor signed for Rukh Lviv of the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

. After joining his teammates at a training camp in Turkey, he had been in Ukraine for only one training session when

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

led to the postponement of the football season. Travelling with two team-mates, Solomon-Otabor drove to the Polish border and managed to cross after a 10-hour wait, before heading to

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

to fly to London.

Cangzhou Mighty Lions

On 29 February 2024, Solomon-Otabor joined

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club Cangzhou Mighty Lions.

International career

In June 2015, Solomon-Otabor was invited to attend trials for Nigeria's Olympic team, and trained with the team ahead of their

2015 All-Africa Games The 11th African Games (), also known as Brazzaville 2015, took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted t ...

campaign. In October 2019 he received his first call up for

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, ...

, as a replacement for the injured

Samuel Kalu Samuel Kalu Ojim (born 26 August 1997) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as winger. He is currently a free agent. Club career Kalu started his football career at GBS Academy in Jos, Nigeria. AS Trenčín On 9 December 2015, Kalu a ...

for a friendly against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in Singapore. He remained an unused substitute.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Young Player of the Season: 2015–16

References

External links

Profile
at the Wigan Athletic F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon-Otabor, Viv 1996 births Living people Footballers from London English men's footballers Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Oxford City F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players PFC CSKA Sofia players Wigan Athletic F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players FC Rukh Lviv players Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Scottish Professional Football League players Ukrainian Premier League players Chinese Super League players UAE Pro League players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria English expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine English expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in China English expatriate sportspeople in China English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Black British sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen Al Orooba Club players Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates English expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates