Seyi Olofinjana

Seyi Olofinjana
Olofinjana training with Cardiff City in 2011
Personal information
Full name Seyi George Olofinjana
Date of birth (1980-06-30) 30 June 1980 (age 43)
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Crown
1999–2003 Kwara United
2003–2004 Brann 34 (11)
2004–2008 Wolverhampton Wanderers 135 (16)
2008–2009 Stoke City 18 (2)
2009–2013 Hull City 34 (1)
2010–2011Cardiff City (loan) 39 (6)
2013Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 6 (0)
2013 Sheffield Wednesday 7 (0)
2014 Start 7 (0)
Total 280 (36)
International career
2000–2011 Nigeria 48 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Seyi George Olofinjana (born 30 June 1980) is a Nigerian former footballer who played as a midfielder.

Olofinjana began his career with local sides Crown and Kwara United before moving to Europe with Norwegian side SK Brann. After two seasons at Brann he moved to English club Wolverhampton Wanderers. He became a regular at Molineux making 213 appearances for the club over four seasons before joining Premier League club Stoke City in August 2008 for a fee of £3 million. He played only the 2008–09 season with the team before joining another top flight side, Hull City, again for a fee of £3 million.

Career

Early career

Born in Lagos, he has a degree in Chemical Engineering.

He made his debut for the Nigeria national team in June 2000, in a 3–2 win over Malawi.

He moved from Nigeria to play club football in Norway for Brann.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

In July 2004 he moved to England to sign for Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee of £1.7 million. After having become a regular player for the club, his second season was curtailed by a back injury that also forced him to miss the 2006 African Cup of Nations. In the 2006–07 season, however, finishing as the club's top league goalscorer as they made the play-offs under Mick McCarthy. He netted Wolves' opening goal of the following campaign in a 2–1 defeat to Watford, but could not repeat his goalscoring level of the previous season, scoring only twice more. He missed part of the season as he competed in the 2008 African Cup of Nations where Nigeria lost in the quarter-finals.

Stoke City

In June 2008, following Wolves' failure to win promotion, Olofinjana signed for newly promoted Premier League club Stoke City on a four-year deal for £3 million. He scored his first goal for the club in a home game against Everton in September 2008. After making 21 appearances during the season, Stoke accepted a £2.5 million bid in the close season from French side AS Monaco. Negotiations broke down with Monaco, allowing Hull City to sign Olofinjana for £3 million.

Hull City

Olofinjana playing for Hull City in 2012

Olofinjana joined the Tigers with the club competing in the top division of English football for the only their second-ever season. He scored his first goal for Hull City in a 2–1 win against his former club, Stoke City in November 2009. However, the team was relegated back to the Championship at the end of the campaign. The midfielder was one of a number of departures during the close season as he agreed a season-long loan at fellow Championship team Cardiff City.

At the Welsh club, Olofinjana was reunited with Dave Jones, who had originally brought him into English football when manager of Wolves. The midfielder featured regularly as the team reached the promotion play-offs but lost to Reading. After a total of 42 senior appearances for Cardiff, including their two games in the play-offs, it was announced that he would return to Hull following the loan spell.

Back at Hull, a lengthy knee injury meant that Olofinjana made only five appearances during the 2011–12 season. Although he featured more regularly for the club during the following campaign, he was unable to retain a regular place in their team and was instead loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday in March 2013 until the season's conclusion.

At the conclusion of the 2012–13 season Olofinjana's contract with Hull City expired, leaving him a free agent. He left having made 40 appearances during a four-season stay.

Sheffield Wednesday

Following his release from Hull, Olofinjana joined Sheffield Wednesday on 26 October 2013 and played in a 1–1 draw against Barnsley.

After making four appearances, Olofinjana had his loan spell with Sheffield Wednesday extended for another month. Olofinjana made seven appearances and made his last appearance for the club as an unused substitute on 26 December 2013, in a match against Blackburn Rovers. On the same day, Olofinjana apparently left the club upon the expiry of his contract.

Start

After spending eight months without a club, Olofinjana joined Start in Tippeligaen until the season, where he will be reunited with Mons Ivar Mjelde, who he knew during his time at Brann.

After retirement

In August 2015 Olofinjana started working at Wolverhampton Wanderers's Academy. In February 2019, he was the Loans Pathway Manager at the club.

In April 2021, Olofinjana left Wolves for Swiss side Grasshopper Club Zürich, becoming their new sporting director. He resigned and left on 20 June 2022.

Career statistics

Club

Source:

Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
SK Brann 2003 Tippeligaen 25 9 3 0 28 9
2004 Tippeligaen 9 2 2 0 11 2
Total 34 11 4 0 0 0 38 11
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2004–05 Championship 42 5 2 0 2 0 46 5
2005–06 Championship 13 0 0 0 1 0 14 0
2006–07 Championship 44 8 3 1 1 0 2 1 50 10
2007–08 Championship 36 3 1 0 0 0 37 3
Total 135 16 6 1 4 0 2 1 147 18
Stoke City 2008–09 Premier League 18 2 1 0 2 0 21 2
Hull City 2009–10 Premier League 19 1 0 0 0 0 19 1
2010–11 Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2011–12 Championship 3 0 2 0 0 0 5 0
2012–13 Championship 12 0 3 0 1 0 16 0
Total 34 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 40 1
Cardiff City (loan) 2010–11 Championship 39 6 0 0 1 0 2 0 42 6
Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 2012–13 Championship 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Sheffield Wednesday 2013–14 Championship 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Total 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
Start 2014 Tippeligaen 7 0 0 0 7 0
Career total 280 36 17 1 8 0 4 1 307 38
  1. ^ a b Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

Source:

National team Year Apps Goals
Nigeria 2002 2 0
2003 4 0
2004 12 0
2005 5 0
2006 2 0
2007 7 0
2008 7 0
2009 8 0
2010 1 0
Total 48 0

Honors

Nigeria


This page was last updated at 2024-02-18 23:39 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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