Omorinsola Omowunmi Ajike Babajide (born 17 June 1998), known as Rinsola Babajide, is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Spanish Liga F club UDG Tenerife. A former England youth international up to under-21 level, she made her senior Nigeria debut in October 2023.[3]

Rinsola Babajide
Babajide with Liverpool in 2020
Personal information
Full name Omorinsola Omowunmi Ajike Babajide[1]
Date of birth (1998-06-17) 17 June 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth London, England[2]
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
UDG Tenerife
Number 7
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Crystal Palace
2015–2016 Millwall Lionesses 31 (7)
2017–2018 Watford 15 (3)
2018–2022 Liverpool 45 (10)
2021–2022Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 3 (0)
2022–2023 Real Betis 38 (9)
2023– UDG Tenerife 0 (0)
International career
2016–2017 England U19 9 (0)
2017–2018 England U20 6 (0)
2019 England U21 8 (2)
2023– Nigeria 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:53, 3 July 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 October 2023

She previously played for Liverpool, Millwall Lionesses, Watford and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Club career

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Millwall Lionesses

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She joined Millwall Lionesses from Crystal Palace in January 2015,[4] but made her professional debut on March 18 against the London Bees in a FA WSL match which ended in a draw.[5]

Watford

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In February 2017, Babajide completed a transfer to Watford Ladies.[6] She scored her first competitive goal for the club in a 3–2 loss to London Bees in a FA WSL Spring Series fixture.[7] Babajide finished as Watford's joint top scorer in the 2017 Spring Series, with three goals.[8]

Liverpool

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Her transfer to Liverpool was announced on 25 January 2018.[9] Babajide was part of the squad that saw Liverpool relegated to the Championship in 2020.[10]

Babajide was Liverpool's second highest goal scorer in the 2018/19 WSL season with two campaign goals.

Babajide was then Liverpool's joint-second WSL goal scorer in the 2019/20 season with one single league goal. She didn't feature for Liverpool in the second half of the 2020/21 Championship season after refusing to train[11] with the first team squad and was then subsequently moved down into the age group development squad away from the first team.[12]

Brighton & Hove Albion

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On 26 July 2021, Brighton & Hove Albion Women Football Club announced the signing of Rinsola on a season-long loan deal from Liverpool Women.[13]

On 3 July 2023, after an 18-month spell with Real Betis, Babajide joined fellow Liga F side UDG Tenerife on a two-year deal.[14]

International career

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England

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In August 2018, Babajide was part of the England U20s squad that claimed bronze at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.[15] In September 2020 she was included in a training camp for the England senior team.[16][17]

Nigeria

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Due to her Nigerian parents, Babajide was also eligible to represent Nigeria.[18] She received her first call up in October 2023 and made her debut on 25 October 2023, starting in a 1–1 draw with Ethiopia during 2024 Olympic qualifying.[19]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 11 May 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League League Cup[a] FA Cup[b] Continental[c] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Millwall Lionesses 2015 FA WSL 2 17 3 5 2 1 0 23 5
2016 14 4 1 0 2 0 17 4
Total 31 7 6 2 3 0 0 0 40 9
Watford 2017 FA WSL 2 9 3 0 0 9 3
2017–18 6 0 4 0 0 0 10 0
Total 15 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 19 3
Liverpool 2017–18 FA WSL 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
2018–19 17 4 1 1 0 0 18 5
Total 21 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 22 5
Career total 67 14 11 3 3 0 0 0 81 17
  1. ^ Includes the FA WSL Cup
  2. ^ Includes the FA Women's Cup
  3. ^ Includes the UEFA Women's Champions League

Honours

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England U20s

Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b "List of Players – England" (PDF). FIFA. 24 September 2016. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Rinsola Babajide on IWD and fighting racism". Olympics.
  3. ^ "Nigeria call up former England starlet Rinsola Babajide for 2024 Olympics qualifiers". espn.co.uk. 14 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  4. ^ Aloia, Andrew; Garry, Tom (18 March 2015). "Women's Super League Two 2015 club-by-club season preview". BBC. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  5. ^ Christopher-Browne, Philippa (20 March 2015). "BABAJIDE: IT WAS A GOOD FIRST GAME". millwall.fawsl.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  6. ^ Matthews, Anthony (10 February 2017). "Watford Ladies announce signing of six players ahead of Spring Series opener at Aston Villa". Watford Observer. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  7. ^ Kingsley, Igho (27 February 2017). "Babajide Scores First Competitive Goal For Watford Before Linking Up With England Squad". allnigeriasoccer.com. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Ladies sign England U20 international Babajide". a Liverpool Football Club. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Rinsola Babajide: Liverpool Ladies sign England U20 striker from Watford Ladies". BBC Sport. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Liverpool's relegated women underfunded and in disarray". The Guardian. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Babajide requests to leave Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  12. ^ "I understand Liverpool forward Rinsola Babajide is now training with the U21s". Twitter. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Babajide joins Albion on loan". www.brightonandhovealbion.com. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Rinsola Babajide apuntala el ataque de la UDG Tenerife" (in Spanish). UD Granadilla Tenerife. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  15. ^ "ENGLAND WIN BRONZE MEDAL AT FIFA U20 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP". The FA. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  16. ^ FULL MATCH | England vs England | Lionesses Training Match. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  17. ^ Veevers, Nicholas (9 September 2020). "With eight new faces in the England squad, find out a bit more about each of them". The Football Association.
  18. ^ "Photo confirmation : Liverpool's Nigeria-eligible winger joins Real Betis Feminas".
  19. ^ "Ajibade scores stunner to rescue 1-1 draw for Super Falcons against Ethiopia". Vanguard.
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