James Bamidele Oluwafemi Alabi (born 8 November 1994) is an English footballer who plays as a striker.

James Alabi
Personal information
Full name James Bamidele Oluwafemi Alabi[1]
Date of birth (1994-11-08) 8 November 1994 (age 29)
Place of birth Southwark, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Tottenham Hotspur
2010–2011 Stoke City
2011–2012 Celtic
2012–2013 Stoke City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Stoke City 0 (0)
2013Scunthorpe United (loan) 9 (1)
2013Mansfield Town (loan) 1 (0)
2013Forest Green Rovers (loan) 2 (0)
2014Scunthorpe United (loan) 1 (0)
2014Accrington Stanley (loan) 2 (0)
2015–2016 Ipswich Town 0 (0)
2015–2016Grimsby Town (loan) 2 (0)
2016–2017 Chester 58 (23)
2017–2018 Tranmere Rovers 9 (0)
2017–2018Dover Athletic (loan) 11 (1)
2018–2020 Leyton Orient 36 (3)
2020Eastleigh (loan) 7 (1)
2020–2022 Bromley 77 (12)
2022–2023 Maidstone United 26 (2)
2024 Bath City 15 (1)
International career
2017 England C 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:31, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 May 2017 (UTC)

He has previously played for Stoke City, Scunthorpe United, Mansfield Town, Forest Green Rovers, Accrington Stanley, Ipswich Town, Grimsby Town, Chester, Tranmere Rovers, Dover Athletic, Leyton Orient, Eastleigh, Bromley, Maidstone United and Bath City.

Career

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Alabi was born in London Borough of Southwark and began his career at Tottenham Hotspur, before departing the club after not being offered a professional contract.[2] Alabi later joined Stoke City, playing for the club's academy in 2010–11 before moving to Scottish club Celtic. After a season at Lennoxtown he moved back to Stoke City for the 2012–13 season. On 21 February 2013 he joined League One side Scunthorpe United on loan for a month.[3][4] After seeing him in training Irons manager Brian Laws compared him as a 'technically better' version of John Gayle, who Laws believes was one of his best signings in his first spell at Scunthorpe.[5] He made his professional debut on 23 February against Hartlepool United at Glanford Park, scoring 10 minutes after coming on as a 67th-minute substitute.[6][7] On 26 March 2013 his loan spell at Scunthorpe was extended until the end of the 2012–13 season.[8][9] He remained at Glanford Park for the remainder of the season, playing in nine matches as they failed to avoid relegation.

On 31 October 2013, Alabi joined Mansfield Town on a one-month loan.[10][11] He made his debut for Mansfield the next day against Southend United but was sent-off after for a late tackle.[12] Alabi then joined Forest Green Rovers on a one-month loan on 28 November 2013.[13] He made his debut on 30 November 2013 in an FA Trophy first round tie against Dartford.[14] He played in six games for Forest Green without scoring before returning to Stoke at the end of December 2013.[15] On 11 March 2014, Alabi joined League Two side Scunthorpe United for a second loan spell with the Iron.[16] He made one appearance for Scunthorpe before returning to Stoke.[17] On 9 August 2014, Alabi joined Accrington Stanley on a one-month loan.[18] He played three times for Stanley before returning to Stoke. In January 2015 Alabi had a trial with Dutch side De Graafschap.[19]

He was released by Stoke at the end of the 2014–15 season and joined Ipswich Town, after impressing Mick McCarthy by scoring 2 goals in 2 appearances for the under 21s side on trial, on a one-year deal on 24 August 2015.[20] On 25 August 2015, Alabi made his Ipswich debut, scoring in a 4–1 win against Doncaster Rovers in a League Cup second round match.[21] On 25 November 2015, Alabi joined National League side Grimsby Town, on loan until 3 January 2016.[22]

Following his release by Ipswich, Alabi signed for National League side Chester, on a deal until the end of the 2015–16 season.[23] Alabi joined Tranmere Rovers from Chester on 10 July 2017.[24] He was placed on the transfer list in May 2019, but removed by the club in July 2019.[25]

On 16 January 2020, Alabi signed for Eastleigh, on loan from Leyton Orient until the end of the 2019–20 Season.On 4 September 2020, Alabi signed for Bromley, as a free agent previously from Leyton Orient in the 2020–21 season.On 1 July 2022, Alabi left Bromley following the expiry of his contract.[26] On 9 July 2022, Alabi joined newly promoted National League club Maidstone United.[27] Following the club's relegation, Alabi was released after one season.[28] On 12 January 2024 Bath City confirmed the signing of Alabi until the end of the season.

Personal life

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Born in England, Alabi is of Nigerian descent.[29]

Career statistics

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As of end of 2023–24 season[30][31]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stoke City 2012–13 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2013–14 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2014–15 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Scunthorpe United (loan) 2012–13 League One 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1
Mansfield Town (loan) 2013–14 League Two 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Forest Green Rovers (loan) 2013–14 Conference Premier 2 0 0 0 4[a] 0 6 0
Scunthorpe United (loan) 2013–14 League Two 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Accrington Stanley (loan) 2014–15 League Two 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Ipswich Town 2015–16 Championship 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1
Grimsby Town (loan) 2015–16 National League 2 0 1 0 2[a] 2 5 2
Chester 2015–16 National League 16 6 0 0 0 0 16 6
2016–17 National League 42 17 1 0 3[a] 1 46 18
Total 58 23 1 0 3 1 62 24
Tranmere Rovers 2017–18 National League 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Dover Athletic (loan) 2017–18 National League 11 1 1 0 1[a] 0 13 1
Leyton Orient 2018–19 National League 26 2 1 0 4[a] 0 31 2
2019–20 League Two 10 1 1 0 0 0 3[b] 0 14 1
Total 36 3 2 0 7 0 45 3
Eastleigh (loan) 2019–20 National League 7 1 0 0 0 0 7 1
Bromley 2020–21 National League 37 7 1 0 2[a][c] 1 40 8
2021–22 National League 40 4 2 1 4[a] 2 46 7
Total 77 11 3 1 6 3 86 15
Maidstone United 2022–23 National League 26 2 1 0 2[a] 0 29 2
Bath City 2023–24 National League South 15 1 1[d] 0 16 1
Career Total 256 43 9 1 2 1 26 6 293 51
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
  2. ^ Appearances in EFL Trophy
  3. ^ Appearances in National League Play-offs
  4. ^ Appearance in National League South play-offs

Honours

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Leyton Orient

Bromley

References

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  1. ^ "Notification of shirt numbers: Leyton Orient" (PDF). English Football League. p. 37. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  2. ^ "The journey so far .. comment for part 2". TikTok. 22 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Scunthorpe United sign Stoke City striker James Alabi". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Stoke City striker James Alabi joins Scunthorpe United on loan". This is Scunthorpe. Archived from the original on 24 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Stoke City loanee James Alabi reminds Scunthorpe United boss Brian Laws of one-time Iron striker John Gayle". This Is Scunthorpe. Retrieved 23 February 2013.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Scunthorpe v Hartlepool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  7. ^ "James Alabi enjoys debut to remember, but Stoke City striker almost had to wait for first Scunthorpe United appearance". This is Scunthorpe. Retrieved 25 February 2013.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Scunthorpe United: James Alabi extends loan from Stoke City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  9. ^ "Stoke City striker James Alabi will stay on with Scunthorpe United". This is Scunthorpe. Retrieved 26 March 2013.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Keane Enjoys Winning Debut". Stoke City F.C. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  11. ^ "James Alabi: Mansfield Town sign Stoke City striker on loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  12. ^ "Southend 3–0 Mansfield". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  13. ^ "Rovers sign forward on loan from Stoke City". FGR. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  14. ^ "Yan Klukowski strikes to earn Forest Green Rovers a replay in FA Trophy clash at Dartford". Gloucester Citizen. 1 December 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  15. ^ "Forest Green: James Alabi returns to Stoke City". Gloucester Citizen. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  16. ^ "ALABI LOAN MOVE COMPLETED". Scunthorpe United FC. 11 March 2014.
  17. ^ "James Alabi returns to Stoke City at end of Scunthorpe United loan". Scunthorpe Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  18. ^ "Striker Alabi signs on loan". Accrington Stanley. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  19. ^ "James Alabi few days on trial". De Graafschap. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  20. ^ "Club Submit Retained List". Stoke City. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  21. ^ "Doncaster 1–4 Ipswich". BBC Sport. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  22. ^ "Grimsby Town sign James Alabi on loan from Ipswich". Grimsby Telegraph. 25 November 2015. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  23. ^ "James Alabi signs for rest of season after leaving Ipswich Town". The Chester Chronicle. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  24. ^ "James Alabi: Tranmere Rovers sign Chester striker". BBC Sport. 10 July 2017.
  25. ^ "Leyton Orient: James Dayton signs new deal, James Alabi taken off transfer list". BBC Sport. 12 July 2019.
  26. ^ "James Alabi leaves Bromley". Bromley Official Site. 1 July 2022.
  27. ^ "Hak adds Alabi". maidstoneunited.co.uk. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  28. ^ "Player update". maidstoneunited.co.uk. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  29. ^ "Performance of Ghanaian Players Abroad: Yartey sparkles, Ache strikes as Antwi hits brace as 20 players score 23 goals abroad – Ghana Sports Online". 12 August 2019. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022.
  30. ^ James Alabi at Soccerbase
  31. ^ James Alabi at Soccerway
  32. ^ "National League: 2018/19: Current table". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
    "Leyton Orient FC: Squad". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  33. ^ "Bromley beat Wrexham to win FA Trophy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
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