Ademola Bankole

Ademola "George" Bankole (born 9 September 1969) is a Nigerian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League. As a journeyman having played for 15 different clubs during his career, his most notable stint came with Crewe Alexandra, a club he played for on two occasions, registering over 50 league appearances. He was the goalkeeping coach at Colchester United for nine years.

Ademola Bankole

Personal information
Full name	Ademola Bankole[1]
Date of birth	(1969-09-09) 9 September 1969[2]
Place of birth	Abeokuta, Nigeria[1]
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Youth career
	Shooting Stars
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995	Doncaster Rovers	0	(0)
1995–1996	Leyton Orient	0	(0)
1996–1998	Crewe Alexandra	6	(0)
1997	→ Hyde United (loan)	7	(0)
1998–2000	Queens Park Rangers	1	(0)
2000	→ Bradford City (loan)	0	(0)
2000–2004	Crewe Alexandra	53	(0)
2004	→ Barnet (loan)	7	(0)
	Lewes
	Windsor & Eton
	Maidenhead United
2005–2006	Brentford	6	(0)
2006–2008	Milton Keynes Dons	6	(0)
2008	Nuneaton Borough
2008	Colchester United	0	(0)
Total		86	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Abeokuta, Bankole began his career with Shooting Stars in his native Nigeria. He moved to England in 1995, signing for Doncaster Rovers, spending a month with the club prior to signing with Leyton Orient. He left Orient in September 1996 having registered no games, joining Crewe Alexandra. He made six appearances for the club between 1996 and 1998.[2] He played seven games in 1997 on loan at Hyde United, earning the man of the match award in the Cheshire Senior Cup final in a 3–0 victory over Macclesfield Town.[3] In 1998, Bankole moved to Queens Park Rangers, making only one substitute appearance for the club. Bankole was sent out on loan to Bradford City while the club were in the Premier League, acting as cover.[2][4]

Bankole returned to Crewe for a fee of £50,000 in the summer of 2000. Here, he had his greatest success as a player, featuring in 52 league games.[2] While contracted to Crewe, Bankole was called up to the preliminary Nigeria squad prior to the 2002 FIFA World Cup[5] but did not make the final squad.[6] Towards the end of his stint with Crewe and being out of the first-team, Bankole joined Barnet in a three-month loan deal.[7]

In the summer of 2004, Bankole was released by Crewe, temporarily joining Lewes, Windsor & Eton and Maidenhead United in non-league before being picked up by Brentford in February 2005.[8] He spent a year-and-a-half with the Bees, before signing to Milton Keynes Dons in July 2006. He made six appearances for both clubs.[1][2]

Bankole left MK Dons in early 2008, joining Nuneaton Borough[1] before being signed by Colchester United as goalkeeper cover for Aidan Davison following Mark Cousins being taken ill with appendicitis, also signing as a temporary coach for the club.[9] Bankole did not make an appearance for Colchester, but was named as permanent goalkeeping coach at the club following Davison's retirement and subsequent move to the United States.[10]

Bankole spent nine years as Colchester's goalkeeping coach until he left in the summer of 2017 when the club had a restructuring of backroom staff.[11]

Career statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[A]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Doncaster Rovers	1995–96[12]	Third Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Leyton Orient	1995–96[13]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Crewe Alexandra	1996–97[14]	Second Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	1997–98[15]	First Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	Total		6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Hyde United (loan)	1996–97[3]	NPL Premier Division	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Queens Park Rangers	1998–99[16]	First Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1999–2000[17]		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Bradford City (loan)	1999–2000[18]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Crewe Alexandra	2000–01[19]	First Division	21	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	25	0
	2001–02[20]		29	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	32	0
	2002–03[21]	Second Division	3	0	1	0	0	0	4	0	8	0
	2003–04[22]	First Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		53	0	6	0	2	0	4	0	65	0
Barnet (loan)	2003–04[23]	Conference	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Brentford	2004–05[24]	League One	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	2005–06[25]		3	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	5	0
	Total		6	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	8	0
Milton Keynes Dons	2006–07[26]	League Two	6	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	9	0
	2007–08[27]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		6	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	9	0
Colchester United	2007–08[28]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			86	0	6	0	3	0	8	0	103	0

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League Trophy.

References

1. "Colchester United – Player profile". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
2. "Ademola Bankole – Football Stats – Soccer Base". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
3. "Hyde Football Club: Database". hydeunited.com. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
4. "Aidan brings in old pal Bankole (From Gazette)". Colchester Gazette. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
5. "Eagles turn up the style". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
6. "Adepoju gets last-minute look-in". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
7. "Barnet make double swoop". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
8. "Keeper Bankole joins Brentford". BBC. 4 February 2005. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
9. "Colchester add Bankole as cover". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
10. "Bankole lands Colchester position". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
11. Waldron, Jonathan (7 July 2017). "Rene Gilmartin signs for Colchester United as their new player-coach after leaving Watford". Daily Gazette. Colchester. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
12. "Doncaster 1995/1996 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
13. "Leyton Orient 1995/1996 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
14. "Crewe 1996/1997 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
15. "Crewe 1997/1998 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
16. "QPR 1998/1999 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
17. "QPR 1999/2000 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
18. "Bradford 1999/2000 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
19. "Crewe 2000/2001 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
20. "Crewe 2001/2002 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
21. "Crewe 2002/2003 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
22. "Crewe 2003/2004 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
23. "Barnet 2003/2004 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
24. "Brentford 2004/2005 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
25. "Brentford 2005/2006 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
26. "MK Dons 2006/2007 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
27. "MK Dons 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.
28. "Colchester 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Select season required via dropdown menu.

External links

• Ademola Bankole at Soccerbase