| George Oakley | |
| Fullname: | George Oakley[1] |
| Birth Date: | 18 November 1995[2] |
| Birth Place: | Tooting, England |
| Position: | Striker |
| Currentclub: | Ayr United |
| Clubnumber: | 9 |
| Youthyears1: | 2007–2014 |
| Youthclubs1: | AFC Wimbledon |
| Years1: | 2014–2017 |
| Clubs1: | AFC Wimbledon |
| Caps1: | 9 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2015 |
| Clubs2: | → Kingstonian (loan) |
| Caps2: | 1 |
| Goals2: | 1 |
| Years3: | 2016 |
| Clubs3: | → Welling United (loan) |
| Caps3: | 7 |
| Goals3: | 4 |
| Years4: | 2017 |
| Clubs4: | → Maidstone United (loan) |
| Caps4: | 4 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2017–2019 |
| Clubs5: | Inverness Caledonian Thistle |
| Caps5: | 46 |
| Goals5: | 12 |
| Years6: | 2019–2020 |
| Clubs6: | Hamilton Academical |
| Caps6: | 36 |
| Goals6: | 8 |
| Years7: | 2020 |
| Clubs7: | Pirin Blagoevgrad |
| Caps7: | 10 |
| Goals7: | 0 |
| Years8: | 2021 |
| Clubs8: | Kilmarnock |
| Caps8: | 7 |
| Goals8: | 1 |
| Years9: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs9: | Woking |
| Caps9: | 17 |
| Goals9: | 1 |
| Years10: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs10: | Inverness Caledonian Thistle |
| Caps10: | 18 |
| Goals10: | 1 |
| Years11: | 2023–2024 |
| Clubs11: | Greenock Morton |
| Caps11: | 38 |
| Goals11: | 15 |
| Club-Update: | 14:22, 4 May 2024 (UTC) |
| Clubs12: | Ayr United |
| Years12: | 2024– |
| Caps12: | 0 |
| Goals12: | 0 |
George Oakley (born 18 November 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Scottish Championship club Ayr United.
Oakley joined AFC Wimbledon at the age of eleven, and progressed through the youth ranks.[3] On 15 February 2014, he was named as a substitute in a 1–0 league defeat at Portsmouth.[4] He signed a professional contract in May 2014, and scored just days later in the 2014 London Senior Cup final win over Metropolitan Police.[5]
Oakley was ruled out of the opening two months of the 2014–15 season with a hamstring injury.[6] On 7 October 2014, he marked his return in a 4–0 defeat to Charlton Athletic in the U21 Premier League Cup.[7] On 1 November 2014, he made his Football League debut as a late substitute in a 2–0 loss at Northampton Town.[8]
On 30 October 2015, Oakley joined affiliate Isthmian Premier Division side Kingstonian on a one-month loan.[9] He made his debut the following day, scoring in a 5–1 FA Trophy win at Leatherhead. He managed just 12 minutes in his second appearance – a 1–0 victory over Enfield Town – before suffering from injury.[10] A grade two hamstring tear ruled him out for eight weeks and his loan spell was ended prematurely.[11]
In January 2016, Oakley suffered a broken ankle during a training session, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2015–16 season.[12] On 19 July 2016, he made his first appearance after the injury in a pre-season outing at Raynes Park Vale.[13] On 8 November 2016, he made his first appearance of the season for the senior squad in a 2–0 EFL Trophy defeat at Newport County.
On 18 November 2016, Now plays for woking his 21st birthday, Oakley joined National League South club Welling United on a one-month loan.[14] Making his debut in a 3–1 defeat at Hampton & Richmond Borough, he scored his first goal for the club a week later in a 1–0 FA Trophy win at Concord Rangers.[15] He added his second of the season in the next round of the cup, completing the scoring in an 8–1 win over Hythe Town.[16] On 16 December 2016, Oakley's loan at Welling was extended by a further month.[17]
On 17 March 2017, Oakley joined National League side Maidstone United on a one-month loan deal.[18]
Oakley signed for Scottish Championship club Inverness Caledonian Thistle in July 2017.[19] He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 friendly win at Brora Rangers.[20] He then scored his first competitive goal in Inverness's first game of the season, the opening game of the Scottish League Cup group stages, a 3–0 home win against Brechin City.[21] He started in the following match, a 0–0 draw away at Stirling Albion which resulted in a 2–0 penalty shootout a win for ICT, the lowest scoring penalty shootout in Scottish football.[22] His second competitive goal for Inverness came in a 2–1 win away to Forfar Athletic, although this wasn't enough to prevent them exiting the League Cup.[23]
On 30 December 2017, with Inverness down to ten men and losing 2–1 against bottom of the table Brechin City, Oakley came on as a substitute and netted twice to give Inverness the win. On his Scottish Cup debut, he scored a late goal in a 2–2 draw v Dundee, earning Inverness a replay at home.[24]
In January 2019, Oakley moved to Hamilton Academical.[25] On 27 February 2019, he scored the opening goal as Hamilton won 2–0 away to Aberdeen, with the goal drawing comparisons to Marco van Basten.[26]
In June 2020, he signed a two-year contract with Bulgarian club Pirin Blagoevgrad.[27] In January 2021, he was training with Kilmarnock after leaving Pirin.[28]
On 26 January 2021, after a trial period, Oakley returned to the Scottish Premiership with Kilmarnock after signing a deal until the end of the season.[29] He left Kilmarnock at the end of the 2020–21 season.[30]
On 22 June 2021, it was announced that Oakley would join National League side, Woking following his release from Kilmarnock.[31] He went on to feature seventeen times, scoring once before leaving The Cards in July 2022 at the end of his contract.[32]
On 2 July 2022, Oakley returned to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, 3 years after leaving initially.[33] A week later, Oakley scored on his second debut in a 1–0 away win over Kelty Hearts in the League Cup. On 20 January 2023, Oakley left Caley by mutual consent.[34]
On 24 January 2023, Oakley signed an 18-month contract with Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton. He scored his first Morton goal 4 minutes into his debut.[35] Oakley would finish the season with 6 goals in 13 appearances, an average of roughly 1 goal every 2 games.
In 2024, Oakley joined Scottish Championship club Ayr United on a two-year deal after previously signing a pre-contract agreement while at Morton.[36]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| AFC Wimbledon | 2014–15 | League Two | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2015–16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | League One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[37] | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Wimbledon Total | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |||
| Kingstonian (loan) | 2015–16 | Isthmian League Premier Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[38] | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Welling United (loan) | 2016–17[39] | National League South | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[40] | 2 | 9 | 3 | ||
| Maidstone United (loan) | National League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 2017–18 | Scottish Championship | 33 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5[41] | 1 | 44 | 12 | |
| 2018–19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 5 | |||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle Total | 46 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 63 | 17 | |||
| Hamilton Academical | 2018–19 | Scottish Premiership | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 4 | ||
| 2019–20 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 27 | 4 | ||||
| Hamilton Academical Total | 36 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 8 | |||
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | 2020–21 | Vtora Liga | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| Kilmarnock | 2020–21 | Scottish Premiership | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | ||
| Woking | 2021–22 | National League | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 2022–23 | Scottish Championship | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 4 | |
| Greenock Morton | 2022–23 | Scottish Championship | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 153 | 23 | 11 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 191 | 35 | |||