| Jonathan Afolabi | |
| Birth Date: | 14 January 2000 |
| Birth Place: | Dublin, Republic of Ireland |
| Height: | 1.89 m |
| Position: | Forward |
| Currentclub: | Kortrijk |
| Clubnumber: | 9 |
| Youthclubs1: | Shamrock Rovers |
| Youthclubs2: | St Joseph's Boys |
| Youthyears3: | 2016–2019 |
| Youthclubs3: | Southampton |
| Years1: | 2019–2022 |
| Clubs1: | Celtic |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2020 |
| Clubs2: | → Dunfermline Athletic (loan) |
| Caps2: | 6 |
| Goals2: | 2 |
| Years3: | 2020–2021 |
| Clubs3: | → Dundee (loan) |
| Caps3: | 19 |
| Goals3: | 3 |
| Years4: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs4: | → Ayr United (loan) |
| Caps4: | 14 |
| Goals4: | 1 |
| Years5: | 2022 |
| Clubs5: | → Airdrieonians (loan) |
| Caps5: | 12 |
| Goals5: | 2 |
| Years6: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs6: | Bohemians |
| Caps6: | 37 |
| Goals6: | 15 |
| Years7: | 2024– |
| Clubs7: | Kortrijk |
| Caps7: | 13 |
| Goals7: | 1 |
| Nationalteam1: | Republic of Ireland U17 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2017–2019 |
| Nationalteam2: | Republic of Ireland U19 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 16 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 6 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2019–2021 |
| Nationalteam3: | Republic of Ireland U21 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 1 |
| Club-Update: | 21:03, 21 April 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 21:47, 2 June 2021 (UTC) |
Jonathan Afolabi (born 14 January 2000) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Kortrijk in the Belgian Pro League. His previous clubs include Celtic, Dunfermline Athletic, Dundee, Ayr United, Airdrieonians and Bohemians.
Born and raised in Tallaght, Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, Afolabi played his youth football with Mark Celtic, Shamrock Rovers, Lourdes Celtic, and St Joseph's Boys before earning a move to the Academy of Premier League club Southampton.[1]
On 21 August 2019, Afolabi joined Scottish Premiership Champions Celtic.[2]
After various loan spells, his contract was not renewed on expiry at the end of June 2022.[3]
On 27 January 2020, Afolabi signed for Dunfermline Athletic of the Scottish Championship on loan until the end of the season.[4] His debut in senior football came on 1 February 2020, in a 3–2 win away to Queen of the South.[5] He made six appearances for the club, scoring twice, before the season was ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
On 29 September 2020, Afolabi joined Dundee on a season-long loan.[7] He scored his first goal for the club at home in the league against Greenock Morton. He scored against Hearts and Ayr United in crucial games for Dundee as they won the promotion playoffs in the 2020–21 season.[8]
On 2 August 2021, Afolabi signed for Ayr United on loan until the end of the season.[9]
On 11 February 2022, Afolabi was recalled from Ayr and was immediately sent on loan to Scottish League One side Airdrieonians for the rest of the season.[10]
On 5 August 2022, Afolabi returned home to Dublin, signing for League of Ireland Premier Division club Bohemians.[11] Afolabi was awarded the League of Ireland Player of the Month award for July 2023, after scoring nine total goals over seven consecutive games.[12] [13] He finished the 2023 League of Ireland Premier Division season as the joint-top league goalscorer and was named in the PFAI Team of the Year. He opened the scoring in the 2023 FAI Cup final but the Bohs lost the game to St Patrick's Athletic.[14]
On 29 December 2023, it was announced that Afolabi would be joining Belgian Pro League side Kortrijk for an undisclosed fee, from 1 January 2024 on a contract until June 2026.[15] Afolabi made his debut on 20 January 2024, coming on as a substitute in a league victory away to Standard Liège.[16] Afolabi scored his first goal for De Kerels in a league draw away to Club Brugge.[17]
Afolabi was born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.[18] Afolabi has played for the Republic of Ireland right up to under-21 level. On 31 July 2019 he was named in the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament, alongside Ferran Torres and Félix Correia in the forward positions.[19] He scored his first goal for the Republic of Ireland U21s on 26 March 2021 in a 2–1 friendly win over Wales U21 in Wrexham.[20]
On 8 September 2023, he received his first call up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad when he was included in the extended squad for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier at home to the Netherlands,[21] but did not make the final squad.[22] [23]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Southampton | 2016–17 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2017–18 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Celtic | 2019–20 | Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Dunfermline Athletic (loan) | 2019–20 | Scottish Championship | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 2 | |||
| Dundee (loan) | 2020–21 | Scottish Championship | 19 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 22 | 4 | ||
| Ayr United (loan) | Scottish Championship | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | ||
| Airdrieonians (loan) | 2021–22 | Scottish League One | 12 | 2 | — | — | 3 | 1 | 15 | 3 | |||
| Bohemians | 2022 | League of Ireland Premier Division | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||
| League of Ireland Premier Division | 34 | 15 | 5 | 5 | — | 1 | 0 | 40 | 20 | ||||
| Total | 37 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 21 | |||
| Kortrijk | 2023–24 | Belgian Pro League | 13 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | |||
| 2024–25 | Belgian Pro League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | ||||
| Career total | 101 | 24 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 121 | 32 | |||
Dundee
Bohemians
Individual
2023 (15 goals)
2023
July 2023