A well-travelled striker with Championship experience who was once signed for a £1m transfer fee, it's fair to say Dele Adebola's better days were behind him by the time he rocked up at Rochdale ahead of the 2012/2013 campaign.

Position: Striker

Appearances: 26

Goals: 6

Arrived from: Hull City

Left for: Rushall Olympic

Having been added to the squad to provide a fulcrum of the attack for the likes of Ashley Grimes and Bobby Grant to play off, Adebola proved useful on a handful of occasions for Dale, but didn't quite have the energy to still be truly effective at Football League level by the time he joined the club.

Nigerian-born Adebola grew up in Liverpool and was offered YTS terms by the Anfield club as a youngster, but seeing his progression to the first-team blocked by the emergence of another emerging striker by the name of Robbie Fowler, the forward instead decided to accept an offer from Crewe Alexandra, a club known for giving chances to young players.

This proved to be a good decision from the level-headed Adebola, as he quickly began to earn first-team opportunities for himself at Gresty Road. He made his debut in the 1992/1993 season aged just 17 and would spend time on loan with both Bangor City (two goals in four) and Northwich Victoria (seven goals in 16) before the 1996/1997 campaign, which would prove to be one of the best of his career.

16 goals that term saw the young Adebola fire Crewe to the second tier and he'd scored seven times in 27 appearances for the Alex in what is now the Championship before a fall out with the club's hierarchy following a rejected transfer bid from West Ham saw him finally leave the club. Upton Park wasn't to be his destination however as it was Birmingham City who shelled out no less than £1m for Adebola's signature.

His aerial prowess and clever movement continued to cause problems in the second tier and he scored in each of his first five appearances for the Blues, finishing the season with seven goals for his new club - following that up with a further 14 the following year. In 1999/2000 however, the goals began to dry up and he was criticised by Trevor Francis for his 'laid-back' approach to football - something which may have indirectly led to him failing a medical with Spanish side Las Palmas after a contract had been agreed.

A serious knee injury limited his opportunities from there and Adebola spent a month on loan with Oldham Athletic to regain his fitness before being released by new Birmingham manager Steve Bruce in the summer of 2002. Crystal Palace would be his next destination, but after just five goals in 39 appearances for the Eagles he was again on the move in 2003, joining Coventry City.

With boss Gary McAllister struggling to find a place for him in the team, the striker spent time at Burnley (1 goal in 3 games) and Bradford City (3 goals in 15 games) on loan in his first season with the Sky Blues but in the following three campaigns he managed to nail down a first-team place, mostly under the stewardship of Micky Adams. By this stage, with fitness issues perhaps hampering his ability to play off the shoulder of the last man, Adebola had been converted into more of a target man and was now using his considerable strength and ability in the air to provide knock-ons for the likes of Gary McSheffrey, Stern John and later Maltese international Michael Mifsud.

That said, Adebola's goal return at Coventry for a player of his ilk was not to be sniffed at and he left with 31 goals to his name from 136 appearances in 2008, joining Bristol City for 18 months where a debut goal against QPR setting him up for a return of 16 goals in 56 appearances at Ashton Gate and a Player of the Year award in his only full season with the club.

Adebola could've been an international himself too, with Nigeria, however he chose not to accept any of the several invitations from the country's footballing selection committee to represent the nation of his birth.

Finding the net was a more difficult task for Adebola at his next club Nottingham Forest. After rejecting a one year stay at Bristol City to join the Tricky Trees, he struggled to oust Robert Earnshaw and Dexter Blackstock out of the starting eleven. One of just five goals for Forest did come in the play-off semi-final defeat to Blackpool but he left the City Ground at the end of the 2010/2011 season having made 62 appearances, mostly from the bench, over his two year spell.

Hull was Adebola's next destination, but he played just 10 times for the Tigers and spent a six game loan spell at Notts County, scoring once, before finding himself without a club in the summer of 2012 and being called by fellow Liverpudlian John Coleman with an offer from Rochdale on the table.

With Bobby Grant signed to provide the goals alongside Ashley Grimes, Adebola was added to the squad in order to provide some experience and to hold the ball up for the more nippy forwards around him and he did this on occasions at Dale, while also chipping in with a few goals - but it's fair to say that Chris O'Grady he was not and by the time Keith Hill arrived at the club, he would set his sights on other forward options, not least a certain Ian Henderson.

Adebola started no fewer than 22 games before Coleman's sacking and his departure from Rochdale in the February, scoring on six occasions, the best of which was a fine turn and finish in a 2-2 draw with Dagenham & Redbridge. It was fair to say he wasn't the most popular player among the fanbase though, with his lack of pace and finishing ability not enough to offset the obvious plus points of experience and physical strength in the frontline. While he could use his intelligent movement at times to trouble opponents, it was rare he was able to really get away from a defender and he looked out of place in the Football League, which is perhaps unsurprising given that he had already turned 37 when he joined the club.

With Hill quickly stating that he wished for Adebola to move on, the striker was sent on loan to Wrexham for the remainder of the campaign, scoring twice in 13 appearances before turning out for Rushall Olympic for a short spell before ending his playing career. Since retiring, Adebola has remained in football, originally as a coach and pundit for BBC West Midlands and since 2016 as the head of his own corporate team football events company Strike9.

Photo: Action Images

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