Emmanuel Sonupe
Personal information
Full name Emmanuel Olukolade Sonupe[1]
Date of birth (1996-03-21) 21 March 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Denmark Hill, London, England[2]
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
2012–2014 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Tottenham Hotspur 0 (0)
2015 → St Mirren (loan) 4 (0)
2016–2017 Northampton Town 1 (0)
2017 → Kidderminster Harriers (loan) 4 (1)
2017–2018 Kidderminster Harriers 37 (10)
2018–2020 Stevenage 41 (4)
2020–2021 Yeovil Town 15 (2)
2021 Dartford 7 (0)
2022–2023 El Paso Locomotive 47 (4)
International career
2013 England U16 1 (0)
2014 England U18 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 November 2023

Emmanuel Olukolade Sonupe (born 21 March 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger.

Sonupe started his career at Tottenham Hotspur, although he did not make any first-team appearances. He was loaned out to Scottish Premiership club St Mirren in February 2015 for the remainder of the 2014–15 campaign. He was released by Tottenham in June 2016 and later signed for League One team Northampton Town. Sonupe was loaned out to Kidderminster Harriers of the National League North, and following his departure from Northampton, he signed for Kidderminster on a permanent basis. After one year at Kidderminster, he joined League Two club Stevenage in June 2018 where he spent two seasons. Sonupe signed for Yeovil Town of the National League in November 2020 and spent the 2020–21 season there. Sonupe has also represented England at under-16 and under-18 level.

Early life

Born in Denmark Hill, London,[2] Sonupe's parents are Nigerian.[3][4]

Club career

Early career

Sonupe began his career in the youth set-up at Tottenham Hotspur in 2012, where he initially played for the under-18 team before progressing to under-21 level.[2] Having scored twice in eleven appearances for Tottenham's under-21 team during the first half of the 2014–15 season,[5] Sonupe was loaned out to Scottish Premiership club St Mirren in order to gain first-team experience on 2 February 2015.[5] The loan agreement ran until the end of the season.[5] He made his professional debut in a 2–1 home defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 14 February 2015, coming on as a 61st-minute substitute in the match.[6] The loan spell concluded on 29 May 2015, making just four appearances during the three-month spell.[7] He spent the 2015–16 season playing for Tottenham's under-21 team, but did not make any first-team appearances for the club.[8] He was released by Tottenham upon the expiry of his contract in June 2016.[9]

Northampton Town

Without a club, Sonupe had a trial at Charlton Athletic in pre-season ahead of the 2016–17 season, playing 45 minutes in pre-season friendly matches against Welling United and Bromley respectively,[10] before being asked back to play in another friendly against Dulwich Hamlet.[10] No transfer materialised, however, and Sonupe subsequently signed for League One club Northampton Town on 12 August 2016 following a successful trial period,[11] joining on a one-year contract.[11] Northampton manager Rob Page stated that the initial focus was on developing Sonupe — "we will work with him, we will develop him and we think he can develop into an asset for us".[11] He made his debut as a substitute in a 0–0 draw with AFC Wimbledon on 20 August 2016.[12] Sonupe went on to make just three further appearances during the season, all of which were in the EFL Trophy.[13]

Having not made any first-team appearances for four months, Sonupe was loaned out to National League North club Kidderminster Harriers on 23 March 2017 for the remainder of the season.[14] He made five appearances during the brief loan spell,[8] scoring his first goal in senior football in a 4–1 away victory over Altrincham on 17 April 2017.[15] On his return to Northampton, Sonupe was released when his contract expired in May 2017.[16]

Kidderminster Harriers

After making "a big impression" during his loan spell,[17] Sonupe signed for Kidderminster on a permanent basis on 30 June 2017.[17] He joined the National League North club on a one-year contract.[17] The 2017–18 season was to serve as Sonupe's first full season of regular first-team football.[8] He started the season by scoring three goals in as many games,[8] which included scoring twice in a 2–1 victory away at FC United of Manchester on 12 August 2017.[18] Sonupe's goal tally reached double figures before the end of the calendar year having scored eleven times in all competitions.[8][19] He went on to score 15 times during the season, making 46 appearances, as Kidderminster's season ended with defeat at the National League North play-off qualifying round stage.[8][20]

Stevenage

Sonupe signed for League Two club Stevenage for an undisclosed five-figure fee on 13 June 2018.[21] He made his Stevenage debut in the club's opening match of the 2018–19 season, a 2–2 draw with Tranmere Rovers at Broadhall Way, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute in the match.[22] Sonupe scored his first goal for Stevenage in a 3–1 home victory against Colchester United on 6 October 2018.[23] He played predominantly as a substitute during his first season with the club, although ended the season by starting in the last five league matches.[24] This included him scoring twice in a 4–1 away victory at Port Vale on 19 April 2019.[25] Sonupe made 37 appearances in all competitions during the season, of which 26 were as a substitute,[24] scoring three goals, as Stevenage finished in tenth position in League Two, one point off of the play-off places.[24] He made 14 appearances during the 2019–20 season, scoring once.[26] Sonupe was released by the club upon the expiry of his contract in June 2020.[27]

Yeovil Town

Having started the 2020–21 season without a club, Sonupe signed for National League club Yeovil Town on 28 November 2020, on a contract for the remainder of the season.[28] He debuted for Yeovil in the club's 2–1 victory away at Bromley on 8 December 2020, playing the first 73 minutes of the match.[29][30] Sonupe scored his first goal in a 3–1 victory against King's Lynn Town on 15 May 2021.[29][30] He made 15 appearances during the season, scoring twice, as Yeovil finished the season in 16th-place in the National League.[29][30] Sonupe was released by Yeovil upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the season.[31]

Dartford

On 28 September 2021, Sonupe played for Dartford in the London Senior Cup against Athletic Newham at Princes Park. He started the match and scored two of the goals as Dartford ran out 5-2 winners.

El Paso Locomotive

On 16 December 2021, it was announced that Sonupe would join USL Championship side El Paso Locomotive ahead of their 2022 season.[32] The club confirmed on 25 October 2022 that Sonupe would return for the 2023 season.[33] On 1 November 2023, it was announced that Sonupe would not be returning to El Paso for the 2024 season.[34]

International career

Sonupe has represented England at both under-16 and under-18 level.[2] He is also eligible to play for Nigeria owing to his Nigerian ancestry.[35][36]

Career statistics

As of match played 14 October 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Tottenham Hotspur 2014–15[7] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015–16 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
St Mirren (loan) 2014–15[7] Scottish Premiership 4 0 0 0 0 0 — 4 0
Northampton Town 2016–17[13] League One 1 0 0 0 0 0 3[a] 0 4 0
Kidderminster Harriers (loan) 2016–17[29] National League North 4 1 0 0 — 1[b] 0 5 1
Kidderminster Harriers 2017–18[19][29] National League North 37 10 3 3 — 6[c] 2 46 15
Total 41 11 3 3 — 7 2 51 16
Stevenage 2018–19[24] League Two 32 3 1 0 1 0 3[a] 0 37 3
2019–20[26] League Two 9 1 2 0 1 0 2[a] 0 14 1
Total 41 4 3 0 2 0 5 0 51 4
Yeovil Town 2020–21[29] National League 15 2 0 0 — 0 0 15 2
Dartford 2021–22[29] National League South 7 0 2 0 — 3[d][e] 5 12 5
Total 22 2 0 0 0 0 3 5 27 7
El Paso Locomotive 2022[29] USL Championship 16 1 1 0 — — 17 1
2023 USL Championship 31 3 1 0 — — 32 3
Career total 155 21 10 3 2 0 18 7 185 31
  1. ^ a b c Appearances in EFL Trophy
  2. ^ Appearance in National League North play-offs
  3. ^ Five appearances and two goals in FA Trophy, one appearance in National League North play-offs
  4. ^ Two appearances in the London Senior Cup
  5. ^ One appearance in the FA Trophy

References

  1. ^ "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. 3 September 2014. p. 42. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "Emmanuel Sonupe - Team". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  3. ^ Coombs, Dan (23 September 2013). "Emmanuel Sonupe: Tottenham Hotspur's next sensation, who supports Arsenal". HITC Sport. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Spurs Hands New Deals To Nigeria Trio". www.sl10.ng. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "St Mirren sign Emmanuel Sonupe on loan from Tottenham". BBC Sport. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  6. ^ "St Mirren 1–2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle". BBC Sport. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "Games played by Emmanuel Sonupe in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Emmanuel Sonupe – Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Sky Sports follow out of contract players through a summer of uncertainty". Northampton Town F.C. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Former Tottenham prospect Emmanuel Sonupe set to be offered another chance to win Charlton deal". News Shopper. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  11. ^ a b c "Emmanuel Sonupe: Ex-Tottenham winger joins Northampton Town". BBC Sport. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Northampton Town 0–0 AFC Wimbledon". BBC Sport. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Games played by Emmanuel Sonupe in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  14. ^ "Emmanuel Sonupe makes Kidderminster loan". Northampton Town F.C. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  15. ^ "Altrincham 1–4 Kidderminster Harriers". Soccerway. 17 April 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  16. ^ "Northampton Town: Zander Diamond & Adam Smith among five released". BBC Sport. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  17. ^ a b c "Harriers swoop for Sonupe". Kidderminster Harriers F.C. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  18. ^ "FC United of Manchester 1–2 Kidderminster Harriers". Soccerway. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  19. ^ a b "Deeping Rangers 2–4 Kidderminster Harriers". Kidderminster Harriers F.C. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  20. ^ "Kidderminster Harriers 0–2 Bradford Park Avenue". Soccerway. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  21. ^ "Stevenage swoop for Sonupé". Stevenage F.C. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  22. ^ "Stevenage 2–2 Tranmere Rovers". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Stevenage 3–1 Colchester United". BBC Sport. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  24. ^ a b c d "Games played by Emmanuel Sonupe in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  25. ^ "Port Vale 1–4 Stevenage". BBC Sport. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  26. ^ a b "Games played by Emmanuel Sonupe in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  27. ^ "Stevenage 2020/21 Retained & Released List". Stevenage F.C. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  28. ^ "Transfer | Town swoop for Sonupe". ytfc.net. Yeovil Town F.C. 28 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h Emmanuel Sonupe at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  30. ^ a b c "Games played by Emmanuel Sonupe in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  31. ^ "Club News | Player Update: June 2021". Yeovil Town F.C. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  32. ^ "El Paso Brings Aboard English Winger Sonupe". 16 December 2021.
  33. ^ "Sonupé, Payares, and Lyons Return for 2023". El Paso Locomotive FC. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  34. ^ Huichapa, Alberto. "El Paso Locomotive FC's Denys Kostyshyn and Emmanuel Sonupe Depart Ahead of 2024 Season". EPLocomotiveFC.com. El Paso Locomotive. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  35. ^ Coombs, Dan (23 September 2013). "Emmanuel Sonupe: Tottenham Hotspur's next sensation, who supports Arsenal". HITC Sport. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  36. ^ "Spurs Hands New Deals To Nigeria Trio". www.sl10.ng. Retrieved 28 February 2015.

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