Gbenga Tai "Ben" Folami (born 8 June 1999) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Melbourne Victory and the Australia national team.[3]
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Gbenga Tai Folami[1] | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 8 June 1999 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Melbourne Victory | ||||||||||||||||
Number | 11 | ||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
2012–2014 | Football NSW Institute | ||||||||||||||||
2014–2015 | Sutherland Sharks | ||||||||||||||||
2015–2017 | Ipswich Town | ||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
2017–2021 | Ipswich Town | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2020 | → Stevenage (loan) | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2020–2021 | → Melbourne Victory (loan) | 17 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
2021– | Melbourne Victory | 78 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
2018–2019 | Australia U19 | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
2019– | Australia U23 | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
2022– | Australia | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 March 2022 (UTC) |
Born in Sydney, Folami joined Ipswich Town's academy in 2015, having previously played for the Football NSW Institute and the Sutherland Sharks at youth level.[4] After working his way through the youth system at Portman Road, he went on to make his full senior debut in a 2–1 defeat against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup second round on 22 August 2017.[5] He made his league debut for the club on 2 April 2018 in a 2–2 draw against Millwall.[6] In May 2018, Folami signed a new three-year contract at Ipswich until 2021.[7] On 14 January 2019, Folami tore his achilles tendon during an under-23 match against Cardiff City, ruling him out for the remainder of the season.[8]
Following his recovery from injury Folami appeared for Ipswich’s under-23 side before returning to first-team action on 12 November 2019, starting in a 0–1 away loss to Colchester United in an EFL Trophy group stage match.[9]
On 31 January 2020, Folami signed for Stevenage on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.[10] He made his debut on 8 February, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 loss to Exeter City.[11] He made two substitute appearances for Stevenage before the 2019–20 season was suspended due to the Coronavirus outbreak.[12]
He scored his first goal for Ipswich in an EFL Trophy tie against Gillingham on 6 October 2020.[13]
In April 2021, Ipswich announced that Folami would be released at the end of the 2020–21 season following the end of his contract.[14]
On 28 October 2020, Folami joined Australian A-League side Melbourne Victory on loan until the end of the season.[15] He scored his first goal for Melbourne Victory in a 2–2 draw with Thai side Chiangrai United in the AFC Champions League on 30 November.[16] In July 2021, after being released by Ipswich Town, Folami signed a permanent two-year contract with Melbourne Victory.[17]
Folami is of Nigerian descent.[18] In October 2018, he was called up to the Australia U19 squad to compete in the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship held in Indonesia.[19] He made 4 appearances during the tournament, scoring one goal, as the Young Socceroos exited the U-19 championships at the quarter-final stage. Folami impressed with his performances during the tournament, with Fox Sports describing him as "an absolute revelation" and stating that he had been "Australia's best player".[20]
Folami made his debut for the Australia U23 team in a 2–1 loss to Iran on 14 October 2019.[21] He scored his first goal for the under-23s while winning his second cap, appearing as a second-half substitute and scoring in a 5–1 victory over China on 15 November 2019.[22]
He debuted with the senior Australia national team in a 2–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification loss to Japan on 24 March 2022.[23]
Club | Season | Division | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Ipswich Town | 2017–18[24] | Championship | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
2018–19[25] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
2019–20[12] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
2020–21[26] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Total | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | ||
Stevenage (loan) | 2019–20[12] | League Two | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Melbourne Victory (loan) | 2019–20[12] | A-League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5[b] | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
2020–21[26] | A-League | 17 | 3 | — | — | — | 17 | 3 | ||||
Melbourne Victory | 2021–22[26] | A-League | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 1 | 28 | 4 | |
2022–23[26] | A-League | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
Total | 47 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 56 | 8 | ||
Career total | 53 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 65 | 9 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Australia | 2022 | 1 | 0 |
Total | 1 | 0 |
Melbourne Victory
Australia U23