Ben Folami
Australian professional soccer player
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Gbenga Tai "Ben" Folami (Yoruba: [ɡbɛ̀ŋɡa táj fòlámì];[3] born 8 June 1999) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Adelaide United and the Australia national team.[4]
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Folami in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Winger | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Adelaide United | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 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) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2024 | Melbourne Victory | 82 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Adelaide United | 12 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Australia U19 | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Australia U23 | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Australia | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11 January 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 March 2022 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
Ipswich Town
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.[5] 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.[6] He made his league debut for the club on 2 April 2018 in a 2–2 draw against Millwall.[7] In May 2018, Folami signed a new three-year contract at Ipswich until 2021.[8] 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.[9]
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.[10]
Stevenage (loan)
On 31 January 2020, Folami signed for Stevenage on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.[11] He made his debut on 8 February, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 loss to Exeter City.[12] He made two substitute appearances for Stevenage before the 2019–20 season was suspended due to the Coronavirus outbreak.[13]
Return to Ipswich Town
He scored his first goal for Ipswich in an EFL Trophy tie against Gillingham on 6 October 2020.[14]
In April 2021, Ipswich announced that Folami would be released at the end of the 2020–21 season following the end of his contract.[15]
Melbourne Victory
On 28 October 2020, Folami joined Australian A-League side Melbourne Victory on loan until the end of the season.[16] 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.[17] In July 2021, after being released by Ipswich Town, Folami signed a permanent two-year contract with Melbourne Victory.[18]
International career
Folami is of Nigerian descent.[19] In October 2018, he was called up to the Australia U19 squad to compete in the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship held in Indonesia.[20] 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".[21]
Folami made his debut for the Australia U23 team in a 2–1 loss to Iran on 14 October 2019.[22] 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.[23]
He debuted with the senior Australia national team in a 2–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification loss to Japan on 24 March 2022.[24]
Career statistics
- As of match played 11 November 2022
| Club | Season | Division | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Ipswich Town | 2017–18[25] | Championship | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[26] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20[13] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[27] | 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[13] | League Two | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Melbourne Victory (loan) | 2019–20[13] | A-League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5[b] | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2020–21[27] | A-League | 17 | 3 | — | — | — | 17 | 3 | ||||
| Melbourne Victory | 2021–22[27] | A-League | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 1 | 28 | 4 | |
| 2022–23[27] | 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 | ||
- Appearance in EFL Trophy
- Appearances in AFC Champions League
- One appearance and one goal in AFC Champions League, Two appearances in A-League Finals series
International
- As of match played 24 March 2022[28]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |