George Oakley (footballer)
English footballer (born 1995)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Oakley (born 18 November 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Scottish Championship club Ayr United.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Oakley[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 18 November 1995[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Tooting, England | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Ayr United | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2007–2014 | AFC Wimbledon | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2017 | AFC Wimbledon | 9 | (0) |
| 2015 | → Kingstonian (loan) | 1 | (1) |
| 2016 | → Welling United (loan) | 7 | (4) |
| 2017 | → Maidstone United (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 46 | (12) |
| 2019–2020 | Hamilton Academical | 36 | (8) |
| 2020 | Pirin Blagoevgrad | 10 | (0) |
| 2021 | Kilmarnock | 7 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | Woking | 17 | (1) |
| 2022–2023 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 18 | (1) |
| 2023–2024 | Greenock Morton | 38 | (15) |
| 2024– | Ayr United | 49 | (13) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:25, 14 March 2026 (UTC) | |||
Playing career
AFC Wimbledon
Oakley joined AFC Wimbledon at the age of eleven, and progressed through the youth ranks.[3] On 15 February 2014, he was named as a substitute in a 1–0 league defeat at Portsmouth.[4] He signed a professional contract in May 2014, and scored just days later in the 2014 London Senior Cup final win over Metropolitan Police.[5]
Oakley was ruled out of the opening two months of the 2014–15 season with a hamstring injury.[6] On 7 October 2014, he marked his return in a 4–0 defeat to Charlton Athletic in the U21 Premier League Cup.[7] On 1 November 2014, he made his Football League debut as a late substitute in a 2–0 loss at Northampton Town.[8]
On 30 October 2015, Oakley joined affiliate Isthmian Premier Division side Kingstonian on a one-month loan.[9] He made his debut the following day, scoring in a 5–1 FA Trophy win at Leatherhead.[10] He managed just 12 minutes in his second appearance – a 1–0 victory over Enfield Town – before suffering from injury.[10] A grade two hamstring tear ruled him out for eight weeks and his loan spell was ended prematurely.[11]
In January 2016, Oakley suffered a broken ankle during a training session, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2015–16 season.[12] On 19 July 2016, he made his first appearance after the injury in a pre-season outing at Raynes Park Vale.[13] On 8 November 2016, he made his first appearance of the season for the senior squad in a 2–0 EFL Trophy defeat at Newport County.[14]
On 18 November 2016, Now plays for woking his 21st birthday, Oakley joined National League South club Welling United on a one-month loan.[15] Making his debut in a 3–1 defeat at Hampton & Richmond Borough, he scored his first goal for the club a week later in a 1–0 FA Trophy win at Concord Rangers.[16] He added his second of the season in the next round of the cup, completing the scoring in an 8–1 win over Hythe Town.[17] On 16 December 2016, Oakley's loan at Welling was extended by a further month.[18]
On 17 March 2017, Oakley joined National League side Maidstone United on a one-month loan deal.[19]
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Oakley signed for Scottish Championship club Inverness Caledonian Thistle in July 2017.[20] He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 friendly win at Brora Rangers.[21] He then scored his first competitive goal in Inverness's first game of the season, the opening game of the Scottish League Cup group stages, a 3–0 home win against Brechin City.[22] He started in the following match, a 0–0 draw away at Stirling Albion which resulted in a 2–0 penalty shootout a win for ICT, the lowest scoring penalty shootout in Scottish football.[23] His second competitive goal for Inverness came in a 2–1 win away to Forfar Athletic, although this wasn't enough to prevent them exiting the League Cup.[24]
On 30 December 2017, with Inverness down to ten men and losing 2–1 against bottom of the table Brechin City, Oakley came on as a substitute and netted twice to give Inverness the win. On his Scottish Cup debut, he scored a late goal in a 2–2 draw v Dundee, earning Inverness a replay at home.[25]
Hamilton Academical
In January 2019, Oakley moved to Hamilton Academical.[26] On 27 February 2019, he scored the opening goal as Hamilton won 2–0 away to Aberdeen, with the goal drawing comparisons to Marco van Basten.[27]
Pirin Blagoevgrad
In June 2020, he signed a two-year contract with Bulgarian club Pirin Blagoevgrad.[28] In January 2021, he was training with Kilmarnock after leaving Pirin.[29]
Kilmarnock
On 26 January 2021, after a trial period, Oakley returned to the Scottish Premiership with Kilmarnock after signing a deal until the end of the season.[30] He left Kilmarnock at the end of the 2020–21 season.[31]
Woking
On 22 June 2021, it was announced that Oakley would join National League side, Woking following his release from Kilmarnock.[32] He went on to feature seventeen times, scoring once before leaving The Cards in July 2022 at the end of his contract.[33]
Return to Inverness Caledonian Thistle
On 2 July 2022, Oakley returned to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, 3 years after leaving initially.[34] A week later, Oakley scored on his second debut in a 1–0 away win over Kelty Hearts in the League Cup. On 20 January 2023, Oakley left Caley by mutual consent.[35]
Greenock Morton
On 24 January 2023, Oakley signed an 18-month contract with Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton. He scored his first Morton goal 4 minutes into his debut.[36] Oakley would finish the season with 6 goals in 13 appearances, an average of roughly 1 goal every 2 games.
Ayr United
In 2024, Oakley joined Scottish Championship club Ayr United on a two-year deal after previously signing a pre-contract agreement while at Morton.[37]
Career statistics
- As of 24 January 2023
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| AFC Wimbledon | 2014–15[38] | League Two | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2015–16[39] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17[14] | League One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Kingstonian (loan) | 2015–16[10] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[d] | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Welling United (loan) | 2016–17[40] | National League South | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[e] | 2 | 9 | 3 | |
| Maidstone United (loan) | National League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 2017–18[41] | Scottish Championship | 33 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5[f] | 1 | 44 | 12 |
| 2018–19[42] | 13 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1[f] | 0 | 19 | 5 | ||
| Total | 46 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 63 | 17 | ||
| Hamilton Academical | 2018–19[42] | Scottish Premiership | 15 | 4 | — | — | — | 15 | 4 | |||
| 2019–20[43] | 21 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 27 | 4 | |||
| Total | 36 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 42 | 8 | |||
| Pirin Blagoevgrad | 2020–21[44] | Bulgarian Second League | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| Kilmarnock | 2020–21[44] | Scottish Premiership | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | |
| Woking | 2021–22[45] | National League | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 2022–23[46] | Scottish Championship | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1[f] | 2 | 23 | 4 |
| Greenock Morton | 2022–23[46] | Scottish Championship | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 153 | 23 | 11 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 191 | 35 | ||
- Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup, Bulgarian Cup
- Includes Scottish League Cup
- Appearance in EFL Trophy
- Two appearances and two goals in FA Trophy, one appearance in Kent Senior Cup
- Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup
Honours
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
