Ilkeston Add Experience & Youth to Squad

Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central club Ilkeston Town have added two new players to their squad ahead of the weekend.

Vastly experienced winger Tope Obadeyi and youngster Harrison Solomon have both checked into the Microlise New Manor Ground.

Born in Birmingham, Obadeyi came through the youth ranks at Coventry City, and then, Bolton Wanderers.

The now 32-year-old earned 3 first-team appearances for the Trotters as well as enjoying loan spells at Swindon Town, Rochdale (twice), Shrewsbury Town and Chesterfield.

In June 2012, he put pen-to-paper on a deal with Rio Ave, a Portuguese outfit based in the north of the country, and he went on to feature on 12 occasions which aided his development within the game.

His next port of call was the sadly now-defunct Bury before two periods at Plymouth Argyle on a loan basis, totalling 14 games and one goal.

In July 2014, he moved north of the border to Kilmarnock and thrived throughout his time there as he, impressively, found the back of the net 12 times in over 50 appearances for Killie whilst being held in high esteem by the faithful at Rugby Park.

After plying his trade at Dundee United, Obadeyi returned south to sign for Oldham Athletic and helped with another Latics ‘great escape’ as the attacker proved to be an important figure with 37 games and 3 goals for John Sheridan’s side.

He then travelled across the Channel to France to join Sochaux in Ligue 2 – meriting a handful of appearances for the Les Lionceaux after a managerial change halted his game time.

He re-joined Oldham in February 2022 and added 8 more games to his Latics tally.

Obadeyi boasts an impeccable record for England at Youth international level, scoring 5 goals in 4 games at under-19 level before netting once in 2 outings for the under-20 side.

Centre-back Harrison Solomon has risen through the Derby County academy ranks since joining at under-9 level.

Solomon made 11 appearances for the Under-18s during his first season as a scholar in the 2019/20 season and also trained with Derby's first team ahead of the 2020/21 season and appeared in a number of friendlies, before being named on the bench for the Carabao Cup First Round tie against Barrow AFC in September 2020.

The 19-year-old, who joins the Robins on loan, made 10 appearances in the Under-18 Premier League, scoring 2 goals in 2020/21, while he also made 10 appearances for the under-21s in the Premier League 2 Division 1 before joining that squad permanently ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

He went on to record 11 outings for the under-21s in Premier League 2 Division 1 in 2021/22 with injury hampering his progress.

Ilkeston Town Web Site