Dipo Akinyemi


Afolabi Oladipo Christopher "Dipo" Akinyemi is a semi-professional footballer who plays for Welling United of the National League South.
Akinyemi began his career in the youth academy at Potters Bar Town in 2011, breaking into the first-team in 2014. He subsequently joined Stevenage's academy at the end of that year, before making his first-team debut at the start of the 2015–16 season. During his time at Stevenage, Akinyemi has been loaned out to Aldershot Town, St Neots Town, Dulwich Hamlet on two occasions, St Albans City, Billericay Town and Bishop's Stortford respectively. He signed for Dulwich on a permanent basis in March 2018 and helped the club to promotion to the National League South during the remainder of the 2017–18 season. Akinyemi joined Cheshunt on loan in August 2019.

Career

Potters Bar Town

Akinyemi started his career at Potters Bar Town's academy, joining the Hertfordshire club's youth set-up in 2011 having impressed youth manager John Gibbs whilst playing Sunday league football. Akinyemi was part of the Potters Bar U18 side that knocked out full-time academy sides two years running in the FA Youth Cup. After three years in the academy at Potters Bar, Akinyemi made his first-team debut on 6 September 2014, starting the match and scoring just after half-time in a 4–0 away victory against Bedford Town. He went on to make seven league appearances in the Southern Football League Division One Central over the next two months.

Stevenage and loan spells

After his spell in the first-team at Potters Bar, Akinyemi joined League Two side Stevenage's academy at the end of 2014. He trained with the Stevenage first-team towards the end of the 2014–15 season and was an unused substitute in two of the club's league matches in April 2015. Akinyemi signed professional terms with Stevenage in the summer of 2015, before making his debut under new manager Teddy Sheringham when he started in the opening league game of the 2015–16 season, a 2–0 loss to Notts County at Broadhall Way. He scored his first goal for the club in his third appearance, netting the first goal of the game when he "finished off a fine counter attack" in an eventual 2–2 draw away at Newport County on 15 August 2015. Akinyemi made 16 appearances during the season, the majority coming in the first half of the campaign, scoring one goal.
Akinyemi joined National League side Aldershot Town on a one-month loan deal on 10 November 2015. The idea behind the loan move was to help aid Akinyemi's development as he had only just started playing competitive first-team football. He made a scoring debut for Aldershot a day after signing, netting courtesy of a header to briefly restore parity in an eventual 2–1 home defeat to Lincoln City. Akinyemi made four appearances during the brief loan spell, scoring once, before returning to his parent club at the start of December 2015. Aside from two substitute appearances upon his return from Aldershot, Akinyemi found first-team opportunities limited at Stevenage. He was subsequently loaned out to Southern Football League Premier Division club St Neots Town on 6 February 2016 on a month's youth loan. Akinyemi made six appearances during the spell, his one-goal coming in St Neots' 3–1 home win over Bideford in his second appearance. He then joined Isthmian League Premier Division side Dulwich Hamlet on loan, his third loan spell of the campaign, on 25 March 2016, for the remainder of the season. As he did for Aldershot, Akinyemi scored on his debut for Dulwich, scoring the club's second goal in a 2–2 draw away at Enfield Town when he connected with a cross unmarked at the far post on 27 March 2016. He scored both of Dulwich's goals in his next game, a 2–1 home victory over Tonbridge Angels, before netting his fourth goal in three games in a 2–0 home win against Bognor Regis Town on 2 April 2016. He scored five goals in seven games during the loan spell as Dulwich narrowly missed out on promotion via the play-offs, returning to Stevenage upon the expiry of the loan agreement.
Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Akinyemi joined St Albans City of the National League South on a loan deal until January 2017. He once again made a goalscoring debut, this time finding the net on the opening day of the season when he scored the first goal in a 2–0 home win over Concord Rangers at Clarence Park. Akinyemi was recalled by Stevenage at the end of November 2016 having made 21 appearances in all competitions during the loan spell, 11 of which as a substitute, scoring five times. Stevenage stated their intention to loan out Akinyemi straight away and he joined Isthmian League Premier Division side Billericay Town on 6 December 2016 on a one-month loan deal. He made seven appearances during a busy month at Billericay, scoring one goal. At the start of January 2017, Akinyemi rejoined Dulwich Hamlet on loan for the remainder of the season, scoring the first goal of his second spell in a 2–0 win over Needham Market on 18 February 2017. Three days later, Akinyemi scored four goals in Dulwich's 7–1 win over Barkingside in the London Senior Cup, all four goals coming within the space of 14 second-half minutes. He scored 10 times in 19 appearances in all competitions during the loan spell.
Akinyemi signed for Southern Football League Premier Division side Bishop's Stortford on a season-long loan deal on 26 July 2017. The move meant that Akinyemi was reunited with Bishop's Stortford manager Kevin Watson, who was assistant manager at Stevenage when Akinyemi broke into the first-team. He made his Stortford debut on the opening day of the 2017–18 season, playing the whole match in a 2–1 defeat away at Tiverton Town on 12 August 2017. Akinyemi scored his first goal for the club in a 5–0 away victory against Dunstable Town on 26 September 2017. He remained a regular throughout the loan spell, scoring ten times in 36 appearances in all competitions, including four goals in his final four games for the club throughout February 2018. The season-long loan deal was cut short when he was recalled by Stevenage at the start of March 2018.

Dulwich Hamlet

Upon his recall, Akinyemi signed for Isthmian League Premier Division side Dulwich Hamlet on a permanent basis on 6 March 2018, having previously been on loan at the south London club on two separate occasions earlier in his career. Stevenage allowed him to join Dulwich on a free transfer, in return for a "significant percentage of any future sale". He made his third Dulwich debut on the same day his signing was announced, scoring twice in a 3–1 away win at league leaders Billericay Town. He went on to make 14 appearances and score four goals in all competitions as Dulwich won promotion to the National League South after winning the Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs. Akinyemi scored the decisive penalty in the final as Dulwich secured a won 4–3 win on penalties over Hendon after the two teams had played out a 1–1 draw after extra-time. Akinyemi played regularly during Dulwich's first season in the National League South, scoring 16 times in 41 appearances.
Having made three appearances for Dulwich at the start of the 2019–20 season, Akinyemi joined Cheshunt of the Isthmian League Premier Division on a two-month loan deal on 25 August 2019. Limited first time opportunities back at Dulwich saw him leave for Braintree Town in November 2019, despite being a fan's favourite.

Welling United

On 13 December 2019, Akinyemi moved to National League South club Welling United.

Style of play

Akinyemi has always been deployed as a centre forward. His youth manager at Potters Bar Town, John Gibbs, stated he was particularly impressed with Akinyemi's work ethic and strength, also singling out his attitude and dedication as plus-points. He has also been described as being "pacy and strong" and "a real threat" so long as he is calm on the ball.

Career statistics

Honours

Dulwich Hamlet
  • Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs: 2017–18