Eniola Aluko is a British-Nigerian football executive, commentator, as well as a former professional player.
She is famous for being the first Sporting Director for Angel City FC of the American National women’s soccer league and formerly held the position of Sporting Director at Aston Villa women’s FC from January 2020 to June 2021. As a commentator, she has provided television commentary on football, including FIFA men’s and women’s World Cups.
She has devoted her huge time in football career playing for Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic, and Chelsea in England’s FA Women’s Premier League; playing for Saint Louis Athletica, Atlanta Beat, and Sky Blue FC in the American Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) as well as for Juventus before her retirement in January 2020. She made 102 appearances for the England national team from 2004 to 2016
What is Eniola Aluko Known For?
- Eniola Aluko is a football executive, commentator, and former footballer.
- She is known for playing with the teams – Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Saint Louis Athletica, Atlanta Beat, Sky Blue FC, and more.
What is Eniola Aluko Nationality?
Eniola Aluko took birth on 21st February 1987. Her birthplace is in Lagos, Nigeria but she moved with her family to Birmingham in the West Midlands region of England at the age of six months. She holds Nigerian nationality and her ethnicity is Nigerian-African. Her present age is 35 as of 2022. Pisces is her zodiac sign and her religion is Christian. She is the daughter of Gbenga (father) and Sileola (mother). Her father is a former MP in Nigeria, while Bolaji Aluko, a chemical engineering professor, is her uncle. She grew up playing football with her brother Sone Aluko and his friends.
While playing for England during Women’s Euro 2005, she took her A levels at Cadbury College, Birmingham. She subsequently went to study law at Brunel University, where she graduated with a first-class degree in 2008. While completing an accelerated Legal Practice Course at the University of Law, she had traineeships at Lee & Thompson LLP and Onside Law. She announced her intention to “step back” from her legal career in March 2015 to focus on playing professional football.
Eniola Aluko Football Career
- Aluko started her career at Leafield Athletic Ladies and played for Birmingham City Ladies’ youth team under manager Marcus Bignot with future England teammate, Karen Carney.
- She scored on her Birmingham team debut against Leeds United, aged 14.
Birmingham
- Aluko, at age 15, initially played for the club, Birmingham in the FA women’s Premier League Cup Final at Adams Parks.
- Her goalscoring during the following 2002–03 Premier League season led Bignot to declare her “the Wayne Rooney of women’s football”.
Charlton Athletic
- She then joined Charlton Athletic in January 2004.
- During the 2003–04 season, she appeared as a second-half substitute when Charlton lost the FA Women’s Cup final to Arsenal, 3–0 at Loftus Road in May.
- She lifted the FA Women’s Community Shield with Charlton in August 2004 after helping the team win.
- She scored two goals in the first half of Charlton’s 2–1 victory over Arsenal in the 2006 FA Women’s Premier League Cup Final at Adams Park.
- He also played in the 2005 FA Women’s Community Shield (4–0 defeat at the National Hockey Stadium), the 2005 FA Women’s Premier League Cup Final (3–0 defeat at Griffin Park), and the 2007 FA Women’s Cup Final (4–1 defeat at the City Ground) – all three defeats were inflicted by Arsenal.
- She also won the London FA Women’s Cup with Charlton twice, in 2005 and 2006.
Chelsea
- She joined Chelsea Ladies in July 2007.
WPS
- In October 2008, her playing rights were obtained by St. Louis Athletica.
- When Saint Louis Athletica folded partway through the 2010 season, she signed with Atlanta Beat.
- Later, she was traded to Sky Blue FC in December 2010.
Birmingham City
- She next signed for Birmingham City, describing them as “more stable”.
- In 2012, she registered five goals and two assists in 17 FA WSL League and Cup appearances, as Birmingham City finished runners-up to Arsenal in both competitions.
- City lost the 2012 FA WSL Cup Final to Arsenal 1–0 at Underhill Stadium on 10 October 2012.
Chelsea
- After a single season at Birmingham, she re-signed for Chelsea in December 2012.
- In her first season with the club, he contributed six goals and three assists in 17 FA WSL League and Cup matches.
- In 2014, she scored seven times and provided one assist in 20 FA WSL League and Cup appearances.
- She was one of six nominations for the 2014–15 PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year. She did win Chelsea Ladies’ Player of the Year for 2014–15 and was selected in the 2015 PFA WSL Team of the Year.
- In 2015, she played in the first FA Women’s Cup Final held at Wembley Stadium on 1 August 2015 in front of a record attendance of 30,710. Her Chelsea team defeated Notts County 1–0 to win the club’s first major trophy in its history. She was at the heart of Chelsea’s win.
- After Chelsea signed Fran Kirby and Ramona Bachmann, her role in the team diminished.
- It was announced on 16th May 2018 that Aluko would receive a free transfer from Chelsea when the 2017–18 season ended four days later.
Juventus
- She signed for Serie A club Juventus on 6 June 2018.
- In 2019, she spoke about negative experiences in the city, calling it “decades behind” and saying she had been made to feel like Pablo Escobar on occasions at Turin airport.
- In November 2019, she announced that she would be leaving Juventus after 18 months at the club, stating her time at the club had been one of “great success and lots of learning.”
- She returned to Britain in December having won Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa Italiana, as well as being Juventus’ top scorer for last season.
- On 15th January 2020, she announced her retirement from professional football.
International Career
- When Aluko was only 14, he was called into the England National Team.
- She said: “The main thing for me is for people to understand that choosing to play for England doesn’t mean that I don’t support Nigeria. I’m as much Nigerian as I’m British. Of course Nigeria means a lot to me, it’s part of me, but I’ve been brought up by English coaches.
- She represented England at the Under-17 level.
- She scored on her debut at the Under-19 level.
- She also appeared in the UEFA Under-19 European Championship Finals in Germany in July 2003 while aged only 16 years.
- After that, she played at the U21 level.
- At the age of 17, she made her senior debut against the Netherlands in September 2004.
- Her first senior goal came against the Czech Republic at Walsall in May 2005
- She next played in UEFA Women’s Euro 2005.
- She featured in group matches against Japan and Argentina at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007.
- She scored against Switzerland in September 2010 as England qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011.
- Later, she was not called up to the national team after May 2016. She was paid around £80,000 by the Football Association.
- The Football Association later publicly apologized to Aluko at the select committee hearing of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (with some DCMS MPs calling for relevant FA officials to resign over their handling of the case) after the same barrister found racist remarks were made to her and teammate Drew Spence, following a third investigation.
- At UEFA Women’s Euro 2017, she worked as a pundit for Channel 4.
Executive career
- In January 2020, a week after her retirement from professional football, she was announced as the director of women’s football at Aston Villa.
- In May 2021, she became the sporting director of Los Angeles-based Angel City FC ahead of their inaugural season in the American National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
- In August 2022, she transitioned to the director of the recruitment role as Angela Hucles became the club’s general manager.
Awards, Honors, and Achievements
Birmingham City
- FA WPL Cup runner-up: 2001–02
- FA WPL Northern Division: 2001–02
- FA Women’s Young Player of the Year: 2002–03
- FA Women’s Cup: 2011–12
Charlton Athletic
- FA WPL National Division runner-up: 2003–04, 2004–05
- FA Women’s Cup: 2004–05
- FA WPL Cup: 2005–06
- FA Women’s Community Shield: 2004
Saint Louis Athletica
- Women’s Professional Soccer regular season runner-up: 2009
Chelsea
- FA WSL: 2015, 2017, 2017–18
- FA Women’s Cup: 2014–15, 2017–18
- International Women’s Club Championship runner-up: 2013
Juventus
- Serie A: 2018–19
- Coppa Italia: 2018–19
- Supercoppa Italiana: 2019
England
- UEFA Women’s Championship runner-up: 2009
- Cyprus Cup: 2009, 2013, 2015
- FIFA Women’s World Cup third place: 2015
Individual
- Chelsea Ladies Player of the Year: 2014–15
- PFA WSL Team of the Year 2015, 2017
- FA WSL top scorer: 2016
How much is Eniola Aluko’s Net Worth?
Eniola Aluko is a former footballer and football executive whose net worth is estimated to have $2 Million as of 2022. She has made a huge fortune from her football career. Ex-footballer, Eniola has played for Chelsea Ladies, Birmingham City, Sky Blue FC, and more teams. She is living a lavish lifestyle at present.
Eniola Aluko Boyfriend – Is She Married?
Eniola Aluko is an unmarried lady and she is still to get married. She is assumed to be single right now. She is currently focused on her career rather than being in a relationship. Her sexual orientation is straight.
How tall is Eniola Aluko?
Eniola Aluko stands tall at the perfect height of 5 feet 3 inches or 1.59 m. Her body weight consists of 56 Kg. Her body type is athletic. She has got a healthy body with black hair and black eyes. She has got a charming smile on her face.
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