Wikipedia

Noble Okello

Noble Okello Ayo (born July 20, 2000) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Phoenix Rising FC of the USL Championship.

Noble Okello
Personal information
Full name Noble Okello Ayo[1]
Date of birth (2000-07-20) July 20, 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Phoenix Rising FC
Youth career
North York Hearts
Mooredale SC
2013–2018 Toronto FC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Toronto FC III 16 (1)
2017–2018 Toronto FC II 23 (0)
2019–2022 Toronto FC 23 (1)
2019 → Toronto FC II (loan) 19 (0)
2020 → HB Køge (loan) 12 (1)
2021 → Toronto FC II (loan) 3 (1)
2023 New England Revolution II 10 (1)
2024 Atlanta United 2 26 (3)
2025– Phoenix Rising 0 (0)
International career‡
2016 Canada U17 3 (0)
2018 Canada U20 5 (3)
2018 Canada U21 4 (0)
2020 Canada 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of December 27, 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of January 10, 2020

Early life

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Okello began playing soccer at age six with the North York Hearts SC.[1] He later played for Mooredale SC before joining the Toronto FC Academy in 2013.[2] On August 20, 2017, he was part of the U17 side that beat Juventus U17 to capture the inaugural International Youth Soccer Cup.[3]

Club career

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Toronto FC

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In 2016, he appeared in one match for Toronto FC III in League1 Ontario.[4] In 2017, he scored one goal in 13 appearances[5] and made a further two appearances in 2018.[6]

In September 2017, Okello signed his first professional contract with Toronto FC II in the USL.[2][7] On October 6, 2017, he made his professional debut against Bethlehem Steel FC.[8] Following the conclusion of USL season, Okello was invited to train with the U19 team of VfL Wolfsburg.[9] On January 10, 2018, he played a full 90 minutes for their U19 side in a 2–1 victory over Hallescher FC where he scored the equalizing goal in the 88th minute[10] He then returned to Toronto, to join the Toronto FC first team's 2018 pre-season training camp.[11] It was later reported that VfL Wolfsburg had made three separate transfer bids to sign Okello, which would see his club receive a six figure transfer fee in addition to appearance fees and sell on percentage fee.[12]

In January 2019, Okello signed a first-team contract with Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.[13][14] He made his first-team debut for Toronto on August 14 against Ottawa Fury FC in the second leg of their 2019 Canadian Championship semi-final series.[15] He made his MLS debut on July 21, 2020, against the New England Revolution.[16][17] He was loaned to the second team for some matches in 2021.[18] He scored his first goal for TFCII on June 30, converting a penalty kick against Tormenta FC.[19] Upon completion of the 2021 season, Okello's option for the 2022 season would be picked up by Toronto.[20] After appearing in four of the first five matches of the 2022 season, Okello suffered an injury that kept him out of action for five months.[21] After the end of the 2022 season, he departed the club, upon the expiry of his contract.[22]

Loan to HB Køge

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On September 25, 2020, Okello was sent out on loan to Danish 1st Division club HB Køge, the same club that his teammate Rocco Romeo was also on loan with.[23] On September 30, he made his debut for Køge, coming on as a second-half substitute and scored a goal from 35 metres out.[24][25]

New England Revolution II

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In February 2023, he went on trial with MLS club LA Galaxy.[26] Afterwards, he went on trial with the New England Revolution.[27] In March 2023, he signed a contract with their second team, New England Revolution II, in MLS Next Pro.[28]

Atlanta United 2

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In December 2023, he signed a contract with Atlanta United 2 for the 2024 season.[29] He scored his first goal on May 8, 2024 against Carolina Core FC.[30]

Phoenix Rising FC

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Okello signed with Phoenix Rising FC on December 27, 2024.[31]

International career

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Okello made his debut in the Canadian youth system attending a camp in September 2016 with the Canada U17 team.[1] He was named to the roster for the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, where he made his international debut on April 22, 2017 against Costa Rica U17.[1]

In May 2018, Okello was called up to the Canadian U21 side for the 2018 Toulon Tournament.[32] In October 2018, Okello was named to the Canadian U20 squad for the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship.[33] He scored a brace in the tournament opener against Dominica, a 4–0 victory.[34] Okello was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship on February 26, 2020.[35]

Okello was named to the Canadian senior team for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[36] Okello made his senior debut on January 7, 2020, against Barbados as a substitute in a 4–1 victory.[37]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played October 14, 2023[38]
Club Season League Playoffs National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Toronto FC III 2016[4] League1 Ontario 1 0 — — 1 0 — 2 0
2017[5] 13 1 — — 0 0 — 13 1
2018[6] 2 0 — — 1 0 — 3 0
Total 16 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 — 18 1
Toronto FC II 2017 USL 1 0 — — — — 1 0
2018 22 0 — — — — 22 0
2019 USL League One 19 0 — — — — 19 0
2021 3 1 — — — — 3 1
Total 45 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 1
Toronto FC 2019 MLS 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 0 0 1 0
2020 1[a] 0 0 0 0 0 — — 1 0
2021 14 1 — 3 1 — 3[b] 0 20 2
2022 8 0 — 0 0 — — 8 0
Total 23 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 3 0 30 2
HB Køge (loan) 2020–21 Danish 1st Division 12 1 — 2 0 0 0 — 14 1
New England Revolution II 2023 MLS Next Pro 10 1 2 0 — — — 12 1
Career total 106 5 2 0 6 1 2 0 3 0 117 6
  1. ^ Includes one appearance in the MLS is Back Tournament group stage.
  2. ^ Appearance(s) in the CONCACAF Champions League.

International

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As of January 16, 2020
Canada
Year Apps Goals
2020 2 0
Total 2 0

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Noble Okello at the Canadian Soccer Association
  2. ^ a b Krueger, Adam (September 15, 2017). "Dunn, Okello, and Romeo sign first pro deals". Toronto FC.
  3. ^ Krueger, Adam. "U-17s beat Juventus to capture International Youth Soccer Cup!". Toronto FC.
  4. ^ a b "Noble Okello 2016 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario.
  5. ^ a b "Noble Okello 2018 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario.
  6. ^ a b "Noble Okello 2018 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario.
  7. ^ Grossi, James (January 25, 2019). ""Sky is the limit" for Academy Product Noble Okello". Toronto FC.
  8. ^ Alessandrini, Mike (October 7, 2017). "TFC II youngsters play key role despite loss to Bethlehem - Okello, Hundal lead impactful teens for Young Reds". Toronto Observer.
  9. ^ Buchheister, Christopher (January 12, 2018). "Okello und Zakaria: Der VfL blickt nach Kanada" [Okello and Zakaria: VfL looks to Canada]. Wolfsburger Nachrichten (in German).
  10. ^ "U19 dreht Spiel kurz vor Schluss". VfL Wolfsburg. January 10, 2018. Archived from the original on January 13, 2018.
  11. ^ "Toronto FC sign Noble Okello". Toronto FC. January 22, 2019.
  12. ^ Chopra, Nipun (April 6, 2018). "Canadian youth international Okello attracting attention from Bundesliga". Soc Takes.
  13. ^ Bogert, Tom (January 22, 2019). "Toronto FC sign midfielder Noble Okello to Homegrown deal". Major League Soccer.
  14. ^ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (January 22, 2019). "Noble Okello signs first team contract with Toronto FC". Waking the Red.
  15. ^ "TFC downs Ottawa Fury FC to advance to Canadian Championship final". Sportsnet. August 14, 2019.
  16. ^ "Toronto FC's Noble Okello makes his MLS debut against New England". Major League Soccer. July 21, 2020.
  17. ^ Grossi, James (July 25, 2020). "Birthday + debut back-to-back: Noble Okello coming into his own with Toronto FC". Toronto FC.
  18. ^ "Toronto FC loan Noble Okello to Toronto FC II". Toronto FC. June 30, 2021.
  19. ^ Steiner, Ben (July 1, 2021). "TFC II finish busy stretch with a win against South Georgia Tormenta". Waking the Red.
  20. ^ "Toronto FC Announce Year-End Roster Decisions". Toronto FC. December 1, 2021.
  21. ^ Molinaro, John (September 8, 2022). "TFC's Noble Okello: 'Now that I'm back I can only look forward to the future'". TFC Republic.
  22. ^ "Toronto FC Announce Year-End Roster Moves". Toronto FC. October 14, 2022.
  23. ^ "HB Køge lejer canadisk landsholdsspiller i Toronto FC" [HB Køge rents Canadian national team player in Toronto FC]. HB Køge (in Danish). September 25, 2020.
  24. ^ "Okello om flot debutmål: "Rent instinkt"" [Okello on great debut goal: "Pure instinct"]. HB Køge (in Danish). October 1, 2020.
  25. ^ "Noble Okello sparkede sig ind i HB Køges historiebøger" [Noble Okello kicked himself into HB Køge's history books]. HB Køge (in Danish). October 1, 2020.
  26. ^ Rodriguez, Alicia (February 6, 2023). "Noble Okello trialing with LA Galaxy". LA Confidential.
  27. ^ Pongratz, Caleb (March 2, 2023). "Revolution preseason trialist Noble Okello set to sign for New England Revolution II". ProstAmerika.
  28. ^ "New England Revolution II Sign Midfielder Noble Okello". New England Revolution. March 16, 2023.
  29. ^ "Atlanta United 2 signs three players for 2024 season". Atlanta United FC. December 21, 2023.
  30. ^ "Atlanta United 2 Drops Home Match to Carolina Core FC 2-1". Atlanta United FC. May 8, 2024.
  31. ^ Butler, Tyler (December 27, 2024). "Phoenix Rising Signs Canadian Midfielder Noble Okello". Phoenix Rising Communications. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  32. ^ Tierney, Mitchell (May 17, 2018). "Canada's next generation will be on display at the Toulon Tournament". Waking the Red.
  33. ^ "Canada announces squad for the Concacaf Men's Under-20 Championship". Canadian Soccer Association. October 24, 2018.
  34. ^ Sandor, Steven (November 2, 2018). "Canada triumphs over Dominica in U20 Championship opener". The 11.
  35. ^ "Canada Soccer announces Provisional List for Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying". Canada Soccer. February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  36. ^ Davidson, Neil (May 30, 2019). "Uncapped Noble Okello, Kamal Miller included in Canada's Gold Cup squad". Toronto Star.
  37. ^ "HIGHLIGHTS: CanMNT begins 2020 with a win in friendly vs. Barbados". January 7, 2019.
  38. ^ Noble Okello at Soccerway
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