David Ijaha

David Ijaha (born 17 February 1990) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder or defender currently for Cray Wanderers.[1]

David Ijaha
Ijaha captaining Whitehawk in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1990-02-20) 20 February 1990
Place of birth London,[1] England
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Cray Wanderers
Youth career
2002–2005 Chelsea
2006–2008 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Harrow Borough[2] 39 (2)
2011–2012 St Albans City[3] 62 (3)
2012–2014 Tonbridge Angels[1] 55 (4)
2014 Hayes & Yeading United[3] 7 (0)
2014–2016 Whitehawk[1] 62 (2)
2016–2017 Plymouth Argyle 3 (0)
2017 Wealdstone 3 (0)
2017–2018 Whitehawk 31 (2)
2018–2019 Welling United 35 (3)
2019–2020 Dulwich Hamlet 26 (3)
2020–2021 Dartford 10 (0)
2022 Dartford 0 (0)
2022 Whitehawk (loan) 4 (0)
2022– Cray Wanderers 26 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:10, 26 April 2022 (UTC)

Career

Early career

Ijaha was at his local Chelsea academy for three years as a youngster, being released at the age of 15. Having earned a place at an England Schoolboy training camp he met up with Kyle Bennett who introduced him to Wolverhampton Wanderers,[4] where he spent two seasons playing for the U18 side and the reserves,[5] before being released.[6]

Non-League career

After a spell out of the game, Ijaha joined Harrow Borough in August 2010 and then followed his manager David Howell to Southern Premier Division club St Albans City, where he was made captain. He signed for National League South side Tonbridge Angels in December 2013.[6] Following Tonbridge's relegation, Ijaha joined Hayes & Yeading United at the start of the 2014–2015 season, where he had been a long term target of manager Phil Babb. However, he soon moved to National League South rivals Whitehawk[7] where he spent two seasons.

Plymouth Argyle

At the start of the 2016–17 season, Ijaha was invited down to Home Park for a trial by Plymouth Argyle's assistant manager Craig Brewster, who had previously coached in Sussex at Whitehawk. Ijaha impressed enough to be offered a contract [8] and he made his Football League debut at the age of 27, playing for Plymouth Argyle in a 3–0 loss against Luton Town on 6 August 2016.[1] After struggling with a long-term injury,[9] Ijaha was released at the end of the 2016–17 season having made three league appearances.[10]

Later career

Ijaha had a short spell with National League South club Wealdstone at the beginning of the 2017–18 season,[11] before rejoining Whitehawk and being appointed captain in September.[12]

After a season at Welling United in 2018–19 and another season at Dulwich Hamlet in 2019–20, Ijaha joined league rivals Dartford for the 2020–21 season. He re-joined Dartford towards the end of the 2021–22 season before going out on loan to former-side Whitehawk.[13]

On September 16 2022, Ijaha signed for Cray Wanderers.[14]

Personal life

Ijaha was educated at St Thomas More School in Chelsea.[4]

Career statistics
As of match played 15 April 2022 [15][16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Harrow Borough[17] 2010–11 Isthmian Premier 39220——60472
Harrow Borough total 392200060472
St Albans City 2011–12 SFL - Premier Division 40240——2[lower-alpha 1]0462
2012–13 22130——4[lower-alpha 2]0291
St Albans City total 623700060753
Tonbridge Angels 2012–13 Conference South 213————00213
2013–14 34100——2[lower-alpha 3]0361
Tonbridge total 554000020574
Hayes & Yeading United 2014–15 Conference South 7000——0070
Hayes & Yeading United total 7000000070
Whitehawk 2014–15 Conference South 30030——6[lower-alpha 4]0390
2015–16 National League South 36250——1[lower-alpha 3]0422
Whitehawk total 662800070812
Plymouth Argyle 2016–17 League Two 3010003[lower-alpha 5]070
Wealdstone 2017–18 National League South 3000——0030
Whitehawk 2017–18 National League South 31200——6[lower-alpha 4]0372
Welling United 2018–19 National League South 35310——00363
Dulwich Hamlet 2019–20 National League South 26300——1[lower-alpha 3]0273
Dartford 2020–21 National League South 10000——1[lower-alpha 3]0110
2021–22 National League South 0000——1[lower-alpha 6]010
Dartford total 100000020120
Whitehawk (loan) 2021–22 Isthmian League South East Division 40——————40
Career total 341191900033039319
  1. One appearance in the FA Trophy and one in the Southern League Cup
  2. One appearance in the Herts Charity Cup, one in the FA Trophy, one in the Southern League Cup and one in the Herts Senior Cup
  3. Appearances in the FA Trophy
  4. Appearances in the FA Trophy and Sussex Senior Cup
  5. Appearances in the EFL Trophy
  6. Appearance in the Kent Senior Cup

References
  1. David Ijaha at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 August 2017. The discrepancy between source and infobox figures for Whitehawk is because Soccerway counts playoff matches in with league matches and Wikipedia does not.
  2. "David Ijaha - Harrow Borough Football Club First Team". Pitchero.
  3. "David Ijaha". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Aylesbury United FC and Luke Buckingham Brown. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  4. Whitehawk Official Matchday Programme v Chippenham Town, 25 November 2017
  5. "Stourbridge 1 Wolves 4". Birmingham Mail. 9 January 2008.
  6. "David Ijaha Signs for the Angels - News - Tonbridge Angels". Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  7. "Ijaha Makes Hawks Switch". 2 October 2014.
  8. "Plymouth sign midfielder Ijaha". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  9. Cross, Beren (8 August 2017). "David Ijaha secures non-league contract after Argyle exit". Plymouth Herald.
  10. Munday, David (10 May 2017). "Plymouth Argyle release nine first team players as retained list is announced". Plymouth Herald. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  11. "Player news – one in & one out". Wealdstone F.C. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  12. "David Ijaha". Whitehawk F.C. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  13. "WADHAMS STRIKES EMPHATICALLY TO LIFT WHITEHAWK OVER HIGH-FLYING RAMSGATE". Whitehawk F.C. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  14. "CRAY WANDERERS SQUAD UPDATE – NEW SIGNING, DAVID IJAHA". Cray Wanderers. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  15. "D. Ijaha - Profile". Soccerway.
  16. "Whitehawk FC".
  17. "David Ijaha". Pitchero. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
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