Oakley Cannonier

Oakley Cannonier (born 6 May 2004) is an English professional footballer who plays for Liverpool Under-21s.[3]

Oakley Cannonier
Personal information
Full name Oakley William Cannonier[1]
Date of birth (2004-05-06) 6 May 2004[2]
Place of birth Leeds, England[2]
Position(s) Centre-forward
Team information
Current team
 Liverpool
Number 87
Youth career
2011–2015 Leeds United
2015– Liverpool
International career‡
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019 England U15 1 (0)
2019 England U16 1 (0)
2022 England U18 2 (1)
2022– England U19 2 (2)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 October 2022

Early life

Cannonier was born in Leeds, Yorkshire.[4] Despite early trials with Manchester City, he joined Leeds United as an under-9.[5][6]

A Liverpool supporter from an early age, as he was a fan of Fernando Torres, he joined the Liverpool academy in Kirkby, aged 11,[6][7] where he soon started playing above his age group.[4]

Club career

Headlines as a ball boy

Cannonier first made headlines on 7 May 2019, following his performance as one of the ball boys for Liverpool's 4–0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.[8] Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp had noticed that the Spanish team was often slow at getting in position for set-pieces, so the ball boys from The Academy were instructed to return balls to Liverpool's players as quickly as possible. With 11 minutes to go, Cannonier gave Trent Alexander-Arnold the ball, allowing him to take a quick corner, passing to Divock Origi for the decisive fourth goal,[4] completing one of the most memorable victories in the history of the club. Liverpool went on to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final.[9]

A top scorer with the youth teams

Cannonier started playing in the U18 Premier League in 2020, already scoring his first goal in November that year, in a league game against its former team, Leeds United;[10] however, he saw his season prematurely ended because of a hamstring injury, ruling him out of that year's FA Youth Cup final.[6] He signed his first professional contract for Liverpool in the off-season.[10]

The following season, Cannonier proved to be a prolific goalscorer for Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's Under-18s side,[5][11] as he netted his first hat-trick against Manchester United in August 2021.[6] On 9 April 2022, he scored four goals for the youth team, as they beat his former Leeds team 10–3.[12] By the end of the season, he had also trained with Jürgen Klopp's first-team squad.[13]

Cannonier scored a total of 34 goals in all competitions, including 28 in the U18 Premier League,[14] making him the competition's top scorer as Liverpool finished second in the North group, just behind league winners Manchester City.[15] Having also played a key role in the knock-out stage of the Youth League[11] and made his EFL Trophy debut,[6] the striker ended the season with a new long-term contract in Liverpool.[16]

Early in the 2022–23 season, Cannonier scored the winner against Napoli and a hat-trick against Ajax in the UEFA Youth League,[11] as well as registering a brace against Wolverhampton Wanderers for the Under-23s in Premier League 2.[17]

International career

Cannonier is a youth international for England since 2019, as he discovered the under-16s that summer.[6]

After the covid-forced youth competition break, Cannonier was capped for the England under-18s in March 2022, scoring on his debut against Sweden.[18] Later that year, he was called up to the England under-19s, scoring a brace on his first start for the team, a 6–0 victory over Georgia in qualifying for the 2023 European Under-19 Championships.[19][20]

Style of play

An ambidextrous footballer, Cannonier mainly plays as a centre-forward, where he proved to be a prolific goalscorer for Liverpool's youth teams. Despite then being below the height standards for this position, he stood out with his skills, movement, determination and positional awareness in front of the goal, allowing him to be regularly decisive.[6][11] During his first years in the academy, he played more as a number 10, but evolved as a striker while keeping his ability to provide assists.[7][11]

References
  1. "2023/24 Premier League squad lists". Premier League. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  2. "Oakley Cannonier". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  3. Oakley Cannonier at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  4. Hughes, Simon (9 May 2019). "The ball boy who helped Liverpool complete a Champions League miracle". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  5. Pearce, James (15 March 2022). "Oakley Cannonier: Liverpool's teenage striker matching Mohamed Salah goal for goal this season". The Athletic. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  6. Jones, Neil (14 October 2021). "Oakley Cannonier: Liverpool's ballboy hero emerging as an academy goal machine". Goal. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  7. Price, Glenn (28 January 2022). "Meet the Academy: Oakley Cannonier, the famous ball boy with a point to prove". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  8. Zeqiri, Daniel (8 May 2019). "Liverpool ballboy hailed as a hero after 'pre-assist' for Divock Origi's decisive fourth against Barcelona". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  9. Smith, Rory (1 June 2019). "Scoring Early and Late, Liverpool Wins Sixth Champions League Title". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  10. Kelly, Andy (7 July 2021). "Oakley Cannonier signs first pro contract with LFC". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  11. Doyle, Ian (18 September 2022). "Liverpool to use teenage goal machine in Europe as striker plan detailed". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  12. Darwin, Stephen (9 April 2022). "Liverpool U18s beat Leeds 10-3 as Cannonier - ballboy who assisted famous Alexander-Arnold 'corner taken quickly' Barcelona goal - scores four". Goal. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  13. Clarke, Lee (5 May 2022). "Liverpool gem Oakley Cannonier spotted in training with senior ranks". Rousing The Kop. NewsNow. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  14. Shaw, Chris (31 May 2022). "Liverpool's top scorers in 2021-22". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  15. "Under-18 PL season review: Top strikes, stops and action". Premier League. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  16. "Oakley Cannonier signs new long-term contract with LFC". Liverpool FC. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  17. Gorst, Paul (8 October 2022). "Liverpool youngster fires superb hat-trick as strikers run riot against Wolves". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  18. Birss, Ned (25 March 2022). "Goals from Isaac Mabaya and Divin Mubama help England MU18s defeat Sweden". The Football Association. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  19. Smith, Frank (24 September 2022). "England MU19s beat Georgia 6-0 and progress to the elite round of EURO qualifying". The Football Association. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  20. Pye, David (25 September 2022). "Success for trio in Under-19s clashes". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2022.


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