Noble Okello

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
Number	6
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

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.

Early life

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

Toronto FC

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

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

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

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

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

International career

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

Club

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

As of January 16, 2020

Canada
Year	Apps	Goals
2020	2	0
Total	2	0

References

1. Noble Okello at the Canadian Soccer Association
2. 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. "Noble Okello 2016 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario.
5. "Noble Okello 2018 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario.
6. "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

External links

• Noble Okello at Soccerway
• Noble Okello at the Canadian Soccer Association