Rinsola Babajide

Omorinsola Omowunmi Ajike Babajide (born 17 June 1998), known as Rinsola Babajide, is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Spanish Liga F club UDG Tenerife. A former England youth international up to under-21 level, she made her senior Nigeria debut in October 2023.

She previously played for Liverpool, Millwall Lionesses, Watford and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Quotes

• I wanted to prove them wrong, especially when they said I would never make it, that it's not a girl's sport, there were obviously down days and stuff, like there in that moment how it made me feel, but I just kept playing football because I was in love with the game, which I still am. And it makes me happy.
  • Rinsola Babajide on IWD and fighting racism: "Things need to change" by Ken Browne. March 17, 2021. Retrieved 2023/11/26.
• I’d like to see more support for the women’s game. I’d like to cut out racism and the discriminatory slurs both in the men and women’s game.
• I fell in love with football when I was a little girl. No matter what, I don’t play football for the money. I play football because I love it.
• There’s more female coaches in the game now too which is healthy.
• I’ve experienced sexist slurs on social media as well as racism and things like that...you become stronger from those kinds of things. They’ve made me tougher and stronger as a person.
• It’s a sad reality but as a black female I’ve felt like I have to work harder than the next person.
• I need to stay focused and tough - negativity will always be there but If I’m working hard, getting to the places I want to play, it means that I’m controlling all I can.
• I don’t play football solely for myself. I do it for the younger generation too. I do it for young black females that aspire to be professional footballers in the future.
• If you have the backing of the men’s side and the club as a whole, it means that us on the pitch can fully focus on that. You want to cancel out the background noise and be able to focus on the football alone.
  • Rinsola Babijide On The Future Of Football And Why Puma Is A Brand Leading The Way by SoccerBible. July 27, 2021. Retrieved 2023/11/26.