Quick Facts
Biography
Ismail Salami Yakubu (born 8 April 1985) is a professional footballer who plays for Woking in The National League as a defender. He has been capped for the England semi-professional team.
Club career
Yakubu was born in Kano, Kano State, and raised in England. He joined Barnet at the age of 11, turned professional at 16, and made his first-team debut at the age of 17 while still studying for his A-levels – a 3–2 defeat against rivals Stevenage, with Yakubu coming on as a 67th-minute substitute. He started the following match in a 1–1 draw with Boston United. He became a regular in the first-team squad, and was team captain from August 2007 to November 2008. In June 2009 he signed a new two-year contract with the club. He was released in May 2010 after making a total of 297 appearances for the club.
In July 2010 Yakubu signed for Conference Premier side AFC Wimbledon. He played in the 2011 Conference Premier play-off Final, coming off the bench and scoring a penalty in the penalty shoot-out.
On 24 May 2011, he was released by AFC Wimbledon and on 22 June joined Newport County.
On 26 September 2011, Yakubu joined Cambridge United on a one-month loan, but never made an appearance.
On 12 May 2012 Yakubu played for Newport County in the FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium which Newport lost 2–0 to York City. In the 2012–13 season he was part of the Newport team that finished 3rd in the league, reaching the Conference Premier play-offs. Newport County won the playoff final versus Wrexham at Wembley Stadium 2–0 to return to the Football League after a 25-year absence with promotion to Football League Two.
He was released by Newport in May 2015 at the end of his contract.
Shortly after his release from Newport, Yakubu went on to sign a one-year contract with Woking for the 2015–2016 season. Unfortunately his season only lasted six games after rupturing his anterior cruciate knee ligaments in a game against Boreham Wood
On 18 May 2016, Yakubu signed a new one-year deal with Woking.
Honours
Barnet
- Conference National: 2004–05
AFC Wimbledon
- Conference Premier play-offs: 2010–11
Newport County
- FA Trophy runners-up 2011–12
- Conference Premier play-offs: 2012–13