Manny Onariase

Osaore Emmanuel Onariase (born 21 October 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central defender. He plays for club Maidenhead United.

Born in Croydon, Onariase came through the ranks at West Ham United, signing his first professional contract in April 2015. He subsequently joined Brentford in 2016. After a loan spell with Cheltenham Town, Onarise left Brentford and joined Rotherham United. Further loan spells came with Cheltenham Town and Dagenham & Redbridge. In 2019, Onarise signed permanently for Dagenham for one season, before returning to the Football League with Scunthorpe United. After two seasons with Scunthorpe, he signed for Dagenham for a third time. He spent two seasons with Dagenham & Redbridge before signing for Hartlepool United in 2023.

Career

West Ham United

After failing a trial with Premier League club West Ham United and subsequently spending time with rival London club Millwall, Onariase re-signed for the Hammers at the age of 12. Despite only being signed to a schoolboy contract, Onariase signed his first professional contract in April 2015, but elected to depart Upton Park in January 2016.

Brentford On 29 January 2016, Onariase signed an 18-month contract with the Development Squad at Championship club Brentford for an undisclosed fee. He made the first senior appearance of his career the following day with a start in a 2–0 defeat to Colchester United. Onariase was included in the first team squad for its 2017–18 pre-season training camp in France. He failed to win a further first team call up before departing Griffin Park on 31 August 2017.

Rotherham United On 31 August 2017, Onariase joined League One club Rotherham United on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. After making two EFL Trophy appearances and receiving just one call into a league squad, Onariase re-joined League Two club Cheltenham Town on loan on 1 January 2018. He made just five appearances during the remainder of the 2017–18 season. a failure to make an appearance during the first two months of the campaign saw Onariase depart the New York Stadium on loan for the remainder of the season in October 2018. He was released when his contract expired at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Dagenham & Redbridge On 25 October 2018, Onariase joined National League club Dagenham & Redbridge on a loan which was later extended until the end of the 2018–19 season. He made 31 appearances during his spell and signed a one-year contract with the club on 4 July 2019. Onariase made 32 appearances and scored two goals during the truncated 2019–20 season.

Scunthorpe United On 3 August 2020, Onariase signed a two-year contract with League Two club Scunthorpe United for an undisclosed fee. he made 28 appearances and scored two goals. He made 62 appearances and scored four goals during his time at Glanford Park. He made 10 appearances and scored one goal during what remained of a 2021–22 season in which the Daggers finished one place outside the playoff zone.

Hartlepool United On 17 July 2023, Onariase signed for Hartlepool United ahead of their first season back in the National League following relegation. He made his Hartlepool debut on the opening match of the 2023–24 season in a 3–2 away defeat to Barnet. At the end of the season, Onariase was made available for transfer by the club.

He made four substitute appearances for Hartlepool early in the 2024–25 season before joining Maidenhead United on loan in December. The following month, this deal was extended until the end of the season. He made 20 league appearances for Maidenhead, however, they were unable to avoid relegation to the National League South. He made 41 appearances in total for Hartlepool.

Personal life Onariase attended St Thomas the Apostle College and was head boy.

Career statistics