Young Gun: Nathan Butler-Oyedeji

Throughout the season, we catch up with our young Gunners in the matchday programme to find out more about their route to our academy. This week, Nathan Butler-Oyedeji explains how he ended up at Hale End, his favourite memories working through the age groups and what it felt like to get his first scholarship.

I grew up in Walthamstow, East London and I got into football from watching my dad, Taju Oyedeji, play. When my dad was young, he had a scholarship at Crystal Palace but although he didn’t get a professional deal he played at the lower league levels and I used to go and watch him regularly. On top of that, I would also go into the park and join in with people there and I just fell in love with the game. My family background is that my dad’s Nigerian and my mother is from St Vincent. The Butler is from my mum’s side and Oyedeji is from my dad’s side. 

My dad always encouraged me to watch clips of Thierry Henry to understand the art of playing in attack but I also watched the likes of Ronaldinho too, just mesmerized by their ability. I tuned in to all the football shows like Premier League Years, Match of the Day. I was football mad! 

When I was seven, I would go to group sessions at Goals and a coach spotted me and invited me to train at Leyton Orient and then when I was training with them, I was invited by someone again but this time it was to go and train with Arsenal. It was the perfect club for me because I lived just five minutes away from Hale End so I would always drive past it regularly. My dad always said to me when we drove past it that I would be there one day and it actually happened! By the time I was eight, I had officially joined the club. At the time when I joined we had the likes of Ovie Ejeheri, Miguel Azeez, Yunus Musah, Alex Kirk and Kido Taylor-Hart all there with me.

During our Hale End days, we’d go on “year born tours” so it would depend what year you were born in. For example, I’d go to a tournament with everyone born in 2003. I remember our first tournament being in France and that was really exciting and a great experience. 

Getting my scholarship was a bit of a nerve-wrecking time because I kept on getting injured in the lead up to it. It would be a thing where I would score, get injured, come back and score then get injured again! I always knew I was good enough, but I wanted to be on the pitch to prove it and leave no doubt in the coaches mind.

"I didn't realise how far Accrington was from London!"

Then going from Hale End to Sobha Realty Training Centre is quite daunting as when you’re an under-16, you’re top dog of the place but when you go to the first team training ground you’re back to being a small fish as you’ve got the U18s, U21s and first team all there. But as soon as you get to training, listening to the older players, you become accustomed to the environment and it becomes much easier. I’ve also trained with the first team on multiple occasions. The first time you train with them you get starstruck because you’re playing with people you play with on FIFA and the tempo is crazy in your first few sessions. But, once you train over and over again with them you adapt and it becomes more manageable. 

I look up to a lot of the first-team players particularly the Hale End guys like Eddie, Reiss, Bukayo, Emile as they have shown that there is a pathway! But, I also love Gabby Jesus, he’s a top player and I love everything about his game. 

My first loan spell at Accrington Stanley was quite hectic as it happened on deadline day in January 2023. I didn’t actually realise how far away it was from London which surprised me. But, their fans were amazing and it’s a proper family club. The manager then, John Coleman, is a legend up there and he’s a top coach to work with. It was a great learning experience, especially coming from Arsenal under-21s to then seeing what proper senior football is like and it took me out of my comfort zone which is something I needed.

The biggest difference between academy football and senior football I’d say is the importance of three points. At Under-21 level, three points is important but there’s more emphasis on development and improving. But, when you get to senior football it’s all about getting results and the three points on a Saturday. The importance of three points can determine a person’s quality of life given the impacts of a promotion or relegation and you feel it every single week when you’re playing. 

Earlier this season I was at Cheltenham Town, which was another good learning experience. It wasn’t easy and it was challenging as we had a managerial change early during the season. Plus, given that we were in a relegation fight, the manager turned to the more experienced players which is completely understandable given the circumstances. However, I can take the positives out of learning from the older players into my next opportunity. 

When you’re playing senior football, the atmosphere is crazy! I remember playing at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday and I was like oh my gosh, there were like 28,000+ people and I wasn’t used to playing in front of those crowds. They made it a proper hostile atmosphere for us. Other stadiums I’ve enjoyed playing at are Pride Park and Bloomfield Road which are both lovely grounds. 

For the rest of the season, I’m just hoping to stay fit as always, train more with the first team and help out the team as much as I can. Always staying ready because you never know when you can be called upon, I really want to push on in my career.