Rolando Aarons

Rolando Aarons (born 16 November 1995) is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a winger, most recently for Championship club Huddersfield Town and the Jamaica national team.[4] He has had previous loan spells with Hellas Verona in Italy, Slovan Liberec in the Czech Republic and Scottish club Motherwell, and in England with Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe Wanderers.

Rolando Aarons
Aarons with Newcastle United in 2015
Personal information
Full name Rolando Aarons[1]
Date of birth (1995-11-16) 16 November 1995[2]
Place of birth Kingston, Jamaica
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[3]
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
2009–2012 Bristol City
2012–2014 Newcastle United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2021 Newcastle United 22 (2)
2018 → Hellas Verona (loan) 11 (0)
2018 → Slovan Liberec (loan) 12 (0)
2019 → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 9 (1)
2019–2020 → Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 10 (1)
2020 → Motherwell (loan) 6 (0)
2021–2023 Huddersfield Town 11 (0)
2022 → Motherwell (loan) 2 (0)
International career‡
2014–2015 England U20 5 (2)
2022– Jamaica 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:07, 2 November 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 June 2022

Club career

Newcastle United

Aarons joined Newcastle United in 2012 after being released by his home town club Bristol City.[5] He made his reserve team debut on 8 February 2013 against Stoke City and scored in his second reserve game against Crystal Palace 17 days later.[2][6]

Aarons travelled with the Newcastle squad to their game against Fulham. He was not included in the matchday squad as the Magpies lost 1–0. Reserves teammate Ľubomír Šatka also travelled with the squad for the first time.

On 1 April 2014, Aarons signed a professional contract with Newcastle United.[7]

2014–15 season

Aarons had an impressive pre-season prior to the 2014–15 season, scoring one goal and creating one assist in the 2014 Schalke 04 Cup against Bundesliga team Schalke. Shortly after, he was allocated the number 16 shirt.[8] On 17 August 2014, he made his Premier League debut in their first match of the campaign, replacing Yoan Gouffran for the final 16 minutes of a 2–0 home defeat to Manchester City.[9] He scored his first senior goal in the 3–3 draw with Crystal Palace on 30 August. He also set up teammate Mike Williamson for Newcastle's third goal in the same match, striking the post with his own effort. His contribution to the match was described by The Guardian as "thrillingly incisive".[10] Aarons came back from England U20 duty with a hamstring injury; scans in mid-September determined that it would take around six weeks for the injury to heal.[11] On 29 October, Aarons returned from injury to score his second goal for the club in the fourth round of the League Cup, opening the scoring in Newcastle's 2–0 away victory over holders Manchester City.[12] In early November, Aarons suffered a recurrence of his hamstring injury, ruling him out for another month.[13]

Loans

In 2018, Aarons spent time out on loan with Hellas Verona under Fabio Pecchia, Benítez's former assistant at Newcastle, and Slovan Liberec.[14] After 13 appearances in all competitions for the Czech side, he returned to Newcastle in December 2018.[15] On 31 January 2019, deadline day for the winter transfer window, he signed for Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the season.[16]

Aarons signed for Wycombe Wanderers on 2 September 2019 on a short-term loan.[17] The loan spell came to an end on 12 January 2020.[18]

On 31 January 2020, Aarons moved on loan to Scottish Premiership club Motherwell for the remainder of the season. But on 31 May 2020 Aarons's loan spell ended with the Scottish outfit.[19]

Huddersfield Town

On 7 January 2021, Aarons signed for Huddersfield Town on a two and a half year deal for an undisclosed fee.[4][20] He made his debut for the club two days later in a 3–2 FA Cup Third Round loss to Plymouth Argyle, coming off the substitutes' bench to replace Pat Jones.[21] A week later, he made his Championship debut for Huddersfield, playing 62 minutes in a 2–1 defeat to Watford, before being replaced by Jones.[22]

Motherwell (loan)

On 30 August 2022, Aarons returned to Motherwell on loan having spent time with the club in 2020.[23] On 2 November 2022, his loan was cancelled due to injury.[24]

International career

Aarons is eligible to represent either England or Jamaica at international level.[25] In August 2014, he received his first call-up to the England U20 team, marking his debut with the opening goal in a 6–0 friendly match win over Romania on 5 September.[26][27] His club manager Alan Pardew confirmed that, despite interest from Jamaica, he intended to pursue an international future within the England set-up.[28]

In May 2022, he received his first call-up to the Jamaica squad for their CONCACAF Nations League fixtures against Suriname and Mexico.[29] He would make his debut as a substitute against Suriname on 7 June 2022 at Kingston National Stadium.

Style of play

Aarons operates on the outside of midfield or as a winger, usually on the left side. He is left-footed and known for his injections of pace and technical ability.[30] He has been compared to Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling in his playing style and in his descent; both are Jamaican-born English players.[30]

Personal life

Aarons was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and migrated to England at the age of five to join his mother, who was living in Bristol.[31] He is the cousin of Norwich City player Max Aarons.[32]

Career statistics

Club
As of end of the 2021–22 season.[33]
Club statistics
Club Season League Domestic Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Newcastle United 2014–15 Premier League 410021—62
2015–16 1010010—111
2016–17 EFL Championship 400010—50
2017–18 Premier League 400011—51
2018–19 000000—00
2019–20 000000—00
2020–21 000000—00
Total 222005200274
Hellas Verona (loan) 2017–18 Serie A 11000——110
Slovan Liberec (loan) 2018–19 First League 12010——130
Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 2018–19 EFL Championship 910000—91
Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 2019–20 EFL League One 101100021132
Motherwell (loan) 2019–20 Scottish Premiership 602100—81
Huddersfield Town 2020–21 EFL Championship 1000000—00
2021–22 100000—00
Motherwell (loan) 2021–22 Scottish Premiership 201000—30
Career total 834415221948

International

As of 15 June 2022.

National Team Year Apps Goals
Jamaica 2022 2 0
Total 2 0

    References
    1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Wycombe Wanderers" (PDF). English Football League. p. 77. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
    2. "Rolando Aarons". Newcastle United FC. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
    3. "Rolando Aarons". Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
    4. Threlfall-Sykes, David (7 January 2021). "TRANSFER: ROLANDO AARONS ARRIVES FROM NEWCASTLE!". www.htafc.com. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
    5. Cameron, Neil (9 September 2014). "Newcastle United star Rolando Aarons' fightback after being dumped Bristol City shows real character". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
    6. "Reserves Fixtures 2012/13". Newcastle United FC. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
    7. "Aarons Pens Professional Deal" (Press release). Newcastle United. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
    8. "Squad Numbers Announced" (Press release). Newcastle United. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
    9. Chowdhury, Saj (17 August 2014). "Newcastle 0–2 Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
    10. Taylor, Louise (30 August 2014). "Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha scores last-gasp equaliser at Newcastle". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
    11. Ryder, Lee (16 September 2014). "Injury woes for Newcastle United as Rolando Aarons could be out for longer than feared". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
    12. "Holders Manchester City were knocked out of the League Cup as a youthful Newcastle side earned the club's first win in 12 attempts at Etihad Stadium". BBC Sport. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
    13. Starforth, Miles (11 November 2014). "Rolando Aarons blow for Newcastle". Shields Gazette. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
    14. "Aarons completes loan move". Newcastle United F.C. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
    15. "Newcastle United official announcement confirms Rolando Aarons is on his way back". themag.co.uk. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
    16. "Newcastle Trio Leave on Loan". Sky Sports. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
    17. "Ainsworth swoops for Newcastle starlet". Wycombe Wanderers F.C. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
    18. Ryder, Lee (12 January 2020). "Newcastle United winger Rolando Aarons ends loan spell with Wycombe Wanderers". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
    19. "Motherwell: James Scott deal done as Newcastle's Rolando Aarons joins". BBC Sport. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
    20. "Aarons joins Huddersfield Town". Newcastle United Football Club. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
    21. Partington, Mikey (9 January 2021). "REPORT: TOWN 2-3 PLYMOUTH". www.htafc.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
    22. Partington, Mikey (16 January 2021). "REPORT: WATFORD 2-0 TOWN". www.htafc.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
    23. "Rolando Aarons joins on loan". www.motherwellfc.co.uk. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
    24. "Motherwell cut short Aarons loan". BBC. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
    25. Douglas, Mark (9 August 2014). "Newcastle United youngster Roland Aarons wanted by Championship clubs – and Jamaica". The Journal. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
    26. "Aidy Boothroyd names U20 squad to face Romania". The FA. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
    27. Reid, Jamie (5 September 2014). "Boothroyd's boys hit Romania for six in Telford". The FA. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
    28. Starforth, Miles (29 August 2014). "Rolando Aarons will target England future, says Newcastle United boss at the time Alan Pardew". Shields Gazette. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
    29. "JUNE 2022 INTERNATIONAL BREAK: CALL-UPS". Huddersfield Town A.F.C. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
    30. "Rolando Aarons seeks a reward for his sterling effort at Newcastle". Daily Express. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
    31. Douglas, Mark (8 March 2015). "Newcastle United's brightest and best: Freddie Woodman and Rolando Aarons aiming for the stars".
    32. Freezer, David. "Rapid rise continuing for Canaries prospect Aarons after derby debut". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
    33. Rolando Aarons at Soccerway
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