Isaiah Osbourne

Isaiah George Osbourne (born 5 November 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Barwell.

He is a former England under-16 international who started his career with Aston Villa.

After being given the squad number 27 shirt following Martin O'Neill's arrival as the new Aston Villa manager, he made his Premier League debut on 21 October 2006, coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute for Steven Davis, against Fulham at Villa Park.

In a follow–up match against Leicester City in the third round of the League Cup, Osbourne made his first start for the club, playing 107 minutes before being substituted, in a 3–2 win.

After the match, his performance received praises, including one from manager O’Neill.

Following this, he appeared a handful of first team appearances for the rest of the year, making four more starts.

On 28 December 2006, Osbourne signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract, keeping him at Villa Park until the summer of 2010.

By February, he lost his first team place, due to competitions and was sent to Aston Villa's reserve team for the rest of the 2006–07 season.

Despite this, Osbourne went on to make thirteen appearances in all competitions.

Throughout his Aston Villa career, Osbourne found his first team opportunities limited, making just 26 appearances between 2006 and 2011.

Following his release by Aston Villa, Osbourne joined Leeds United on trial in July, appearing in friendlies against Rochdale and Sheffield Wednesday, but was unable to earn a permanent deal.

In the 2007–08 season, Osbourne found himself behind the pecking order in the first team, due to competitions in the midfield position.

As a result, he made four appearances by the end of the year.

At the end of the 2007–08 season, Osbourne went on to make ten appearances in all competitions.

On 10 January 2008, Osbourne agreed to join Ian Holloway's Leicester City on loan, however just a few days later Villa manager Martin O'Neill was forced to cancel the proposed deal because of mounting injury concerns.

Following this, he continued to find his first team appearances, all coming from the substitute bench, including showing his talent with an impressive cameo for Villa in a 1–1 draw at Arsenal on 1 March 2008.

At the start of the 2008–09 season, Osbourne found himself behind the pecking order in the first team, due to competitions in the midfield position.

As a result, he was featured in a handful of cup matches for Aston Villa and only made three starts as a result.

On 23 September 2008, Osbourne extended his contract with Aston Villa, keeping him until 2011.

By the time he was loaned out to Nottingham Forest, Osbourne made six appearances in all competitions.

After not playing a single minute of football for the club during the 2009–10 season, Osbourne told the Birmingham Mail in July 2010 that he expected to remain with Aston Villa for the remaining year of his contract, in the hope that he could force his way back into the first team.

However, Osbourne only made one substitute appearance in the UEFA Europa League the following season.

On 2 March 2009, Osbourne became the first player to move to Nottingham Forest under Billy Davies' reign, joining on loan until the end of the season.

He made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 2–1 win against Preston North End on 3 March 2009.

Osbourne quickly became a first team regular for Nottingham Forest, playing in the midfield position.

Despite suffering injuries along the way, he made eight appearances for the club in the Championship in all competitions.

Following this, Nottingham Forest attempted to sign him on a permanent basis, but the move never happened.

Over the summer transfer window, Osbourne was linked with a move to Ligue 1 side Bordeaux, but the move never happened.

Instead, he joined Gordon Strachan's Middlesbrough on a two-month loan on 5 November 2009.

The loan signing made his debut for the club two days later in a 1–0 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

After making his debut for Middlesbrough, his performance was praised by manager Strachan.

Since joining the club, Osbourne started in the first team for the next eight matches.

On 28 December 2009, he had his loan spell with Middlesbrough extended for thirty–nine days.

The club wanted to extend his loan spell, but Osbourne was recalled by Villa due to an injury crisis.

Osbourne had loan spells with Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday before he was released by Villa in 2011.

He then signed on a free transfer for Hibernian and made 30 appearances in the 2011–12 Scottish Premier League.

Born in Birmingham, West Midlands, Osbourne started out training at Derby County after he and his brother, Isaac were spotted and offered a trial, but they were not offered a youth contract there.

The brothers went on trial at Aston Villa, from which Isaiah was signed.

He progressed through the club's youth system.

He was released by Aston Villa when his contract expired in May 2011.