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Oliver George Arthur Watkins (born 30 December 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Aston Villa and the England national team. Described as a complete forward, Watkins is known for his finishing ability and work ethic.
Watkins is a product of the Exeter City Football academy and made his breakthrough at the club, winning the EFL Young Player of the Year award, before departing in 2017 for Brentford. He had a successful three-year spell at the club, culminating in being the joint top-scorer in the 2019–20 Championship and being named EFL Awards in 2020.
On 9 September 2020, Watkins signed for his present club, Aston Villa. In May 2024, he was named Premier League Playmaker of the Season for the 2023–24 season. On 10 May 2025, Watkins became Aston Villa's all-time top Premier League scorer, overtaking Gabriel Agbonlahor's record of 74 goals.
On 25 March 2021, Watkins made his debut for the England national team against San Marino in a World Cup qualifying game. During this same match, he scored his first international goal. Watkins also represented England at UEFA Euro 2024.
Watkins is of British Jamaican descent and professes to be an Arsenal supporter. He was raised by his mother Delsi-May, who is a professional singer.
Watkins grew up in Newton Abbot and he attended South Dartmoor Community College in Ashburton together with Matt Jay and Jamie Reid.
Watkins began playing grassroots football with the academy of Buckland Athletic at six years of age. Thereafter, he joined neighbouring Newton Town F.C. for one season and also represented the Devon County Football Association alongside Sam Gallagher.
On 18 May 2025, Watkins married his long time partner Ellie Alderson, with whom he has two children.
Watkins won his maiden first-team call up when he was named as a substitute for the final League Two match of the 2013–14 season versus Hartlepool United and made his senior debut when he replaced Aaron Dawson after 77 minutes of the 2–0 victory. Watkins was frequently named as a substitute by Paul Tisdale during the first three months of the 2014–15 season, but despite scoring his first senior goal (a late consolation in a 3–1 EFL Trophy second round defeat to Coventry City on 7 October 2014), he made just three appearances before departing on loan to Weston-super-Mare for the remainder of the season in December 2014.
On 8 December 2014, Watkins joined Conference South club Weston-super-Mare on a one-month loan. Through repeated extensions of the loan, Watkins would remain with the club until the end of the 2014–15 season. He featured regularly for the team, scoring 10 goals in 25 appearances before returning to Exeter at the end of the season.
During March 2016, Watkins had broken into the starting line-up. That same month, he scored four goals in six appearances to win the Football League Young Player of the Month and PFA Fans' Player of the Month awards. His goalscoring run extended into mid-April and finished with 8 goals in 10 appearances. Two of these goals came in the return Devon derby with Plymouth Argyle, in which his late brace sealed a 2–1 comeback victory and the second goal was subsequently voted as the club's Goal of the Season. Watkins finished the 2015–16 season with 10 goals in 22 appearances.
Watkins' performances in the final two months of the 2015–16 season saw him enter 2016–17 as an established member of the first-team squad. He had an eventful season, making 52 appearances, scoring 16 goals, and contributing 13 assists, though the campaign ended with Exeter losing 2–1 to Blackpool in the 2017 League Two play-off final at Wembley Stadium. Watkins scored the first hat-trick of his career in a 4–1 win over Newport County on 31 December 2016 and his two goals and five assists in January 2017 saw him win the League Two Player of the Month award. On 9 April, he was awarded the EFL Young Player of the Year award for his performances during the season.
On 9 August 2019, Watkins signed a new four-year contract with a one-year extension option. He scored his first hat-trick for the club in the Championship against Barnsley in a 3–1 win on 29 September. Watkins made 50 appearances and scored 26 goals in all competitions during the 2019–20 season, which ended with defeat in the 2020 Championship play-off final.
On 4 October 2020, Watkins scored his first Premier League goals, scoring through a left footed strike, a right footed strike and a header for a perfect hat-trick in a 7–2 home victory over champions Liverpool. It was Liverpool's heaviest defeat in 57 years and was the first time in Premier League history that a reigning champion had conceded 7 goals in a single match. On 10 April 2021, Watkins scored against Liverpool again, becoming the first player since Andrey Arshavin in the 2008–09 season to score as many as four goals against Liverpool in a single Premier League season. With 14 goals, he became Aston Villa's top scorer of the 2020–21 season.
On 25 February 2023, Watkins scored in his fifth consecutive Premier League match, a 2–0 win away to Everton, becoming the first Aston Villa player to achieve this feat.
At the end of the season, Watkins won the Premier League Playmaker of the Season award for the most assists of the season, with 13. Watkins was also named in the Premier League Fan Team of the Season.
Watkins' first goals of the 2024–25 season season came in a 3–2 home win against Everton in the Premier League, with Watkins scoring twice in the second half to earn him the Man of the Match award. On 29 January 2025, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal, provided two assists and missed a penalty in a 4–2 victory over Celtic. Watkins scored after 30 seconds against Newcastle United on 19 April, a game Villa went on to win 4–1. This put him on 74 Premier League goals for Villa, drawing him level with Gabriel Agbonlahor for most goals in the league for the club. On 10 May, he broke the previous record, scoring his 75th goal for Villa in a 1–0 away win over AFC Bournemouth.
In November 2025, Aston Villa manager Unai Emery announced that Watkins was one of Aston Villa's deputy captains, behind captain John McGinn and vice captain Ezri Konsa. A month later, on 27 December, he netted a brace in a 2–1 away win over Chelsea, helping his team secure an 11-match winning streak that matched club records previously achieved in September 1897 and March 1914.
Watkins was named in the provisional England squad for UEFA Euro 2020 in May 2021. However, he was not selected in the final 26-man squad for the tournament.
Watkins made his first start for England on 29 March 2022 at Wembley in a friendly against the Ivory Coast, scoring the opening goal in the 30th minute of the 3–0 win.
Watkins was not included in England's squad for any of their 2022–23 UEFA Nations League matches or the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He was recalled to the squad in October 2023 for the first time in 18 months, and, on 13 October, started in a friendly with Australia, scoring the only goal of the match.
He was named in England's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024. In England's semi-final against the Netherlands, Watkins along with Cole Palmer came off the bench in the 81st minute, with the latter assisting him to score the winning goal in the 90th minute, sending England to the final.
Watkins has described himself as "a Second striker", and in 2017 named Thierry Henry as his idol, saying "I try to base my game on his, by driving at defenders and looking to make something happen when I get the ball". He is also adept as a winger. He was adapted into a more traditional centre-forward at Brentford during the 2019–20 season. Under Unai Emery at Aston Villa, Watkins began to play as a number 9, not only scoring but setting up goals for teammates. He has been described as a complete forward and received praise for his attacking runs, speed, work ethic, finishing and versatility.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition !rowspan="2" | Club !rowspan="2" | Season !colspan="3" | League !colspan="2" | FA Cup !colspan="2" | EFL Cup !colspan="2" | Europe !colspan="2" | Other !colspan="2" | Total |
| Exeter City | 2013–14 | League Two | 0 | |||||
| 2014–15 | League Two | 1 | ||||||
| 2015–16 | League Two | 9 | ||||||
| 2016–17 | League Two | 16 | ||||||
| Weston-super-Mare (loan) | 2014–15 | Conference South | 10 | |||||
| Brentford | 2017–18 | EFL Championship | 11 | |||||
| 2018–19 | Championship | 12 | ||||||
| 2019–20 | Championship | 26 | ||||||
| Aston Villa | 2020–21 | Premier League | 16 | |||||
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 11 | ||||||
| 2022–23 | Premier League | 16 | ||||||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 27 | ||||||
| 2024–25 | Premier League | 17 | ||||||
| 2025–26 | Premier League | 8 | ||||||
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year | |
| England | 1 |
| 1 | |
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 1 | |
| + List of international goals scored by Ollie Watkins |
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