Oliver Jacob Bassett (born 6 March 1998) is a professional football player who plays as an attacking midfielder for Inter Toronto FC in the Canadian Premier League. Born in England, he represented Northern Ireland at youth level.
Club career Early career Born in Packington, Leicestershire, Bassett started his football career as a youngster in the Aston Villa Academy and as a teenager played futsal before signing a scholarship at Southampton in the summer of 2014.
Yeovil Town On 19 September 2015, Bassett made his Football League debut for Yeovil Town in a 1–0 victory against Crawley Town, at the age of just 17 years, 6 months and 13 days he broke the record for the youngest Yeovil player in the Football League. On 3 December 2015, Bassett was awarded his first professional contract with Yeovil Town, committing him to the club until June 2017.
On 13 September 2016, Bassett joined Southern League Premier Division side Dorchester Town on an initial one-month loan deal. Bassett made his debut the following day as a second-half substitute in Dorchester's 4–0 victory against Frome Town, with Bassett providing the assist for the fourth goal. Having made four appearances in his first loan spell with Dorchester, Bassett returned on loan to the Southern League club on 28 October 2016.
On 3 February 2017, Bassett joined Dorchester for a third loan spell.
At the end of the 2016–17 season, Bassett was released by Yeovil having only made two appearances for the club.
Coalville Town On 9 August 2017, Bassett signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Coalville Town on a one-year contract.
Waitakere United Following his release from Coalville, Bassett secured a contract with New Zealand Football Championship side Waitakere United.
Pacific FC Following a stint with Nuneaton Borough, Bassett signed with Canadian Premier League side Pacific FC on 29 April 2021. In his season with the Tridents, Bassett contributed with 2 goals and 3 assists as Pacific won the league. After a strong start to the season, Bassett started to see his minutes decrease as the season progressed, and did not play a single minute in the playoffs. Despite interest from the club to trigger his club option for next season, Bassett preferred to move on and find an opportunity to play more regular minutes elsewhere. In January 2022, Pacific confirmed that Bassett had left the club.
Atlético Ottawa In January 2022, Bassett switched to Canadian Premier League side Atlético Ottawa signing a two-year contract with an option for a third year. On Jun 9, 2022, capping off a hot start to the season, Bassett was named the CPL's Player of the Month for the month of May 2022. Bassett played a crucial role for Ottawa, and led to the team to finish as regular season champions, but they ultimately lost in the final to Forge FC. On October 28, 2022, he was awarded the CPL's Player of the Year and Player's Player of the Year awards. In 2023, Bassett, along with Cavalry's Myer Bevan, led the league in scoring with 11 goals. After the 2024 season, he announced his departure from the club.
Tampa Bay Rowdies On 27 November 2024, the Tampa Bay Rowdies announced that they had signed Bassett as their first new player ahead of the 2025 season.
Inter Toronto FC In November 2025, Bassett returned to the Canadian Premier League, signing with Inter Toronto FC for the 2026 season.
International career In August 2016, Bassett was called up to the Northern Ireland under-19 side for a training camp. Bassett did enough to impress the Northern Ireland coaching staff to receive a call-up for their 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification matches in October 2016. On 6 October 2016, Bassett made his debut for Northern Ireland under-19s against Slovakia in a 1–0 defeat.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsYeovil Town2015–16League Two20000000202016–17League Two0000000000Total2000000020Dorchester Town (loan)2016–17Southern League Premier Division18300—31214Coalville Town2017–18NPL Premier Division13010—30170Gresley (loan)2017–18NPL Division One South154——10164Waitakere United2018–19New Zealand Football Championship184———184Team Wellington2019–20New Zealand Football Championship106———106St Albans Saints2020National Premier Leagues Victoria52———52Nuneaton Borough2020–21Southern League Premier Division Central4121—2082Pacific FC2021Canadian Premier League20200—00202Atlético Ottawa2022Canadian Premier League27810—303182023Canadian Premier League271121——29122024Canadian Premier League27332—21326Total812263—519226Tampa Bay Rowdies2025USL Championship19120—41252Inter Toronto FC2026Canadian Premier League0000—0000Career total205451140018323452
Honours Pacific FC Canadian Premier League: 2021
Atlético Ottawa Canadian Premier League Regular Season: 2022 CCSG Golden Scarf: 2022 Player of the Year Award: 2022 Player's Player of the Year Award: 2022 Golden Boot: 2023
References
External links