Kevin Amankwaah Explained

Kevin Amankwaah
Fullname:Kevin Osei-Kuffour Amankwaah[1]
Birth Date:19 May 1982
Birth Place:Harrow, England
Position:Defender
Youthyears1:–2000
Youthclubs1:Bristol City
Years1:2000–2005
Clubs1:Bristol City
Caps1:54
Goals1:1
Years2:2003
Clubs2:Torquay United (loan)
Caps2:6
Goals2:0
Years3:2003
Clubs3:Cheltenham Town (loan)
Caps3:12
Goals3:0
Years4:2005
Clubs4:Yeovil Town (loan)
Caps4:9
Goals4:0
Years5:2005–2006
Clubs5:Yeovil Town
Caps5:44
Goals5:1
Years6:2006–2008
Clubs6:Swansea City
Caps6:29
Goals6:0
Years7:2008–2011
Clubs7:Swindon Town
Caps7:88
Goals7:5
Years8:2011
Clubs8:Burton Albion
Caps8:8
Goals8:0
Years9:2012
Clubs9:Rochdale
Caps9:16
Goals9:0
Years10:2012–2013
Clubs10:Exeter City
Caps10:34
Goals10:0
Years11:2013–2014
Caps11:21
Goals11:0
Years12:2014
Clubs12:Salisbury City
Caps12:14
Goals12:0
Years13:2014–2017
Clubs13:Sutton United
Caps13:91
Goals13:3
Years14:2017–2019
Clubs14:Bath City
Caps14:28
Goals14:0
Years15:2019–2020
Clubs15:Salisbury
Nationalyears1:2000
Nationalcaps1:1
Nationalgoals1:0
Club-Update:14:28, 3 August 2018 (UTC)

Kevin Osei-Kuffour Amankwaah (born 19 May 1982) is a former English footballer who played as a defender. Amankwaah enjoyed successful stints at Bristol City and Swindon Town.

Early life

Awankwaah was born in Harrow, London[1] to Ghanaian parents.[2] [3]

Club career

He began his career as a trainee with Bristol City, turning professional in June 2000.[1] He made his first team debut on 18 March 2000, replacing Matt Hewlett as a late substitute in the 1–1 draw away to Oldham Athletic and soon became a regular squad member.

Amankwaah received neck injuries in a car crash in March 2002 when he and teammate Aaron Brown were travelling in a car driven by former City trainee Rohan King which collided with another vehicle.[4] He was given a new two-year contract while injured,[5] but struggled to re-establish himself at Ashton Gate after returning from injury, having loan spells at Torquay United in January 2003,[6] and Cheltenham Town in August 2003.[7]

He eventually left Ashton Gate in February 2005, when he signed for Yeovil Town, initially on loan,[8] and then on a permanent basis.[9] Amankwaah signed for Swansea City in July 2006 for a fee of £250,000.[10]

Amankwaah joined Swindon Town in June 2008.[11] He played 89 games for the club, scoring 5 goals before being released on 31 August 2011. Amankwaah still had 6 months to run on his contract when he was released.

On 2 July 2012, Amankwaah signed for League Two side Exeter City on a free transfer.[12] On 30 April 2013, he was released by Exeter along with 3 other players after the expiry of his contract.[13]

After a successful trial with Northampton Town, Amankwaah signed a one-year contract with the option of a further year on 29 July 2013.[14] He made 24 appearances for the Cobblers before having his contract terminated on 23 January 2014.[15] On 17 February 2014, Amankwaah signed for Conference Premier side Salisbury City, making 14 appearances for the Whites.

Amankwaah signed for Sutton United in September 2014. He made a total of 21 full and two substitute league appearances in the 2014–15 season, scoring his first goal for the club when he volleyed in a corner in the last seconds of the game against Chelmsford City on 4 April 2015 to claim a 1–0 victory for Sutton.[16]

Amankwaah made 28 full and three substitute league appearances in the 2015–16 season, helping the U's to lift the National League South title. He netted his second league goal from another corner against Margate on 9 April 2016, a game which Sutton went on to win 4–0.[17]

Amankwaah scored his first goal in Sutton's 2016–17 National League campaign when he scored a consolation goal in a 3–1 away defeat to Dover Athletic on 4 October 2016.[18] On 19 October 2016, it was announced that Amankwaah had signed a one-year contract extension with Sutton United and will stay with the club until the end of the 2017–18 season.[19]

Amankwaah made his 100th career appearance for Sutton on 3 December 2016 in a 2–1 win against League Two club Cheltenham Town in the FA Cup 2nd round.[20] He went on to appear in every round of Sutton's historic run to the 5th round of the FA Cup for the first time ever, including appearances in a 3–1 victory over local rivals AFC Wimbledon of League One on 17 January 2017,[21] a 1–0 victory over Championship side Leeds United on 29 January[22] and an eventual 0–2 defeat to Premier League club Arsenal on 20 February.[23]

International career

Amankwaah was capped by England at under-18 level, making his only appearance in the 2–0 win over Luxembourg in April 2000.[1] [24] In August 2006, he spoke of his ambitions of playing for Ghana.[2]

Controversy

Amankwaah was at the centre of controversy when he made a remark to Millwall player Neil Harris, taunting him about his battle with testicular cancer during a match between Millwall and Swindon. Amankwaah then apologised after the game after his remark was made public, and also made a donation to Everymans Cancer Charity. Harris accepted the apology at first but then withdrew his acceptance after Amankwaah tried to justify his claims for making the remark.[25]

Statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bristol City1999–2000Second Division5000001[26] 060
2000–01Second Division150100000160
2001–02Second Division241002131293
2002–03Second Division2000000020
2003–04Second Division5012100072
2004–05League One5000003080
Total561223171685
Torquay United (loan)2002–03Third Division6000000060
Cheltenham Town (loan)2003–04Third Division120000000120
Yeovil Town (loan)2004–05League Two9000000090
Yeovil TownLeague Two6000000060
2005–06League One381302010441
Total441302010501
Swansea City2006–07League One290301020350
2007–08League One0010003040
Total290401050390
Swindon Town2008–09League One312000020332
2009–10League One38330203[27] 0463
2010–11League One190101020230
Total8854030701025
Burton Albion2011–12League Two8000000080
Rochdale2011–12League One160000000160
Exeter City2012–13League Two340101000360
Northampton Town2013–14League Two210101010240
Salisbury City2013–14Conference Premier14000140
Sutton United2014–15[28] Conference South231203[29] 0281
2015–16Conference South3114131383
2016–17National League351704[30] 0461
2017–18National League20000020
Total913131001011145
Bath City2017–18National League South1302010160
Career total4411030311132251416

Honours

Yeovil Town

2004–05[1]

Sutton United

2015–16[31]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Barry J. . Hugman . The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11 . 2010 . Mainstream Publishing . Edinburgh . 978-1-84596-601-0 . 20.
  2. News: Amankwaah following Ghana dream . BBC Sport . 7 August 2006 . 10 June 2018.
  3. Web site: Ghanaian duo Amankwaah, Hudson-Odoi fail to steer Sutton United to shock FA Cup win over Arsenal.
  4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_city/1866428.stm Amankwaah crash shock
  5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_city/1976807.stm Robins show faith
  6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_city/2683407.stm Amankwaah joins Gulls
  7. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cheltenham_town/3116428.stm City duo stay at Cheltenham
  8. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/y/yeovil/4233563.stm Yeovil snap up Amankwaah on loan
  9. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bristol_city/4376185.stm Yeovil win race to sign Amankwaah
  10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/swansea_city/5219630.stm Yeovil lose Amankwaah to Swansea
  11. News: Amankwaah completes Swindon move. BBC Sport. 9 June 2008. 19 December 2008.
  12. News: City Clinch Double Signing . Exeter City F.C. . 2 July 2012 . 2 July 2012 .
  13. News: Tight finances force Exeter City to trim playing squad. BBC Sport. 30 April 2013. 30 April 2013.
  14. Web site: Kevin Amankwaah joins Northampton Town after trial spell. BBC Sport. 29 July 2013. 29 July 2013.
  15. Web site: Kevin Amankwaah contract terminated. Northampton Town FC. 23 January 2014. 23 January 2014.
  16. Web site: SuttonUnited.net – the official website of Sutton United Football Club . 2016-09-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160919154856/http://www.suttonunited.net/firstteam_stats_1415.html . 19 September 2016 .
  17. Web site: SuttonUnited.net – the official website of Sutton United Football Club . 2017-04-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161017073922/http://www.suttonunited.net/firstteam_stats_1516.html . 17 October 2016 .
  18. News: Dover Athletic 3 Sutton United 1. BBC Sport. 4 October 2016. 9 October 2016.
  19. Web site: Pair agree contract extensions as Paul signs defender . . 30 October 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160512064011/http://www.suttonunited.net/news.php . 12 May 2016 .
  20. News: Sutton United 2–1 Cheltenham Town. BBC Sport. 3 December 2016. 24 March 2017.
  21. News: AFC Wimbledon 1–3 Sutton United . 17 January 2017 . 7 March 2017 . BBC Sport.
  22. News: Sutton United 1–0 Leeds United . 29 January 2017 . 7 March 2017 . BBC Sport.
  23. News: Sutton United 0–2 Arsenal . 20 February 2017 . 7 March 2017 . BBC Sport.
  24. Web site: Luxembourg v England, 27 April 2000 . 11v11.com . AFS Enterprises . 10 June 2018.
  25. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8303937.stm Amankwaah ends feud with Harris
  26. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  27. Two appearances in Football League Trophy and one in League One play-offs
  28. Web site: Kevi Amannkwaah. Aylesbury United F.C.. 5 December 2017.
  29. Two appearances in FA Trophy and one in Surrey Senior Cup
  30. Appearances in FA Trophy
  31. Web site: K. Amankwaah . Soccerway . Perform Group . 23 February 2017.