John Cofie

John Cofie
Personal information
Full nameJohn Erzuah Cofie[1]
Date of birth21 January 1993
Place of birthAboso, Ghana
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing positionForward
Club information
Current team
Crawley Town
Number31
Youth career
2007Burnley
2007–2010Manchester United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2010–2013Manchester United0(0)
2012→ Royal Antwerp (loan)13(3)
2012–2013→ Sheffield United (loan)16(2)
2013→ Notts County (loan)7(1)
2013–2014Barnsley0(0)
2014–2015Molde0(0)
2015–Crawley Town1(0)
National team‡
2010England U173(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:08, 11 April 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:31, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

John Erzuah Cofie (born 21 January 1993) is a professional footballer who plays for Crawley Town. Born in Aboso, Ghana, he began his career with Manchester United but failed to make the break into the first team. Following loan spells with Royal Antwerp, Sheffield United and Notts County he was released by United before joining Barnsley on a free transfer. Cofie has also been capped at England Under-17 level.

Career

Manchester United

Cofie began his football career as a junior player with Burnley.[2] After Burnley rejected a £250,000 bid from Liverpool for Cofie in November 2007,[3] he refused to return to training with the club. After further interest from Chelsea, Cofie was signed by Manchester United in November 2007[4] and joined their Academy in July 2009.[2] After signing professional terms with United in 2010, he continued to play for the youth side and looked to break through into the reserve side.[2]

In 2012, he was loaned to Belgian side Royal Antwerp to gain first-team experience.[2] The following summer, Cofie signed a one–year loan deal with League One side Sheffield United for the 2012–13 season.[5] After making his debut in the opening game of the season against Shrewsbury Town, Cofie scored his first goal for the club a week later at Colchester United.[6] On 3 January 2013, it was revealed that Cofie had returned to Manchester United, despite having expressed a desire to see out the season with the Blades.[7]

In February 2013, Cofie joined another League One side, Notts County, on an month's loan.[8][9] Cofie scored on his debut, in a 1–1 draw with Crewe Alexandra, but his deal was not extended and he returned to United in March having made seven appearances for County.[10] After failing to break through into their first team, Cofie was released by Manchester United at the end of the 2012–13 season.[11]

Barnsley

Available on a free transfer, Cofie signed a one-year deal with Championship side Barnsley on 19 July 2013.[12] Cofie was released by Barnsley at the end of the 2013–14 season.[13]

Molde

On 9 August 2014, Cofie signed a contract with Tippeligaen side Molde FK.[14]

He was released in January 2015 after not making a single first team appearance for the club.[15]

Return to England with Crawley Town

Cofie signed for Crawley Town on a one-month contract on 25 March 2015.[16]

Career statistics

As of 19 July 2013[17]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Other[nb 1] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United 2011–12 000000000000
Royal Antwerp (loan) 2011–12 133––––133
Manchester United 2012–13 00000000–00
Total 000000000000
Sheffield United (loan) 2012–13 1621000–10182
Notts County (loan) 2012–13 71––––71
Barnsley 2013–14 000000000000
Molde 2014 000000000000
Career total 366100000100386

Notes

  1. ↑ Includes other competitive competitions, including the FA Community Shield and Football League Trophy

References

  1. ↑ "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). premierleague.com. Premier League. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "John Cofie - Player Profile". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Burnley warn Liverpool over Cofie". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 8 November 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "Man Utd capture 14-year-old Cofie". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 9 November 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "Blades boss wins over Fergie to get Manchester United’s John Cofie". The Star. Sheffield: Johnston Publishing. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Cofie on the go". UTB - Matchday Magazine. 1 September 2012. p. 31.
  7. ↑ Marshall, Adam (3 January 2013). "Duo return from loans". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  8. ↑ Marshall, Adam (8 February 2013). "Cofie joins County on loan". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  9. ↑ Dixon, Jamie (8 February 2013). "Man Utd Striker Arrives On Loan". NottsCountyFC.co.uk (Notts County FC). Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Cofie goes back to Red Devils". Football 365. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  11. ↑ "Veseli heads list of released United players". Manchester Evening News. MEN Media. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Cofie Joins Reds". barnsleyfc.co.uk. Barnsley FC. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "Barnsley release defender Bobby Hassell after 10 years". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 7 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  14. ↑ "Molde signerer John Cofie" (in Norwegian). Molde FK. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  15. ↑ "To spillere har forlatt Molde" (in Norwegian). Molde FK. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "John Cofie: Crawley Town sign ex-Manchester United trainee". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 25 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  17. ↑ John Cofie career statistics at Soccerbase

External links