Kwesi Appiah

For the Ghanaian football coach, see James Kwesi Appiah.
Kwesi Appiah

Appiah playing for Ghana in 2015
Personal information
Full nameKwesi Appiah[1]
Date of birth12 August 1990
Place of birthThamesmead, England
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current team
Reading
(loan from Crystal Palace)
Number44
Youth career
–2008Ebbsfleet United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2008Ebbsfleet United3(1)
2008–2010Peterborough United0(0)
2009→ Weymouth (loan)4(0)
2009→ King's Lynn (loan)
2010→ Kettering Town (loan)15(2)
2010Brackley Town
2010Thurrock
2011–2012Margate
2012–Crystal Palace6(0)
2012→ Aldershot Town (loan)2(0)
2013→ Yeovil Town (loan)5(0)
2013→ Cambridge United (loan)14(10)
2014→ Notts County (loan)7(0)
2014→ AFC Wimbledon (loan)7(3)
2014–2015→ Cambridge United (loan)19(6)
2015–→ Reading (loan)1(0)
National team‡
2015–Ghana5(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:21, 5 April 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:21, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Kwesi Appiah (born 12 August 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Reading, on loan from Crystal Palace. Born in England, Appiah is a Ghana international.

Club career

Ebbsfleet United

Born in Thamesmead, London, Appiah is a product of the Ebbsfleet United PASE youth system, and graduated to the first team in August 2008.[2] He scored his first goal for the club with his first touch after coming on as a substitute against Woking on 20 September 2008.[3]

Appiah missed training in October and after leaving the ground, he failed to report back to the club.[4]

Peterborough United

His disappearance was explained in October, when League One team Peterborough United announced the signing of Appiah, on a three and a half-year deal.[5] The matter was reported to The Football Association, as it was reported in breach of regulations.[6] On 15 December it was reported that the FA had decided that the approach made for Appiah by Peterborough was "not proven" and so no ruling could be made.[7]

Appiah was loaned out back to the Conference with Weymouth in February 2009 and made his debut in a 2–0 defeat to York City.[8] He suffered from an ankle ligament injury that ruled him out of a game against Altrincham,[9] but returned for the 5–0 defeat to Burton Albion.[10] He returned to Peterborough on 20 March.[11] He spent time at Northern Premier League side King's Lynn in 2009, where he played 10 games scoring 9 goals, including a hat-trick against Durham City in an 11–0 win. Appiah's loan spell with The Linnets came to an abrupt end when the club folded at the end of November 2009. On 19 January 2010, he joined Kettering Town on a month-long loan.[12]

Return to Non-League

Appiah joined Southern Football League Premier Division side Brackley Town for the 2010–11 season. Appiah then signed a two-year deal with Isthmian League Premier Division side Margate on 25 July 2011. After his great run of form this attracted a number of professional clubs and on 16 January 2012, he was linked with a move to Blackpool, when he claimed Margate had agreed a deal with the Seasiders and stated that he was due to travel to Blackpool for talks with manager, but he later rejected the move as he preferred to move to London.[13] Appiah left Margate having scored 35 goals in 34 games for the club.[14]

Crystal Palace

On 31 January 2012, he agreed his second professional deal to play for Crystal Palace.[15] On 28 January 2013, Appiah joined Football League One side Yeovil Town on a month's loan deal.[16] He made his first appearance for Yeovil in the 2–1 win over MK Dons, coming on in the second half as a substitute for Matthew Dolan.[17]

Appiah returned to the Football Conference on 13 September 2013 when he signed on a one-month loan deal for the then league leaders Cambridge United.[18] Appiah scored his first Cambridge goal in a 3–0 win over Nuneaton on 24 September and followed it with the equaliser in a 1–1 draw away at Wrexham and the winner against Hereford in the next two games. Having missed a penalty in a 0–0 stalemate against Chester, he atoned with both goals in the 2–0 win over Salisbury that maintained Cambridge United's six-point lead at the top of the Football Conference on 19 October. Appiah had earlier confirmed the loan deal had been extended by a further month via his Twitter account.[19] Appiah scored further goals against Aldershot, Barnet (2) and Macclesfield (2) in November, leading Cambridge manager Richard Money to express his eagerness to re-sign Appiah on loan in the January transfer window.[20]

On 21 January 2014, Kwesi joined Notts County on a one-month emergency loan.[21]

On 27 March 2014, Appiah joined League Two side AFC Wimbledon on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season.[22] He scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw with Newport County.

Appiah made a return to Cambridge United on 10 July 2014 for a 6-month loan period.[23] Since his last stint at the club, The U's had regained their place in the Football League. Appiah was handed back his number 21 shirt which he wore during his first spell at the Abbey Stadium.

Cambridge United

On 9 July 2014, Appiah joined Cambridge United on a six-month loan.[24] He scored six league goals in nineteen appearances but also scored the winner in the first round of the FA Cup against League One Fleetwood and a dramatic late equaliser against Mansfield in the second round[25] - playing a large role in maintaining a run to the fourth round and two lucrative ties against Manchester United.

Reading (loan)

On 26 March 2015, Appiah joined Reading on a loan deal till the end of the 2014–15 season.[26]

International career

Appiah was eligible to represent both Ghana and England. On 24 December 2014 he was called into the 31 man provisional squad for the 2015 African Cup of Nations by Ghana.[27] He made his debut in Ghana's 2–1 win over South Africa on 27 January 2015[28] and scored his first international goal in the quarter-final victory over Guinea.[29]

Career statistics

International

As of match played 28 March 2015[28]
International statistics
National team Year Apps Goals
Ghana 2015 5 1
Total 5 1

References

  1. ↑ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/02/2014 and 28/02/2014" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 10. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Kwesi Appiah". Ebbsfleet United FC. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  3. ↑ "Ebbsfleet 2–0 Woking". BBC Sport. 20 September 2008.
  4. ↑ Elliott, Sam (19 October 2008). "Fleet Facing Posh Fight". The Non-League Paper.
  5. ↑ "Ferguson Pleased With Trio". Peterborough United FC. 15 October 2008.
  6. ↑ Peachey, Alec (13 November 2008). "Davis hopeful over Appiah case". Kent Online.
  7. ↑ "Peterborough case is 'not proven'". BBC Sport. 15 December 2008.
  8. ↑ "York 2–0 Weymouth". BBC Sport. 28 February 2009.
  9. ↑ Summers, Adam (13 March 2009). "KO for Kwesi". Dorset Echo.
  10. ↑ "Weymouth 0–5 Burton". BBC Sport. 17 March 2009.
  11. ↑ Summers, Adam (20 March 2009). "Critchell returns on loan". Dorset Echo.
  12. ↑ "Ebbsfleet United sign striker Moses Ashikodi". BBC Sport. 19 January 2010.
  13. ↑ "Appiah claims Seasiders deal". Sky Sports. 16 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "MFC: Appearances 2011/12". Margate FC. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  15. ↑ O'Rourke, Peter (31 January 2012). "Appiah agrees Palace move". Sky Sports.
  16. ↑ "Kwesi Appiah leaves Crystal Palace to join Yeovil on loan". BBC Sport. 28 January 2013.
  17. ↑ "Yeovil 2–1 MK Dons". BBC Sport. 29 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "Palace Striker Joins U's". Cambridge United FC. 13 September 2013.
  19. ↑ "Kwesi Appiah extends Cambridge United loan deal". Spy Ghana. 11 October 2013.
  20. ↑ "Cambridge United keen to keep Crystal Palace's Kwesi Appiah". BBC Sport. 11 December 2013.
  21. ↑ "Palace Hotshot Joins Notts On Loan". Notts County FC. 21 January 2014.
  22. ↑ "Dons sign striker on loan". AFC Wimbledon. 27 March 2014.
  23. ↑ http://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/article/appiah-rejoins-cambridge-united-on-loan-1736894.aspx
  24. ↑ Kwesi Appiah: Striker rejoins Cambridge on six-month loan
  25. ↑ Kwesi Appiah - Soccerbase
  26. ↑ "Striker Appiah signs on loan for rest of season". Reading F.C. 26 March 2015.
  27. ↑ http://www.ghanafa.org/pages/blackstars/201412/9987.php
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Kwesi Appiah". National Football Teams. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  29. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/30971820

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kwesi Appiah.