Ansah Ossei-Owusu (22 November 1979 – 19 March 2022) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Owusu began his career at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, signing his first professional contract with the club in June 1998 after playing in the club's academy. In March 2000, Owusu was sent on loan to

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

club

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

. At Raith, Owusu enjoyed a loan spell that was a "huge success" according to the '' Daily Record'', scoring three goals in ten appearances, with Raith manager

Peter Hetherston Peter Hetherston (born 6 November 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Hetherston played over 350 league matches during his seventeen-year playing career, appearing for eight different clubs. He ...

expressing an interest in taking Owusu back on loan for the following season. As a result of Wimbledon's relegation from the Premiership, Owusu remained at Wimbledon for their 2000–01 First Division campaign. On 19 September 2000, Owusu made his debut for Wimbledon, starting in a 0–0 draw against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. Owusu made three

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearances for Wimbledon, before an injury halted his progress at the club. On 9 February 2001, Owusu was sent on loan to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

, making 17 league appearances for the club until the end of the season. At the end of the 2000–01 season, Owusu was released by Wimbledon. In December 2001, Owusu underwent a trial with

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

, however failed to win a contract with the club. In the summer of 2002, Owusu signed for Southern League club

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members o ...

. Owusu made nine appearances at Chelmsford, scoring on his home debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against Hinckley United. Following his time at Chelmsford, Owusu signed for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

outfit

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

. During the 2009–10 season, Owusu played alongside former Wimbledon and Chelmsford teammate Russell Williamson for Larsens in the Waltham Sunday Football League.

Personal life

Owusu's cousin,

Lloyd Lloyd, Lloyd's, or Lloyds may refer to: People * Lloyd (name), a variation of the Welsh word ' or ', which means "grey" or "brown" ** List of people with given name Lloyd ** List of people with surname Lloyd * Lloyd (singer) (born 1986), American ...

, made over 300 Football League appearances. Following Owusu's playing career, he worked as a constable for the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

in north London. On 19 March 2022, Owusu died at the age of 42, following care from the

North London Hospice The North London Hospice (NLH) is a registered charity offering hospice care to patients with life-limiting and terminal illnesses. It was founded in 1984 in response to the lack of aftercare for patients being discharged from hospital in nort ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owusu, Ansah 1979 births 2022 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Wimbledon F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Enfield F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Isthmian League players Black British sportsmen English people of Ghanaian descent