Cliff Danquah Akurang (born 27 February 1981) is a former 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 in the

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 ...

for

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

Early life

Akurang was born in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Career

After prolific spells at Heybridge Swifts and

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

, he joined

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

and then

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which r ...

. He found his form during at Bridge Road, scoring several goals in the first half of the 2007–08 season including a hat-trick against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. His performances attracted the attention of

, who signed him in January 2008. However, he struggled for form at Underhill and, in March 2009, he joined Weymouth on loan. In the summer of 2009, he joined

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ke ...

on a season long loan. Akurang was released by Barnet at the end of the 2009–10 season and rejoined Thurrock on a one-year contract, leaving on 1 November 2010. He moved on to Maidenhead in November 2010 and Braintree Town on his thirtieth birthday, 27 February 2011. On 12 September 2015, it was announced that Akurang had joined

Billericay Town Billericay Town Football Club is a football club based in Billericay, Essex, England. The club are currently members of and play at New Lodge. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three o ...

but moved to local rivals

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office ...

in February 2016. Akurang finished the 2017–18 Essex & Suffolk Border League season with Coggeshall United, scoring four goals in 12 league appearances.

Managerial career

In December 2014, Akurang was appointed manager of Heybridge Swifts, following the departure of previous manager Keith Hill. He left Heybridge Swifts being sacked on 8 September 2015. In the summer of 2017, Akurang became player-manager of newly founded Coggeshall United. Later in the season he also became chairman. He was appointed manager of Coggeshall Town in May 2022, but left the club in October the same year.

Honours

Dagenham & Redbridge *

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

: 2006–07

References

External links

*
Barnet profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akurang, Cliff 1981 births Living people Footballers from Accra Ghanaian footballers English footballers Association football forwards Chelsea F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Chesham United F.C. players Hitchin Town F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Heybridge Swifts F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Histon F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Canvey Island F.C. players Leiston F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Maldon & Tiptree F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players English football managers Heybridge Swifts F.C. managers English football chairmen and investors Coggeshall Town F.C. players Coggeshall Town F.C. managers