Joseph Agyemang-Gyau (3 June 1939 – 14 May 2015), also known as Agyemang Gyau or Nana Gyau, was a former Ghanaian international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and traditional ruler.

Club career

Agyeman-Gyau started his career as an amateur in his home country playing for Real Republicans and then B/A United. In 1968, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to play football professionally, and played for

Washington Whips The Washington Whips were a soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the United Soccer Association (USA). The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington Whips were the Aberdeen F.C. from Scotland. The n ...

in the inaugural

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

season, scoring four goals in 15 games for the club. After the dissolution of the Whips at the end of the season, he joined

Washington Darts The Washington Darts were an American association football, soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that played in the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League from 1967 to 1969 and the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), N ...

, where he won the American Soccer League title in 1969. The Darts joined the NASL for the following season, and Agyeman-Gyau appeared 19 times, scoring five goals. He went on to play another two seasons in the ASL with

Baltimore Bays The Baltimore Bays were a professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland founded in 1967 as one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and the rival United Soccer Association (USA) me ...

before joining his third NASL club

Washington Diplomats The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor home matches at the neighboring D.C. Arm ...

in 1974, playing seven league games and scoring one goal.

International career

Agyeman-Gyau began representing

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

in 1960, and went on to win two

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

titles with the team in 1963 and 1965. He also represented the team in the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

, scoring in a 3–2 win against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

before Ghana were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the tournament. He continued to play for Ghana until 1968 when he moved to the

Personal life

Agyeman-Gyau was married to his wife for 50 years, Mary. He was the father of four children; Christiana, Emmanuel, Amy and

Philip Gyau Phillinoisip "Phillip" Gyau (born February 7, 1966) is a former U.S. soccer forward who is the current head coach of the Howard Bison men's soccer program. He spent his outdoor career in the American Soccer League and the American Professiona ...

. He was also a grandfather of 7 which includes Joe Gyau who followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps as a professional soccer player. He later returned to Ghana, where he was appointed as a traditional ruler, becoming the Atipimhene of

Berekum Berekum is a city and is the capital of Berekum Municipal in the Bono Region of Ghana. Berekum has a population of 62,364. The native language of the Berekum people is the Bono Twi. Towns Pepaase, Akroforo, Kotaa, Domeabra, Ampenkro, M ...

. He died on 14 May 2015.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agyeman-Gyau, Joseph 1939 births 2015 deaths Ghanaian footballers Ghana men's international footballers 1963 African Cup of Nations players 1965 African Cup of Nations players Olympic footballers for Ghana Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Washington Whips players Washington Darts players Baltimore Bays (1972–73) players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Ghanaian expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Men's association football midfielders People from Sunyani District