Kevin Osei-Kuffour Amankwaah (born 19 May 1982) is a former English
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 ...
who played as a
defender. Amankwaah enjoyed successful stints at
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
and
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
.
Early life
Awankwaah was born in
Harrow, London
Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a popul ...
to Ghanaian parents.
Club career
He began his career as a trainee with
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
, turning professional in June 2000.
He made his first team debut on 18 March 2000, replacing
Matt Hewlett as a late substitute in the 1–1 draw away to
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
and soon became a regular squad member.
Amankwaah received neck injuries in a car crash in March 2002 when he and teammate
Aaron Brown were travelling in a car driven by former City trainee Rohan King which collided with another vehicle. He was given a new two-year contract while injured, but struggled to re-establish himself at
Ashton Gate after returning from injury, having loan spells at
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 ...
in January 2003, and
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...
in August 2003.
He eventually left Ashton Gate in February 2005, when he signed for
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
, initially on loan, and then on a permanent basis. Amankwaah signed for
Swansea City in July 2006 for a fee of £250,000.
Amankwaah joined
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
in June 2008. He played 89 games for the club, scoring 5 goals before being released on 31 August 2011. Amankwaah still had 6 months to run on his contract when he was released.
On 2 July 2012, Amankwaah signed for League Two side
Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
on a free transfer. On 30 April 2013, he was released by Exeter along with 3 other players after the expiry of his contract.
After a successful trial with
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
, Amankwaah signed a one-year contract with the option of a further year on 29 July 2013. He made 24 appearances for the Cobblers before having his contract terminated on 23 January 2014. On 17 February 2014, Amankwaah signed for
Conference Premier
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-profess ...
side
Salisbury City, making 14 appearances for the Whites.
Amankwaah signed for
Sutton United
Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...
in September 2014. He made a total of 21 full and two substitute league appearances in the 2014–15 season, scoring his first goal for the club when he volleyed in a corner in the last seconds of the game against
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 of ...
on 4 April 2015 to claim a 1–0 victory for Sutton.
Amankwaah made 28 full and three substitute league appearances in the 2015–16 season, helping the U's to lift the
National League South title. He netted his second league goal from another corner against
Margate
Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
on 9 April 2016, a game which Sutton went on to win 4–0.
Amankwaah scored his first goal in Sutton's 2016–17
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
campaign when he scored a consolation goal in a 3–1 away defeat to
Dover Athletic
Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...
on 4 October 2016. On 19 October 2016, it was announced that Amankwaah had signed a one-year contract extension with Sutton United and will stay with the club until the end of the 2017–18 season.
Amankwaah made his 100th career appearance for Sutton on 3 December 2016 in a 2–1 win against
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
club
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...
in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
2nd round. He went on to appear in every round of Sutton's historic run to the 5th round of the FA Cup for the first time ever, including appearances in a 3–1 victory over local rivals
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...
of
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
on 17 January 2017, a 1–0 victory over
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
on 29 January and an eventual 0–2 defeat to
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
club
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
on 20 February.
International career
Amankwaah was capped by England at
under-18 level, making his only appearance in the 2–0 win over
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
in April 2000.
In August 2006, he spoke of his ambitions of playing for
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 ...
.
[
]
Controversy
Amankwaah was at the centre of controversy when he made a remark to Millwall player Neil Harris, taunting him about his battle with testicular cancer during a match between Millwall and Swindon. Amankwaah then apologised after the game after his remark was made public, and also made a donation to Everymans Cancer Charity. Harris accepted the apology at first but then withdrew his acceptance after Amankwaah tried to justify his claims for making the remark.Amankwaah ends feud with Harris
/ref>
Statistics
Honours
Yeovil Town
*League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
: 2004–05
Sutton United
* National League South: 2015–16
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amankwaah, Kevin
1982 births
Living people
Footballers from Harrow, London
English footballers
England youth international footballers
Association football defenders
Bristol City F.C. players
Torquay United F.C. players
Cheltenham Town F.C. players
Yeovil Town F.C. players
Swansea City A.F.C. players
Swindon Town F.C. players
Burton Albion F.C. players
Rochdale A.F.C. players
Exeter City F.C. players
Northampton Town F.C. players
Salisbury City F.C. players
Sutton United F.C. players
Bath City F.C. players
Salisbury F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Black British sportspeople
English people of Ghanaian descent