Lloyd Magnus Owusu (born 12 December 1976) is a retired 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 last played for Hakoah Sydney City East in the NSW State League Division One,

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. After a move from non-League

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

, his career took off at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, where he scored 64 goals in 163 league games between 1998 and 2002. He then moved to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

, and two years later transferred to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

following a short loan spell. He returned to Brentford in 2005, and two years later signed with

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 ...

. In 2008, he moved to

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 syst ...

, and also had a loan spell at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

the following year. In 2009, he moved Australia to play for

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

, but left the club in December 2010. Following this he spent a brief period with

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

back in England, before heading to Cyprus to play for

AEP Paphos AEP Paphos ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Πάφος, ''Athlitiki Enosi Pafos''; "Athletic Union Paphos") was a Cypriot football club based in Paphos. The club was formed in 2000 after the merger of the two clubs of Paphos, APOP and Evagoras. ...

. He then returned to England having spells at

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 ...

and a loan spell at Hayes & Yeading United. In February 2012, he made a nostalgic return to his first club

to try to help them achieve promotion from the Southern Football League Division One Central. Born in England, he represented Ghana at international level.

Playing career

Brentford

Owusu started his career at non-league side

before being signed by then–

manager

Ron Noades Ronald Geoffrey Noades (22 June 1937 – 24 December 2013) was an English businessman, best known for his investments in football clubs. He was the chairman of Southall, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and finally Brentford. He was also the manager of ...

in 1998. Owusu was an instant success, scoring 25 goals in all competitions, leading the Third Division scoring charts. He was less successful in the 1999–2000 campaign, scoring 14 goals in all competitions. During the 2000–01 season, he scored 12 goals in 34 games. He returned to form with a bang in 2001–02, scoring 22 goals – one of these came against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in a 3–1 win on March, winning him a Goal of the Month award. His excellent form helped ''the Bees'' to reach the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

play-off final at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

, where they lost 2–0 to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

Sheffield Wednesday

Out of contact Owusu was targeted by

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

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

, but instead signed to

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

on a three-year deal. Lloyd became an instant Wednesday hero when after sixty seconds into his debut as a substitute in a fierce

derby match A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violen ...

against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, he placed a header past ''Blades'' keeper

Paddy Kenny Patrick Joseph Kenny (born 17 May 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Kenny began his career with Bradford Park Avenue before turning professional in the summer of 1998 upon ...

for the opening goal of a 2–0 win. However, he did not really break into the first team, starting the majority of his 33 appearances from the bench in the 2002–03 season, finishing the season with a disappointing total of four goals. He continued to be used sparingly in the 2003–04 season, and was signed on loan by

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...

in December 2003. He enjoyed his time at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the Rea ...

, and was eager to join ''the Royals'' permanently so as to secure regular first team football. He got his wish as the loan move became permanent in the summer of 2004, Reading paying ''the Owls'' an undisclosed fee. In the 2004–05 season, Owusu finished with an impressive record of six goals in fourteen league starts, though once again he was mostly a substitute player.

Brentford

Brentford manager

Martin Allen Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and So ...

signed Owusu on a free transfer in the summer of 2005, handing Owusu a two-year contract he stressed that Owusu was signed not due to his popularity at the club but on footballing ability alone. He scored fourteen goals in 42 games in all competitions in 2005–06. He missed most of the 2006–07 season with injury, and had to undergo multiple operations. Owusu finally made his comeback for Brentford against

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

in a 1–0 defeat at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

on 17 March 2007, nearly scoring with his first touch. His comeback was to prove short-lived though, as he was released two months later.

Yeovil Town

In July 2007 he signed a one-year contract with

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional association football, football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage F.C., Stevenage. Having had an extended career at reserve t ...

. Top-scorer in his first season at the club, he announced he was happy to continue at

Huish Park Huish Park is a football stadium located in Yeovil, Somerset, England. The stadium has been home to Yeovil Town F.C. since its completion in 1990, following their relocation from Huish. Huish Park has a capacity of 9,565 (of which two stands ...

despite interest from other clubs.

Cheltenham Town

However, in September 2008, Owusu joined

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 ...

side

for free, on a one-year deal. In March 2009, Cheltenham allowed to Owusu to join

on loan until the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

after the club were forced to cut costs. Owusu scored seven goals in fourteen league appearances for Brighton, ensuring they avoided relegation from League One and as a result he was named as the League One Player of the Month for April 2009. Seventeen Brighton players were out of contact at the season's end, however Owusu was one of only three of these players to be offered a new contract. He did not accept the offer.

Adelaide United

In June 2009, Owusu signed for Australian

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

side

on a two-year deal. His new career at the Australian club was dealt a blow when his pre-season conditioning was hampered by the contraction of

swine flu Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As o ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. He made his debut for the Australian club on 21 August 2009, as a 58th-minute substitute for

Daniel Mullen Daniel John Mullen (born 26 October 1989) is an Australian soccer player who last played for Wellington Phoenix. He played as a centre back and a right back. Daniel is the cousin of Matthew Mullen and son of Joe Mullen, a former Socceroo. Club ...

. He scored his first goal for Adelaide in a 3–3 draw to

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

at Hindmarsh Stadium the following week. After a poor season and being dropped to the youth team, Owusu went for a one-week trial for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

. Owusu failed to make an impact at Adelaide and had his contract terminated by mutual consent at the end of December 2010. He quickly returned to England to join

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

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

on trial. Port Vale wished to sign him in early January 2011, but came up against registration issues with Adelaide. New manager

Jim Gannon James Paul Gannon (born 7 September 1968) is a professional football manager and former player who most recently was manager of Hyde United. He started and finished his career as a player in Ireland, but made most of his professional appearan ...

then said that he would not be signing Owusu.

Gillingham

Owusu was linked with League Two side Gillingham in mid-January 2011, but he instead opted to sign 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

on 18 January, signing a contract until May 2011. He made his debut and scored his first goal for the club that evening in a 5–0 victory against

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. On 2 June 2011, Owusu was released by Luton. He had made 15 appearances, scoring 7 goals. He began the 2011–12 season training with

Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...

' Port Vale. However, he again left the UK, this time settling with

in the

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Β΄ Κατηγορίας) is the second highest football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administrated by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with th ...

Barnet

On 12 September 2011, Owusu returned to England and signed for League Two side

on a short-term deal. He made his debut the following day coming on as sub for Charlie Taylor in the 2–0 home win over

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. On 4 November 2011, Owusu joined Conference Premier side Hayes & Yeading United on a one-month loan deal. On 15 December 2011, soon after he returned from this loan spell, it was reported that he had left Barnet at the expiry of his contract.

White City Woodville

On 23 March 2012, Owusu returned to Australia to join

FFSA Premier League The National Premier Leagues South Australia (often abbreviated to NPL South Australia or NPL SA) is a semi-professional football competition in the Australian state of South Australia. The league is a subdivision of the second tier National Pre ...

side

White City Woodville FK Beograd, formerly known as White City, is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Woodville, Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1949 by the Serbian Australian community, the club currently competes in the South Australian N ...

Hakoah Sydney City East

On 15 November 2012, it was announced that Owusu would be signing a one-year-deal to join

Indonesian Super League Liga 1 ( en, League 1), also known as BRI Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons with Bank Rakyat Indonesia, is the men's top professional football division of the Indonesian football league system. Administered by the PT Liga Indonesia Baru (), Liga 1 i ...

side

Pelita Bandung Raya Madura United Football Club is an Indonesian professional football club. The club is based in Pamekasan, Madura, East Java. They currently play in the Liga 1. Established on 10 January 2016, Madura United FC is one of few professional club ...

as assistant manager and player. However, this transfer fell through. Upon returning to Australia, he signed for

Hakoah Sydney City East FC Maccabi Hakoah Sydney City East FC, commonly known as Maccabi Hakoah, is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club was formed in 1939 as Sydney Hakoah by members of Sydney's Jewish community. They pla ...

in the

NSW State League Division One The NSW League Two Men is an Australian semi-professional association football league comprising teams from New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in Aust ...

. Here, he helped the club to a

Round of 32 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

position in the inaugural

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

where they lost to

Palm Beach SC Palm Beach Soccer Club is an Australian amateur soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The club was formed in 1966. History Palm Beach In 1964 Eddie Wardell organised a group of boys, one of which was his son, to play football out of Pa ...

from

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. In his only season for Hakoah, Owusu would go on to score 18 goals in 23 league appearances for the club, helping them win promotion to the

National Premier Leagues NSW 2 The NSW League One Men is an Australian semi-professional association football league comprising teams from New South Wales. The league sits at Level 2 on the New South Wales league system, behind the National Premier Leagues NSW, (Level 3 of th ...

International career

Owusu earned his first cap 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 ...

in 2005, and was hopeful of playing in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, the first World Cup which his country had qualified for. However, on 26 April, in a rare appearance for Ghana, Owusu tore his groin in a half during a friendly match against

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

. As a result, he was out injured for the World Cup, and so was not selected in the Ghana squad. In January 2015, he announced his retirement aged 38 after a career spanning 17 years.

Coaching career

Following the announcement of his retirement as a player, Lloyd Owusu joined th
International Football School
Australia located in

Kariong, New South Wales Kariong () is a locality of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia west of Gosford along the Central Coast Highway. It is part of the local government area. History Kariong's first British settler was W.H. Parry in 1901. The ...

After his professional career, he has become General Duties Master at Cranbrook School in

Personal life

In his free time, Owusu is a teacher, teaching many schoolchildren, even those with disabilities, which makes him a very well-liked figure among the community. He is cousins with professional footballers

Derek Asamoah Derek Asamoah (born 1 May 1981) is a Ghanaian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. He has previously played for clubs in England, France, Scotland, Bulgaria and South Korea. Club ...

and Ansah Owusu. He has since sought permanent residence in Australia.

Honours

Brentford *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

: 1998–99 *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

runner-up:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Individual * Brentford Hall of Fame

References

External links

*
Lloyd Owusu Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owusu, Lloyd 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Slough Citizens of Ghana through descent Ghanaian footballers Ghana international footballers English footballers English sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Association football forwards English Football League players Slough Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Reading F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Adelaide United FC players Luton Town F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Black British sportspeople Expatriate soccer players in Australia Expatriate footballers in Cyprus A-League Men players National Premier Leagues players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players FK Beograd (Australia) players Footballers from Berkshire