Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu (born 22 March 1994) is a 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 plays as a

central 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 ...

for club

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 ...

. Born in England, he plays for the DR Congo national team. He is the first footballer to climb from the non-league tiers of English football to the

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 ...

with the same club, having played for Luton since 2013.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

, Greater London, Mpanzu began his career with the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

and made 13 first-team appearances.

West Ham United

Mpanzu signed a two-and-a-half-year professional contract with

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 ...

club

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 5 December 2011 after a successful

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

. He was a member of the West Ham team which won the

Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy ( ca, Trofeu Ciutat de Barcelona) is a summer tournament organized by RCD Espanyol in Barcelona. Initially there used to be four participating teams, but in more recent times it was a two-team tournament. Teams are usually ...

against

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

in September 2013. Mpanzu made his first-team debut in a 2–0 win away to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

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 ...

fourth round on 29 October 2013. West Ham manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English association football, football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent most ...

said of his debut, "This was their big chance. Three players, all defenders, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Dan Potts and Leo Chambers, can feel very proud of themselves, what they've done."

Luton Town

On 28 November 2013, Mpanzu 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 ...

club

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

until 4 January 2014. He made his Luton debut in central defence two days later in a 0–0 draw with

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...

in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

, and was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in the replay, which Luton won 2–0, while playing in central midfield. He played in central midfield for five further matches, all victories, before being recalled back to West Ham's squad on 30 December due to his parent club's injury crisis. After impressing in his seven matches for Luton, manager

John Still John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...

revealed that he was looking to bring Mpanzu back to

Kenilworth Road Kenilworth Road is an association football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been the home ground of Luton Town F.C., Luton Town Football Club since 1905. The stadium has also hosted women's and youth international matches, includ ...

. On 28 January 2014, Mpanzu signed for Luton permanently on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, in a transfer described as a "major coup". He scored his first goal for the club in a 7–0 win over

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

on 15 February 2014, before scoring his second two months later, a "scorching half-volley" in a 2–1 away win over

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

. He finished 2013–14 with 24 appearances and two goals, as Luton won the Conference Premier title and

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

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 ...

. Mpanzu said that his decision to leave West Ham and drop down the divisions had been "the right choice" as he had a winner's medal to justify it. Mpanzu suffered numerous injuries, including a rare

calcification Calcification is the accumulation of calcium salts in a body tissue. It normally occurs in the formation of bone, but calcium can be deposited abnormally in soft tissue,Miller, J. D. Cardiovascular calcification: Orbicular origins. ''Nature Mat ...

of the hamstring muscle, over the course of 2014–15 and made 18 appearances, of which only 10 were in the

starting lineup In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are ''substitutes'' o ...

. He scored one goal during the campaign; an injury-time equaliser in a 1–1 draw with

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. He remained fit for most of the 2016–17 season, playing in 52 games in all competitions including both legs of the play-off semi-final, which Luton lost 6–5 on

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

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 ...

. Mpanzu signed a new three-year contract with Luton on 3 August 2017, with the option of a further year. In the following two seasons, he achieved two consecutive promotions with Luton to reach the

. In July 2021, he signed a new undisclosed-length deal to remain at the club. On 28 January 2023, he played his 350th match with the club in a 2–2 draw against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

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 ...

. With Luton Town's promotion to the

secured after winning the

2023 EFL Championship play-off final The 2023 EFL Championship play-off final was an association football match which was played on 27 May 2023 at Wembley Stadium, London, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the EFL Championship, the second tier of English ...

against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

, he became the first player to go from

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

to the

with the same club. On 10 July 2023, he signed a new contract to extend his tenure at the club into the Premier League.

International career

Born in England, Mpanzu is of Congolese descent. He was called up to represent the DR Congo national team for a pair of friendlies in June 2021. He debuted with the DR Congo in a 1–0 friendly loss to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

on 5 June 2021.

Style of play

Mpanzu has been described as a "powerful" box-to-box midfielder with "endless energy". Mpanzu has stated that central midfield is his natural position, but that he is able to play as a centre-back.

Personal life

His cousin

Peter Kioso Peter Kioso (born 15 August 1999) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a wing-back for Championship side Rotherham United. Early life Kioso was born in Swords, Dublin. He and his family later moved to Milton Keynes, England in 2010. ...

is also a footballer; the two played together at Luton Town.

Career statistics

Honours

Luton Town *

EFL Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , t ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

EFL 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 ...

: 2018–19 *

EFL 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 ...

runner-up: 2017–18 *

: 2013–14 Individual * Luton Town Player of the Season: 2019–20

References

External links

Profile
at the Luton Town F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddock Mpanzu, Pelly 1994 births Living people Footballers from Hendon Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers English men's footballers English sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Men's association football midfielders Boreham Wood F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Premier League players Black British sportsmen