Agyei William Kwabena "Will" Antwi (born 19 October 1982), is an English-born

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 ...

ian 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 ...

and head coach for England U15s. As a player, he was a defender who played between 2002 and 2014. He represented the

Ghana national football team The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international football, doing it since 1957. The team consists of twenty players including the technical team. The team is nicknamed the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in ...

as well as appearing for

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 * ...

Ljungskile SK Ljungskile SK is a Swedish football club located in Ljungskile, a town within Uddevalla Municipality. They currently play in the Swedish third tier, Division 1. History Ljungskile SK, formed in 1926, is famous for their promotions between 19 ...

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Career

Crystal Palace

Born in

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, Antwi attended

Chace Community School Chace Community School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Forty Hill, Enfield Town, England. It is situated on Churchbury Lane with its fields backing on to Baker Street. Chace is spelled with a 'c' rather than a 's ...

in north London before moving as a trainee to Crystal Palace where he became a professional player. After a brief spell in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

with Ljungskile SK, he returned to England with

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

side Aldershot Town where he played a pivotal part in their

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 ...

push, including scoring the winning penalty against

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 ...

in the 2003–04 Conference play–off semi–final, losing out on penalties in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Wycombe Wanderers

Antwi joined Wycombe Wanderers on a free transfer in the summer of 2005 after leaving Aldershot but a groin injury in pre season meant he made his full debut on 8 April 2006, against

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

and went on to keep his place for the 2005–06 League Two play–off games against

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 ...

. Antwi was given the number 5 shirt for the 2006–07 season and the 2007–08 season. Antwi captained the side on several occasions early on in the season, and took on the role of vice-captain for the 2007–08 season but found his time there to be devastated by injury. Antwi went out on loan to Northwich Victoria on 14 November 2008, after returning from a broken toe which he suffered 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 ...

match against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on 13 August. He returned to help guide Wycombe to automatic promotion to

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 ...

that season.

Dagenham & Redbridge

Antwi left Wycombe on 6 May 2009 and signed for Dagenham and Redbridge on a two-year contract on 17 July. He enjoyed a commanding first half of the season but on 5 December was sidelined with an ankle injury that kept him out for the rest of the season. However Dagenham went on to clinch promotion to League One in the 2009–10 League Two play–off final on 30 May 2010 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, the highest position in the club's history. Antwi left Dagenham after their

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from League One in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season.

Luton Town

On 29 July 2011, he signed a six-month contract with Luton Town in the Conference. On 24 November 2011 he joined Grimsby Town on a one-month loan. Upon his return to Luton he left to take a look at options in the

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

following the end of his contract at

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 ...

Staines Town

On 14 February 2012, Antwi joined

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side Staines Town. On 14 March 2012, Antwi went on, an ultimately unsuccessful, trial at Finnish Premier League side

Vaasan Palloseura Vaasan Palloseura (or VPS) is a Finnish football club, based in Vaasa. It currently plays in the first tier of Finnish football (''Veikkausliiga''). The club's current manager is Jussi Nuorela. The club plays its home matches at Hietalahti. VP ...

AFC Wimbledon

On 14 September 2012, Antwi joined

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 ...

side

, teaming up once again with manager Terry Brown whom he had worked with at Aldershot Town. On 31 January 2013, his Wimbledon contract was extended until the end of the 2012–13 season. Antwi then agreed to stay on with AFC Wimbledon for the 2013–14 season. Antwi was released by the club at the end of the 2013–14 season and went on to join

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 ...

on trial, he featured in the club's 1-0 friendly defeat against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

Coaching career

In August 2012, Antwi began working as a part-time academy coach at

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 ...

side

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. On 16 August 2022, Antwi was appointed as the head coach of England U15s.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antwi, Will 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Epsom English footballers English expatriate footballers Citizens of Ghana through descent Ghanaian footballers Ghana international footballers Ghanaian expatriate footballers Association football defenders Crystal Palace F.C. players Ljungskile SK players Aldershot Town F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players National League (English football) players Expatriate footballers in Sweden English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden English people of Ghanaian descent Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden People educated at Chace Community School