George Antwi Boateng (born 5 September 1975) is a 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 lea ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. After making his breakthrough with

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

, he spent most of his career in England, making 384

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

appearances and scoring 17 goals. He played for Coventry City,

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and Hull City, winning the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

with Middlesbrough in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Born in Ghana and raised in the Netherlands, Boateng made four appearances for the Netherlands national team.

Club career

Feyenoord

Boateng was born in Nkawkaw, Ghana. He spent some of his childhood in the Ghanaian capital

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, where he chose to play football barefoot despite having boots and the pitches being rocky. He was raised in the Netherlands from the age of 10 after his father remarried. At 16 he signed for

, where he was a

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, basketball, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water ...

, being used in all positions except

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, left winger and

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

Coventry City

Boateng watched a 4–3 game between

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

in April 1996, which convinced him about the quality of English football. With six months left of his Feyenoord contract and a four-year extension being offered, he completed a £250,000 move to Coventry City in December 1997. Manager

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...

signed him on a 3-year deal. He scored his first goal for the Sky Blues on 2 May 1998, in a 2–0 home win over Blackburn Rovers. On 27 February 1999, he and John Aloisi scored twice each in a 4–1 win away to fellow West Midlands club

– his team's first ever league win at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

Aston Villa

In July 1999, Boateng signed for Aston Villa for a £4.5 million fee. The club had previously bid £3 million after he had scored twice against them. Coventry chairman Bryan Richardson accused Villa manager John Gregory of making illegal approaches for Boateng. Gregory said that Richardson approached Villa to tell them that they could buy Boateng for £5 million, opening up negotiations again. Gregory played 131 matches for Villa, including the 2000 FA Cup final which his team lost by a single goal to Chelsea. On 20 April 2002, away to Leicester City, opponent Paul Dickov's boot came off, and Boateng threw it into the crowd. He apologised for his actions and was warned by manager Graham Taylor. Boateng missed only one game in 2001–02, but immediately requested a transfer once the season ended.

Middlesbrough

In the summer of 2002, a potential move to Liverpool collapsed, while negotiations with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

slowed down. Boateng moved to

for £5 million. He said that he was at first hesitant because he found Boro an easy team to play against, but he was convinced when Netherlands teammate Jaap Stam spoke highly of manager Steve McClaren, who had been assistant manager when Stam was at

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. In November 2002, Boateng avoided action from

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

on two occasions after clashing with

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football executive, Manager (association football), manager, and former Association football, footballer who played predominantly as a Forward (association football), forward. He is currently v ...

of Chelsea and Nick Barmby of

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. He played in the

2004 Football League Cup final The 2004 Football League Cup Final (known as the Carling Cup final for sponsorship reasons) was a football match that took place on 29 February 2004 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2003–04 Football League Cup, ...

as Boro won the first major honour of their history. On 16 October 2004, he scored his first goal since September 2001 in a 4–0 win at Blackburn. In 2004–05, he missed 12 games through injury before returning to help the team to 7th place and

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

qualification. He played in the

2006 UEFA Cup final The 2006 UEFA Cup Final was a association football, football match that took place at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, Netherlands on 10 May 2006 as the culmination of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup. The match was contested by Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrou ...

, which his team lost 4–0 to

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. In June 2006, after negotiations of nearly a year, Boateng signed a new three-year contract. The following month, he was named

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

after

Gareth Southgate Sir Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional Association football, football manager and player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender and midfielder. A Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace Crystal ...

retired and became manager. In the 2007–08 season, Southgate gave the captain's armband to Julio Arca in December and then Emmanuel Pogatetz in March, while saying that he wanted to move away from having one permanent captain.

Hull City

Newly promoted Premier League club Hull City announced on 10 July 2008 that Boateng had agreed to sign a two-year contract with them, for an undisclosed fee. The move was completed on 16 July, after the completion of a medical, for an estimated fee of £1 million. On 6 February 2010, Boateng scored his first goal for Hull City in a 2–1 win over

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, their first win since November 2009. Boateng's contract with Hull City came to an end following their relegation from the Premier League in 2010. He was runner-up to Stephen Hunt for their Player of the Year award.

Later career

After holding talks with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

, Boateng joined Greek side Skoda Xanthi on a two-year deal in July 2010. On 27 July 2011, Boateng joined

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

of the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

on a one-year deal. He reunited with former Middlesbrough manager McClaren, while former Dutch international and Middlesbrough teammate Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was first-team coach. He played 7 games in total for Forest, scoring an added-time equaliser in a 2–2 draw with

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

rivals Leicester City on 20 August. On 15 November 2012, Boateng arrived in Malaysia to sign with T-Team. Four days later, he signed a one-year contract, linking him again with former Hull teammate and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

international Caleb Folan.

International career

Born in Ghana and raised in the Netherlands, Boateng represented the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

at international level, having not been approached by the Ghana Football Association. He was the captain of the under-21 team. Boateng played four senior games for the Netherlands, each in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

in a different year. He made his debut on 10 November 2001 in a 1–1 draw away to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. On 12 November 2005, he ended 3 years without a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

by coming on as a substitute in a 3–1 home loss to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

at the

Amsterdam ArenA The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...

Managerial career

Kelantan

In 2014, Boateng was unveiled as the new head coach of

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

, replacing Steve Darby, who had been shown the door after a 4–0 loss to Sime Darby On 6 May 2014, Kelantan came back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 with Felda United in first leg of the

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup () is an annual association football, football competition in Malaysia, established in 1990. It was previously managed by the Football Association of Malaysia, before being transferred to the Football Malaysia LLP, Malaysian ...

semi-final in Boateng's first game as head coach. Boateng apologised to the Kelantan fans after Kelantan were knocked out of the

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...

with 4–3 aggregate; there were reports saying that he would step down from his role as Kelantan head coach the following season, but that proved to be wrong by Kelantan President, Annuar Musa. He was moved to the Technical Director position on 24 March 2015, and his position as head coach was taken by Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah. Boateng left his post as technical director of Kelantan on 11 May 2015 in order to work as a coach or manager again.

Blackburn Rovers

On 5 September 2018, Boateng signed on as Under 13's head coach at

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 sys ...

club Blackburn Rovers where he coached different age groups at the academy.

Aston Villa

On 29 July 2019, it was announced that Boateng had left Rovers to take up a position as

Under-18 Professional Development Coach. In September 2020, Boateng was promoted to become the Professional Development Coach of the under 23 squad at Aston Villa. On 26 August 2022, Boateng announced that he would be leaving his role at Aston Villa in order to focus on his role with the Ghana national team in the build up to the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

that winter.

Ghana national team

In May 2022 the Ghana Football Association announced that Boateng would be the new assistant coach of Ghana national team.

Coventry City

On 1 July 2024, Boateng returned to another of his former clubs, being appointed first-team coach at Coventry City. On 28 November 2024, Boateng departed the club following the appointment of

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...

as manager.

Personal life

Boateng is a devout Christian and says his faith affects the way he conducts himself. In an interview with ''

Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

'', he stated: "My family and I have become very devoted Christians. Hearing and acting on the Word is very important."

Career statistics

Club

Coaching statistics

Honours

Aston Villa *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 1999–2000 Middlesbrough *

: 2003–04 *

runner-up: 2005–06

References

External links

*
Netherlands profile
at OnsOranje * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boateng, George 1975 births Living people Footballers from Eastern Region (Ghana) Ghanaian emigrants to the Netherlands Men's association football midfielders Ghanaian men's footballers Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Excelsior Rotterdam players Feyenoord players Coventry City F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Xanthi F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Terengganu F.C. II players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Premier League players English Football League players Super League Greece players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Greece Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Ghanaian Christians Dutch Christians Dutch expatriate football managers Kelantan F.C. managers Association football coaches Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Blackburn Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Coventry City F.C. non-playing staff