Richard Ofori (born 1 November 1993) is a Ghanaian 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 play for

AmaZulu FC Amazulu FC was a Association football, football club based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The club played in the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League. The team was founded in 1996 by Charles Mhlauri and after nine years the club was dissolved. In 2003 the tea ...

of the

South African Premier Division The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afric ...

and the

Ghana national football team The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international Association football, football. The team is named the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in the flag of Ghana. It is governed by the Ghana Football Association, t ...

as a

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 ...

Club career

Ghana

Ofori spent a number of seasons with Westland FC (a second-division club in Accra) before he joined Wa Allstars of

Wa, Ghana Wa is a town and the capital of the Wa Metropolitan Assembly and the Upper West Region of Ghana. It has a population of 200,672 people according to the 2021 census. The town is a transportation hub for the Upper West region, with major roads l ...

. He had continuously been linked with moves to South Africa or Europe after his highly praised performances in the

Ghanaian Premier League The Ghana Premier League is the top professional association football league in Ghana organized by the Ghana Football Association and formed in 1958 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition which ran from 1933 to ...

, and went on trial with

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used thr ...

in late 2016. He was voted the best goalkeeper in the 2015 season and was instrumental in the All-Stars' clinching of their first-ever title in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, again being voted the best goalkeeper.

Maritzburg United

Ofori moved to

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

club

Maritzburg United Durban City are a South African soccer club based in the city of Durban. Prior to the start of the 2024–25 National First Division, they were called Maritzburg United, and were based in the city of Pietermaritzburg. They were promoted to t ...

on a three-year contract in 2018.

Orlando Pirates

On 20 October 2020, Ofori signed a three-year contract with

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club, referred to as simply Pirates, is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays i ...

. He played in the Orlando Pirates matches in the MTN 8 tournament. He started in goal in the final match as the Pirates won the trophy and ended their six-year trophy drought. They beat

Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African soccer club based in Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein Celtic had a large fan base in the Free State and competed in the Premiership before selling their status to Royal ...

2–1 to win the trophy.

AmaZulu FC

On 23 September 2024, Ofori joins

as a free agent.

International career

Ofori played at the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

, making one appearance in the third place match, keeping a clean sheet against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. He later appeared for the Ghana U23, playing at the

2015 African Games The 11th African Games (), also known as Brazzaville 2015, took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted t ...

. He was first called up to the senior national team for the

2016 African Nations Championship qualification The 2016 African Nations Championship qualification was a men's association football, football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2016 African Nations Championship. Only national team players who were playing in their countr ...

, where he played both legs against the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. He was later called up by head coach

Avram Grant Avraham "Avram" Grant (; né Granat; born ) is an Israeli professional football manager who currently manages the Zambia national football team. He has spent the majority of his career coaching and managing in Israel, winning a number of nati ...

for the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

. He is the second deputy captain of the

Career statistics

International

Honours

Wa All Stars *

Ghana Super Cup The Ghana Super Cup is a football competition involving a match played between the champion of the Ghana Premier League and the winner of the Ghanaian FA Cup in Ghana. The first Ghana Super Cup competition took place in the 1996–1997 season, af ...

: 2017 Orlando Pirates *

MTN 8 The MTN 8 is a South African soccer single-elimination tournament, cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding season of the top-flight league (currently the Sout ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, 2022,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofori, Richard 1993 births Living people Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Legon Cities FC players Orlando Pirates F.C. players Durban City F.C. (2024) players AmaZulu F.C. players South African Premier Division players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen