Andrew Kyere Yiadom (born 2 December 1991) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

right 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. ...

for club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. Born in England, he plays for the Ghana national team internationally.

Club career

Early career

Yiadom was born in Holloway, Greater London. He started his career in the youth team of

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

but wasn't offered a professional contract at the end of his scholarship. He signed for

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

club Hayes & Yeading United in the summer of 2010. He only stayed for one season at Hayes before moving on to newly promoted Conference Premier club Braintree Town in August 2011, following a trial at League Two club

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

. Yiadom scored seven goals by January 2012.

Barnet

He was signed by League Two club

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; anc ...

on 31 January 2012. He made his debut for the Bees on 18 February 2012 in a 2–1 defeat to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 10 March whilst coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

. Yiadom played an important role during Barnet's 2012–13 season. He was preferred as the right sided winger in

Edgar Davids Edgar Steven Davids (; born 13 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer. Davids was nicknamed "The Pitbull" because of his marking ability, aggression, and hard tackling style of play. After beginning his care ...

' 4–5–1 formation, with

Ricky Holmes Ricky Lee Holmes (born 19 June 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker or a winger for Chelmsford City. Born in Rochford, Holmes began his football career with Southend-based clubs before joining Chelmsford City i ...

on the opposite wing. Yiadom became popular with fans for his pace, which he used to good effect on the wing, where he posed a threat to many opposition teams. Similar to Mark Byrne, Yiadom was used at times as a replacement right back following injuries and suspensions to first choice

Barry Fuller Barry Marc Fuller (born 25 September 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Dorking Wanderers. He previously played for Stevenage Borough, forming part of the squad that won the 2006–07 FA Trophy in the fir ...

. He started the last match at

Underhill Stadium Underhill Stadium was a stadium in Chipping Barnet, London, that was the home of Barnet Football Club between 1907 and 2013. The club's under-19 team played fixtures there; it was also the training ground of the London Broncos rugby league clu ...

against

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

, helping the Bees to a 1–0 win. His impressive performance earned him a spot in the Barnet line-up on the final match of the season against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

, though in his unnatural position of right back, with new signing

Keanu Marsh-Brown Keanu Marqheal Marsh-Brown (born 10 August 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a attacking midfielder or winger for Malaysia Super League club Kuching City. He began his professional career with Fulham in the Premier League but ...

being preferred to start on the right wing. Yiadom scored three goals in 31 appearances during the 2012–13 season.

Barnsley

Yiadom joined

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in May 2016 for a free transfer, on a two-year contract. He made 32 appearances for Barnsley in his first season, helping them retain

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 ...

status impressing at right back. He was offered a new deal by Barnsley on 30 July 2017, which he turned down. On 10 August 2017, after rejecting two bids from

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 ...

club

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, Barnsley agreed a fee with Huddersfield (believed to be around £3 million) for the signing with the player to undertake a medical to complete the move, However, on 18 August 2017, the move collapsed and Yiadom returned to Barnsley. On transfer deadline day 31 August 2017, Yiadom had agreed to join

side

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

, However, on 1 September, it was stated that the paperwork for the transfer had not been received before the transfer window deadline of 23:00 BST, and hence the move had been canceled, forcing Yiadom to return to Barnsley. He was made

captain during the 2017–18 season.

Reading

On 17 May 2018, Yiadom agreed to join

at the end of his contract, joining up with the Royals on 1 July after signing a four-year contract. On 17 June 2022, Yiadom signed a new three-year contract with Reading, and then was named as the clubs new Club Captain on 8 July 2022.

International career

Yiadom was born in England to Ghanaian parents. He was called up to the English national C team, and was named their player of the year in 2015. In November 2016 he was called up to the Ghana national team. He made his debut for Ghana in a 1–0

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 ...

loss to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He was part of the Ghana National Team in the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's ass ...

that was eliminated at the group stage of the competition.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Barnet *

: 2014–15 Individual *

Team of the Year: 2014–15 *

Player of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the Reading F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Yiadom, Andy 1991 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Islington People from Holloway, London English men's footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Watford F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Reading F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people English people of Ghanaian descent Ghanaian people of English descent 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Sportspeople of Ghanaian descent 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen