Benjamin Afutu Kotey (born 2 May 1996) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Mekelle 70 Enderta. Afutu began his professional career with Karela United in 2017. He helped the club gain promotion to the

Ghana 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 ...

after winning the Division One League Zone II. In 2018, he signed Accra Hearts of Oak. At Hearts, he won the Ghana Premier League and

Ghana FA Cup The Ghana FA Cup, currently known as the MTN Group, MTN FA Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the annual single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in football in Ghana, Ghanaian football created in 1958, a year after the independence of ...

in 2021. During his stint with Hearts of Oak, he established himself as the best defensive midfielder in the league. He joined Eastern Company in October 2021 before moving to Saudi Arabian side Al-Taqadom in 2022.

Career

Karela United

Afutu played for

Karela United Karela United FC is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Aiyinase, Ellembele District, Western Region. The club competed in the 2019 Ghanaian Normalisation Cup Competition. Karela plays their home matches at the CAM Park. History T ...

when they played in the Ghana Division One League. During the 2017 season, he played 25 league matches, made 7 assists and scored 5 goals to help them win the Division One League Zone II and secure promotion into the Ghana Premier League, for the first time in the club's history.

Hearts of Oak

Afutu joined

side

Accra Hearts of Oak Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is a professional sports team, sports club based in Accra (Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra), Ghana. Founded in 1911, the club is the oldest surviving ...

in December 2017, after impressing the technical team during pre-season trials. He signed a three-year deal ahead of the 2018 season. On 29 April 2018, he made his debut as an 80th-minute substitute for Joseph Esso in a 1–0 league match against rivals

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional sports, professional association football, football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''African crested ...

. He only featured in 4 league matches in that season before the league was cancelled due to the Number 12 expose. During the 2019 GFA Normalization Special Competition, he played 11 of the 14 league matches to help Hearts win their Group and progress to the semi-finals. However they lost to Asante Kotoko via a penalty shootout. He continued to play a key role in the team by playing 13 of the 15 league matches and scored 2 goals in the 2019–20 season as the league was again cancelled, this time due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana The COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first two cases in Ghana were confirmed on 12 March 2020, when two infec ...

. There were reports in 2020 that he was refusing to extend his contract with the club in the hopes of obtaining a better contract renewal or signing with a new club. After negotiations with the club, he later signed a one-year contract extension until June 2021. Afutu was ever present in the club's historic domestic double triumph in 2020–21 season. On 19 December 2020, he scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory over King Faisal. The following week, he scored another goal in a 6–1 rout over Bechem United. He played 29 league matches, scored 5 goals from a defensive midfield position whilst winning

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) 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 chose ...

awards against Elmina Sharks and

Berekum Chelsea Berekum United Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Berekum, Bono Region, previously known as Bechem Chelsea Football Club. They compete in the Ghana Premier League, the top-flight of the Ghanaian football system. Hist ...

, also scoring in both matches, to help Hearts win their 21st league title after a 12-year trophy drought. He scored two goals on Heart's road to the

2021 Ghanaian FA Cup The 2021 Ghana FA Cup was the 41st season of the Ghana FA Cup, the primary knockout competition in Ghanaian football. Sponsored by MTN Ghana for the 11th straight season, thus called the "MTN FA Cup" for sponsorship purposes, History Due to th ...

final. On 8 August, Afutu won the

following an 8–7

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

victory over Ashanti Gold at

Accra Sports Stadium The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a multi-use stadium (40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in Accra, Ghana, mostly used for association football matches. It is also used for rugby union. Overview The stadium w ...

in the final, after a goalless draw in

extra-time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

; Afutu played the full 90 minutes and in the shoot-out, he took Hearts' tenth penalty, which was saved by

Kofi Mensah Kofi Mensah (born March 8, 1978, in Koforidua, Ghana) is a former Dutch-Ghanaian footballer. Career Mensah began his career in 1996 at AFC Ajax. After three years with the club, he moved to NAC Breda. In June 2003, he moved again to ADO Den Haa ...

Eastern Company

In October 2021, Afutu joined newly promoted Egyptian club Eastern Company on a three-year contract. On 5 November, he made his debut in a 3–0 loss to

Smouha Smouha () is an upper-class district in the centre of Alexandria, Egypt. It is home to the Security Directorate of Alexandria and the Smouha Sporting Club, Smouha's central roundabout (Victor Emmanuel Square) connects between other areas in Alexa ...

, playing the full 90 minutes of the match. He went on to play in the next six matches before being shown a red card in a league match against

Al Ittihad Alexandria Al Ittihad Alexandria Club (), locally known as El Ittihad El Skandary, is an Egyptian sports club based in Alexandria. The club is mainly known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the high ...

on 14 February 2022. He returned and only played one match against Zamalek in May 2022. The following month, his contract was terminated and was released by the Eastern Company Club board. In August 2022, Afutu joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Taqadom. He signed a one-year contract with the club.

Honours

Karela United * Ghana Division One League Zone II: 2017 Hearts of Oak *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Afutu, Benjamin Living people 1996 births Ghanaian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Karela United FC players Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. players Eastern Company SC players Al-Taqadom FC players Mekelle 70 Enderta F.C. players Ghana Premier League players Egyptian Second Division players Saudi Second Division players Ethiopian Premier League players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Egypt Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Ethiopia Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Ethiopia Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen Division One League players