Patrick Kwame Ampadu (born 20 December 1970) is an Irish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is an assistant coach for

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

under Wilfried Nancy. He previously was an assistant coach for Monaco. A

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, Ampadu featured for clubs Arsenal, Swansea City, Leyton Orient and Exeter City in his playing career. He also played for the Republic of Ireland U21 national team.

Early life

Ampadu was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, West Yorkshire, England, to an Irish mother and Ghanaian father. Ampadu subsequently moved with his parents to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, where he was raised. He undertook his primary and secondary education at O'Connell's School in Dublin where his schoolmates included future footballer Jeff Kenna. At a young age he took up the sport of

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

but thereafter found himself to be quite proficient at football as well.

Playing career

Ampadu first played in Irish youth football for Sherrard United and Belvedere before joining Arsenal in July 1988. His debut came in a 3–1 win away to Derby County on 24 March 1990. He went on to have loan spells at Plymouth Argyle and West Bromwich Albion the following season, before making a permanent move to the latter in June 1991. Ampadu spent three years at West Bromwich Albion before moving to Swansea City in February 1994. He played in Swansea City's 1994

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

win at Wembley. He also reached the 1997 Football League Third Division play-off final with the Swans. He moved to Leyton Orient in May 1998 making 72 league appearances in two seasons but missing the Third Division play-offs in 1998–99 through injury. He then had a spell at Exeter City where he scored twice against Swindon Town in the League Cup and Dagenham & Redbridge in the league. In January 2005 he played in Exeter's memorable 0–0 draw at Old Trafford in the

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 ...

. Ampadu then had stints with Newport County and Tiverton Town where his playing days eventually came to an end in 2006.

Managerial career

Ampadu returned to Exeter to be a part of the club's coaching outfit. He took up the role in July 2008 within the club's academy, to be at the helm of the Grecians Under 18 side. He moved to Arsenal in 2012 to become the Under 14s coach at the London side's Hale End Academy.

Personal life

Ampadu's son Ethan is a footballer who plays for Leeds United and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The younger Ampadu, at the age of 15 years and 10 months, made his debut for Exeter City in a League Cup tie against Brentford on 9 August 2016, breaking an 87-year-old record set by Cliff Bastin.

Honours

Player

;Swansea City *

: 1993–94 * Football League Third Division play-offs runner-up: 1997

Managerial

;Arsenal * U18 Premier League: Runner-up 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ampadu, Kwame 1970 births Living people Irish people of Ghanaian descent Black Irish sportspeople 20th-century Irish sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen Footballers from Bradford Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football midfielders Belvedere F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players English Football League players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Irish association football coaches Exeter City F.C. non-playing staff Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff AS Monaco FC non-playing staff CF Montréal non-playing staff Irish expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Irish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Columbus Crew non-playing staff