Kwesi Appiah (born 12 August 1990) 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 ...

who plays as a striker for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

, on loan from side

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

and the

Ghana national team The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international football, doing it since 1957. The team consists of twenty players including the technical team. The team is nicknamed the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in ...

Club career

Ebbsfleet United

Appiah was born in Camberwell, Greater London, to a Ghanaian father and an English mother. He is a product of the Ebbsfleet United PASE

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

, and graduated to the first team in August 2008. He scored his first goal for the club with his first touch after coming on as a substitute against

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

on 20 September 2008. Appiah missed training in October and after leaving the ground, he failed to report back to the club.

Peterborough United

His disappearance was explained in October, when League One team

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standin ...

announced the signing of Appiah, on a three and a half-year deal. The matter was reported to

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

, as it was reported in breach of regulations. On 15 December it was reported that the FA had decided that the approach made for Appiah by Peterborough was "not proven" and so no ruling could be made. Appiah was loaned out back to the Conference with Weymouth in February 2009 and made his debut in a 2–0 defeat to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. He suffered from an ankle ligament injury that ruled him out of a game against

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

, but returned for the 5–0 defeat to

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home gro ...

. He returned to Peterborough on 20 March. He spent time at Northern Premier League Premier Division side

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, ...

in 2009, where he played 10 games scoring 9 goals, including a hat-trick against Durham City in an 11–0 win. Appiah's loan spell came to an abrupt end when the club was wound up in late-November 2009; this meant their record for 2009–10 was expunged. On 19 January 2010, he joined

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts ...

on a month-long loan.

Return to Non-League

Appiah joined Southern Football League Premier Division side Brackley Town for the 2010–11 season. Appiah then signed a two-year deal with

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division side

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significant m ...

on 25 July 2011. After his great run of form this attracted a number of professional clubs and on 16 January 2012, he was linked with a move to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

, when he claimed Margate had agreed a deal with ''the Seasiders'' and stated that he was due to travel to Blackpool for talks with manager, but he later rejected the move as he preferred to move to London. Appiah left Margate having scored 35 goals in 34 games for the club.

Crystal Palace

On 31 January 2012, he agreed his second professional deal to play for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. On 28 January 2013, Appiah joined

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Yeovil Town on a month's loan deal. He made his first appearance for Yeovil in the 2–1 win over

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...

, coming on in the second half as a substitute for Matthew Dolan. Appiah returned to the Conference Premier on 13 September 2013 when he signed on a one-month loan deal for the then league leaders

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

. Appiah scored his first Cambridge goal in a 3–0 win over Nuneaton Town on 24 September and followed it with the equaliser in a 1–1 draw away at

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

and the winner against

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

in the next two games. Having missed a penalty in a 0–0 stalemate against

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, he atoned with both goals in the 2–0 win over Salisbury City that maintained Cambridge's six-point lead at the top of the Conference Premier on 19 October. Appiah had earlier confirmed the loan deal had been extended by a further month via his Twitter account. Appiah scored further goals against Aldershot Town, Barnet (2) and

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and ...

(2) in November, leading Cambridge manager

Richard Money Richard Money (born 13 October 1955) is an English former footballer and manager who was most recently manager of National League club Hartlepool United. Before this, he managed Cambridge United, overseeing the side's return to the Football ...

to express his eagerness to re-sign Appiah on loan in the January transfer window. On 21 January 2014, Appiah joined

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

on a one-month emergency loan. On 27 March 2014, Appiah joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

side

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional football club, based in Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 season. The club's home stadium is Plough Lane. The cl ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season. He scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw with Newport County. On 9 July 2014, Appiah rejoined Cambridge United on a six-month loan. Since his last stint at Cambridge, the club had regained their place in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He scored six league goals in nineteen league appearances but also scored the winner in the first round of the FA Cup against League One

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed ...

and a late equaliser against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and y ...

in the second round – playing a large role in maintaining a run to the fourth round and two lucrative ties against Manchester United. On 26 March 2015, Appiah joined

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season. Appiah then injured his anterior cruciate ligament on 7 June 2015, while training for the Ghana national side As of 26 January 2016, it was reported that he had made enough progress to soon restart light training. On 29 March 2017, it was announced that Appiah had joined Norwegian

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

club

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and s ...

on loan until the end of June.

AFC Wimbledon

He re-signed for League One side AFC Wimbledon, this time on a permanent basis, on 31 May 2017. He scored his first goal for Wimbledon in a 2–0 win against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at T ...

on 26 August 2017. He was released by AFC Wimbledon when his contract expired in June 2020.

NorthEast United

On 14 October 2020, Appiah joined

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

on a one-year deal.

Crawley Town

On 16 August 2021, Appiah joined

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football L ...

club

on a one-year deal with the option for a second. On 1 September 2022, Appiah joined

on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season.

International career

Appiah was eligible to represent both Ghana and England. On 24 December 2014 he was called into the 31-man provisional squad for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. He made his debut in Ghana's 2–1 win over

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

on 27 January 2015 and scored his first international goal in the quarter-final victory over Guinea.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Appiah goal.''

Honours

Ghana *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

runner-up:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

References

External links

Profile
at the AFC Wimbledon website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Appiah, Kwesi 1990 births Living people Footballers from Camberwell English footballers Citizens of Ghana through descent Ghanaian footballers Ghana international footballers Association football forwards Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Brackley Town F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Margate F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Reading F.C. players NorthEast United FC players Crawley Town F.C. players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players English Football League players Indian Super League players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate footballers in India English expatriate sportspeople in India Black British sportspeople English sportspeople of Ghanaian descent