Charles Asampong Taylor

Charles Kweku Bismark Taylor Asampong (born 14 July 1981 in Sefwi, Western Region) is a former Ghanaian professional footballer who played as a striker or an attacking midfielder.[1][2][3] He had his greatest playing days and is one of the few players to play for Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. and Asante Kotoko. As a kid, he was often called tailor, after his uncle who was a tailor as he used to help his uncle with work, hence, he adopted the name Charles Taylor after the former Liberian president. Nicknamed "Terror" due to his ability to terrorise opponents. He's arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the Ghana premier league and a key member of the famous "64 Battalion" squad of Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. that won the African Champions League in 2000 and consecutive Ghanaian league titles.[4][5][6][7]

Kweku Asampong
Personal information
Full name Charles Kweku Bismark Taylor Asampong
Date of birth (1981-07-14) 14 July 1981
Place of birth Sefwi Asanwinso, Ghana
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Berekum Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 Great Olympics
2000–2003 Accra Hearts of Oak
2003–2004 Asante Kotoko
2004–2006 Etoile du Sahel
2006–2010 Accra Hearts of Oak
2010–2011 Enugu Rangers
2011–2014 Berekum Chelsea
International career
1999–2004 Ghana 16 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club

Early life

His playing career started off at Great Olympics, where he used to polish the shoes of their management, he had a bet with the then chairman Ade Coker that he could play better than the team players, he was asked to play and showed excellent dribbling skills, he later signed for the club.

Accra Hearts of Oak

Asamponk transferred to Accra Hearts of Oak in 2000 where he helped them win the Ghana premier national league in 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons. Then coached by Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio and Ofei Ansah, Taylor formed a fantastic partnership with Ishmael Addo and Emmanuel Osei Kuffour affectionately called the deadly trio.[3] In addition to the national premier league in 2000, Hearts of oak won the FA cup and the African champions league for the first time.[3] In February 2001, they won the African Super Cup Championship where he scored the first goal against Al-Zamalek of Egypt at the Kumasi Sports Stadium. Charles Taylor alongside Charles Allotey, Amankwah Mireku, Joseph Ansah, Jacob Nettey, Stephen Tetteh, Ishmael Addo, Emmanuel Osei Kuffour, Sammy Adjei, Edmund Copson, and Emmanuel Adjogu were deemed as the best squad ever to be assembled by Accra Hearts of oak and also famously called "64 Battalion" a name after the most feared unit of the Ghana Army during Jerry Rawlings' rule.

Asante Kotoko

He controversially transferred from Accra Hearts of Oak to arch-rivals Asante Kotoko in 2003 for the then domestic transfer record fee of GH₵ 40,000 (roughly US$42,000). Charles Taylor essentially boycotted training with Hearts of oak and did not play any games way into the season just to force the move. His first season with Kotoko was a success and he won the Ghana Premier league with Kotoko in 2003. However, this transfer caused a lot of bitter local sentiment towards Taylor, from which his popularity has never recovered.[8] Taylor joined Etoile du Sahel from Kotoko in 2004 for a fee of US$250,000[9] After an unsuccessful spell in Tunisia he was loaned to Accra Hearts of Oak in October 2006.[10]

International career

He was part of the Ghanaian 2004 Olympic football team that exited in the first round, having finished in third place in group B. He was a silver medalist with Ghana U-20 team at 2001 Africa youth championship in Ethiopia. He currently has forty one caps for the Ghana national football team, the Black Stars, scoring nineteen goals. Taylor represented the Black Stars at 2009 African Championship of Nations in Côte d'Ivoire, where they finished second, beaten by the famous Congo.[11]

Personal life

In August 2015, he was ordained as a priest, after making known his intentions of becoming a pastor to propagate the word of God.[12][13][14]

Honours

Club

Accra Hearts of Oak[15]

Asante Kotoko[15]

  • Ghana Premier League: 2003

International

Ghana

Individual
  • Ghana Premier League Top Scorer (shared with Bernard Dong Bortey): 2002[3]
  • SWAG Sports Personality of the year: 2002[3]
  • GFA player of the year: 2001

References
  1. "THE STAR THAT FAILED TO SHINE-Charles Taylor". Socceringhana's Blog. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  2. Charles Taylor Debuts For Enugu Rangers | Transfers 2010-03-28
  3. "Charles Taylor, the serial entertainer who terrorized defenders and mesmerized fans". GhanaWeb. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. "Today in history: Hearts win 2000 Champions League after chaotic final - Ghanasoccernet.com". social_image. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  5. "The African Champions League 2000: results, club portraits, and match reports". www.the-shot.com. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  6. "Untold story- How I came by Charles Taylor". Graphic Online. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  7. "Charles Taylor Q&A: Playing for Hearts, Kotoko was an honour". Graphic Online. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  8. Charles Taylor fit to play for Hearts Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Charles Taylor To Miss Next Match
  10. Hearts complete Taylor registration Archived 7 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  11. CHAN 2009: Squad List
  12. "Ex-Ghana International Charles Taylor Ordained As Priest (WATCH)". Peacefmonline.com - Ghana news. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  13. "Charles Taylor concentrating on becoming a pastor". GhanaWeb. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  14. "Ex-Hearts and Kotoko star Charles Taylor reveals rejecting $50,000 Saudi offer to become a Pastor". Ghana Sports Online. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  15. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Charles Taylor Asampong". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  16. "Charles Taylor Asampong". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
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