Cole Kpekawa

Cole Desmond Kpekawa (born 20 May 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bromley.

Cole Kpekawa
Personal information
Full name Cole Desmond Kpekawa[1]
Date of birth (1996-05-20) 20 May 1996[2]
Place of birth Blackpool, England
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Bromley
Number 5
Youth career
Queens Park Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Queens Park Rangers 6 (0)
2014–2015 → Colchester United (loan) 4 (0)
2015 → Portsmouth (loan) 2 (0)
2015–2016 → Leyton Orient (loan) 9 (0)
2016–2017 Barnsley 7 (0)
2017–2018 Colchester United 6 (0)
2018–2019 St Mirren 4 (0)
2019 Billericay Town 7 (0)
2019–2020 AS Trenčín 1 (0)
2020–2021 Chelmsford City 11 (0)
2021–2022 Hemel Hempstead Town 37 (3)
2022–2023 Maidenhead United 25 (3)
2023– Bromley 6 (0)
International career
2015 England U20 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:15, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Queens Park Rangers

Born in Blackpool,[3] Kpekawa came through the Academy at Queens Park Rangers.[4] He signed a two-year scholarship with the club in July 2012 at the age of 16.[1] On 2 April 2014, he signed his first professional contract on a one-year deal.[5][6]

Kpekawa joined League One side Colchester United for an initial one-month loan deal on 20 November 2014.[7] He made his professional debut against Coventry City at the Colchester Community Stadium in a 1–0 League One defeat on 22 November.[8] After making four appearances for Colchester, his loan was extended for a further month until 24 January 2015.[9] He made six appearances for Colchester, four in League One and two in the FA Cup.[10]

On 19 March 2015, he was loaned to League Two side Portsmouth until the end of the season.[11] He made his debut on 21 March in a 1–0 defeat against AFC Wimbledon where he played the full 90-minutes.[12] He was recalled from his loan at Portsmouth by QPR on 20 April having made two first-team appearances.[13]

On returning to QPR, Kpekawa made his debut for the club as an 85th-minute substitute for Yun Suk-young in a 5–1 Premier League defeat to Leicester City on 24 May 2015.[14]

On 19 November 2015, he joined League Two side Leyton Orient in an initial one-month loan deal.[15] He made his debut two days later on 21 November as an early substitute in a 3–2 league win against York City.[16] His loan was extended in December 2015,[4] and again in January 2016 to remain with the O's until 1 March 2016.[17] He was recalled from his loan by parent club QPR on 1 February 2016 after making nine appearances for Orient.[18]

Barnsley

After struggling to hold down a first-team place at Queens Park Rangers, Championship rivals Barnsley signed Kpekawa for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £450,000, on 31 August 2016. He agreed a three-year contract with the club.[19][20] He made his Barnsley debut on 10 September 2016 as a late substitute in their 2–1 win at Preston North End.[21] However, after only four starts, Kpekawa found himself out of the first-team picture as manager Paul Heckingbottom preferred to play right-back Andy Yiadom out of position at left-back, while the club coaches worked with Kpekawa to suit a more central role.[22]

Colchester United

Having made only seven league appearances for Barnsley, Kpekawa made a permanent return to his former loan club Colchester United on 17 July 2017.[23] He signed an initial one-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[24] He made his second Colchester United debut on 5 August as a substitute in their 3–1 defeat at Accrington Stanley.[25]

After failing to establish himself in Colchester's first-team and having not made an appearance since January 2018, Kpekawa left the club by mutual consent on 13 April 2018.[26]

St Mirren

On 13 July 2018, it was announced that Kpekawa had signed a two-year deal with St Mirren after a successful trial period with the Scottish Premiership side.[27] Kpekawa made his debut for the club on the same day, starting in a 0–0 draw with Kilmarnock in the Scottish League Cup.[28] After failing to break into the first team at Saints, he was released by mutual consent in January 2019.[29]

AS Trenčín

On 20 August 2019, Kpekawa joined Fortuna Liga side AS Trenčín on a multi-year contract following a spell with Billericay Town.[30]

Kpekawa made his Fortuna Liga debut against Zemplín Michalovce on 14 September 1019.[31] In his debut match, Kpekawa was sent off in the 9th minute of the match, after he broke a leg of 18 year old Matej Trusa. Later that day, Trusa was diagnosed with a double fracture of his right leg. It was expected to take approximately 12 months until he recovers.[32] Trusa, however, managed to return in 6 months. On 20 September 2019, Kpekawa was suspended for six months by the disciplinary committee of Slovak Football Association for his foul on Trusa.[33]

Non-League

On 30 October 2020, Kpekawa signed for National League South club Chelmsford City.[34]

On 2 June 2021, Chelmsford announced fellow National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town had signed Kpekawa.[35]

On 27 May 2022, Kpekawa joined National League club Maidenhead United.[36] He was released at the end of the season.[37]

He joined Bromley for the 2023-24 season.[38]

International career

Kpekawa was born in England and is of Sierra Leone descent.[39] On 3 September 2015, following an injury to Kean Bryan of Manchester City, Kpekawa was called up to the England under-20 squad for their match against the Czech Republic.[40] Two days later he made his international debut as the Czech Republic were defeated 5–0. He featured for the full 90-minutes.[41]

He was again called up to the under-20 squad for the Mercedes-Benz Elite Cup in Germany, where England would play the Netherlands, Turkey and Germany.[42] He started in England's 2–1 win against Turkey and featured as a substitute in their 1–0 defeat by Germany as England ended the competition as runners-up.[43]

Style of play

Kpekawa primarily plays as a left-back but can also operate as a centre-back. Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom described him as "tall, quick, strong, with a good left foot".[44]

Career statistics
As of match played 29 April 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Queens Park Rangers 2014–15[10] Premier League 10–00–10
2015–16[45] Championship 500020–70
2016–17[46] Championship 000010–10
Total 600030–90
Colchester United (loan) 2014–15[10] League One 4020000060
Portsmouth (loan) 2014–15[10] League Two 20–000020
Leyton Orient (loan) 2015–16[45] League Two 9000–0090
Barnsley 2016–17[46] Championship 7000–0070
Colchester United 2017–18[47] League Two 6000101[lower-alpha 1]080
St Mirren 2018–19[48] Scottish Premiership 4000400080
Billericay Town 2018–19[48] National League South 7000000070
AS Trenčín 2019–20[48] Slovak Super Liga 1000000010
Chelmsford City 2020–21[48] National League South 11000001[lower-alpha 2]0120
Hemel Hempstead Town 2021–22[48] National League South 37320001[lower-alpha 2]0403
Maidenhead United 2022–23[48] National League 25300002[lower-alpha 2]0273
Career total 11964080501366
  1. Appearance in EFL Trophy
  2. Appearance in FA Trophy

References
  1. "List of Players Registered as Scholars in Accordance with Rule C.3 Between 01/07/2012 and 31/07/2012" (PDF). The FA. 31 May 2012. p. 9. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  2. Cole Kpekawa at Soccerbase
  3. "Barnsley". FootballSquads. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  4. "Cole Kpekawa: Leyton Orient extend QPR defender's loan deal". BBC Sport. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  5. "Cole Kpekawa signs pro deal". Queens Park Rangers FC. 2 April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  6. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/04/2014 and 30/04/2014" (PDF). The FA. 30 April 2014. p. 2. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  7. "QPR youngster Cole Kpekawa joins Colchester United". BBC Sport. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  8. "Colchester United 0–1 Coventry City". BBC Sport. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  9. "Cole Kpekawa extends Colchester stay". Queens Park Rangers FC. 19 December 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  10. "Games played by Cole Kpekawa in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  11. "Portsmouth sign Nyron Nosworthy and Cole Kpekawa on loan". BBC Sport. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  12. "AFC Wimbledon 1–0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  13. "Cole Kpekwawa recalled from Portsmouth loan". Queens Park Rangers FC. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  14. Canavan, Steve (24 May 2015). "Leicester City 5–1 Queens Park Rangers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  15. "News: O's add QPR defender on loan". Leyton Orient FC. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  16. "Leyton Orient 3–2 York City". BBC Sport. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  17. "News: Kpekawa extends O's stay". Leyton Orient FC. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  18. "Cole Kpekawa recalled from Orient loan". Queens Park Rangers FC. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  19. "Barnsley: QPR's Cole Kpekawa, Wigan's Sam Morsy and Celtic's Saidy Janko sign". BBC Sport. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  20. "Kpekawa loving life with Barnsley; Wales call-up for Bradshaw". The Star. Sheffield. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  21. "Preston North End 1–2 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  22. "Coaches working hard with 'centre-back' Kpekawa". Barnsley Chronicle. Barnsley. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  23. "Cole Kpekawa: Colchester United sign Barnsley defender". BBC Sport. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  24. Waldron, Jonathan (17 July 2017). "Colchester United seal Cole Kpekawa switch". Daily Gazette. Colchester. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  25. "Accrington Stanley 3–1 Colchester United". BBC Sport. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  26. Marston, Carl (13 April 2018). "Cole Kpekawa departs Colchester United". Green'Un. Ipswich. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  27. "Kpekawa sign for Saints". St Mirren. 13 July 2018.
  28. "Kilmarnock 0-0 St Mirren: Alan Stubbs eyes 'marquee' striker signings for Buddies". BBC. 14 July 2018.
  29. "Cole Kpekawa leaves". St Mirren. 21 January 2019. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  30. "A-TÍM V KABÍNE OBRANCA SO SKÚSENOSŤOU Z PREMIER LEAGUE" (in Slovak). AS Trenčín. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  31. MFK Zemplín Michalovce - AS Trenčín 2:1 15.09.2019, futbalnet.sk
  32. "Víťazstvo cez slzy, Šoltis: Verím, že Trusa sa vráti, mal skvele našliapnuté". Profutbal.sk. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  33. "Kpekawa z AS Trenčín dostal exemplárny trest za zlomenie nohy Matejovi Trusovi". Šport.sk. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  34. "Chelmsford City sign defender Cole Kpekawa". Chelmsford City. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  35. "Cole Kpekawa departure". Chelmsford City. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  36. "Welcome to York Road, Cole Kpekawa". www.pitchero.com/clubs/maidenheadunited. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  37. "Retained list details announced". maidenheadunitedfc.org. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  38. "Cole Kpekawa becomes second summer signing". bromleyfc.co.uk. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  39. "Cole Kpekawa :: Cole Desmond Kpekawa :: Chelmsford City".
  40. "Cole Kpekawa called into England under-20 squad". Queens Park Rangers FC. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  41. Veevers, Nicholas (5 September 2015). "England U20s kick-off with 5-0 win at St. George's Park". The FA. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  42. "Cole Kpekawa added to England U20 squad". Queens Park Rangers FC. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  43. "The Under 20's". England Football Online. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  44. "Cole Kpekawa Is A Red!". Barnsley FC. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  45. "Games played by Cole Kpekawa in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  46. "Games played by Cole Kpekawa in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  47. "Games played by Cole Kpekawa in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  48. "Games played by Cole Kpekawa in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
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