Richard Kingson

Richard Kingson (born 13 June 1978) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He currently serves as a goalkeeper coach for the Ghana national football team.[3][4] He is also known by his Turkish name Faruk Gürsoy[5] and sometimes by the surname Kingston, which is the surname he used in his UEFA registration[6] and also the surname of his brother Laryea Kingston. The different spelling of the surnames is due to "irregularity on his identity documents".[7] Even in his native Ghana, he was quoted as "the man who got the 't' off his surname".[8]

Not to be confused with the English political pamphleteer and spy Richard Kingston.
"Kingson" redirects here. Not to be confused with Kingston.

Richard Kingson
Kingson with Ghana in 2008
Personal information
Full name Richard Kingson[1]
Date of birth (1978-06-13) 13 June 1978[2]
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1996 Great Olympics 0 (0)
1996–2005 Galatasaray 27 (0)
1998–1999 → Sakaryaspor (loan) 21 (0)
1999–2001 → Göztepe (loan) 19 (0)
2001–2002 → Antalyaspor (loan) 15 (0)
2002–2003 → Elazığspor (loan) 20 (0)
2005–2007 Ankaraspor 4 (0)
2007 → Hammarby (loan) 11 (0)
2007–2008 Birmingham City 1 (0)
2008–2010 Wigan Athletic 4 (0)
2010–2011 Blackpool 20 (0)
2013 Doxa Katokopias 10 (0)
2014 Balıkesirspor 13 (0)
2015 Great Olympics 0 (0)
Total 165 (0)
International career
1996–2012 Ghana 93 (1)
Managerial career
2017–2019 Ghana (goalkeeper coach)
2021 Ghana A' (goalkeeper coach)
2021– Ghana (goalkeeper coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

After leaving his home country, he played for several clubs in Turkey, for Hammarby in Sweden, and in England for Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Blackpool, who released him at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Kingson was the vice-captain for the Ghana national football team.

Club career

Turkey

Kingson left his native Accra in 1996 to pursue a career in Turkey, where he represented six different clubs, and became a naturalised citizen, taking a Turkish name, Faruk Gürsoy, coming from Faruk Süren and Ergun Gürsoy. His first club in Turkey was Galatasaray S.K., whom he signed for in December 1996 but did not play a single game. On 2004–05 season when he played with Galatasaray again, he was suspended from football for six months after a failed doping test.[9]

Birmingham City

After a three-month period on loan to Swedish club Hammarby IF, he drew attention from other clubs in Europe,[10] including Aalborg, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Birmingham City, eventually joining the latter. On 28 August 2007, Kingson made his debut for Birmingham in a League Cup third round tie against Hereford United. He played once in the Premier League, in a 2–0 defeat to Portsmouth in caretaker manager Eric Black's only game in charge.[11] At the end of the season, co-owner David Sullivan blamed the club's relegation on the quality of previous manager Steve Bruce's signings, branding Kingson a "complete waste of space".[12] Kingson was disappointed and angered by the perceived unfairness of Sullivan's reaction, saying that "an older person, in his position, has to speak maturely. He has to be a responsible man as co-owner to speak well and set an example to younger people."[13] The player's contract, which still had one year to run, was cancelled by mutual consent at the end of the 2007–08 season.[14]

Wigan Athletic

Kingson joined up with former manager Steve Bruce when he signed for Wigan Athletic on 12 September 2008. He was given the number 22 shirt, the same number as he wears for Ghana. He made his first-team debut in the FA Cup third round tie against Tottenham Hotspur, where his side lost 3–1. He made his first Premier League appearance for the club when he replaced the injured Chris Kirkland after 10 minutes of the away match against West Bromwich Albion on 9 May 2009. He saved a penalty from Chris Brunt, but Brunt was able to score from the rebound, and the game ended as a 3–1 defeat.[15] He was released after his contract expired at Wigan at the end of the 2009–10 season[16]

Blackpool

Following his release by Wigan Athletic, he signed for Premier League newcomers Blackpool in September 2010.[17] He made his debut for the Seasiders in a 3–2 defeat to Aston Villa on 10 November 2010. Following an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Matt Gilks, Kingson had an extended run in the first team. On 26 May 2011, Kingson was released, along with several other Blackpool players.[18]

Doxa Katokopias

After two years out of the game, Kingson signed a one-year deal for Cypriot First Division club Doxa Katokopias in July 2013.[19] He made his debut on the opening day of the league season, keeping a clean sheet as his team beat Nea Salamis 2–0.[20]

Balıkesirspor

In January 2014, Kingson returned to Turkey, to play for Turkish second-tier side Balıkesirspor on a half-year plus two years deal.[21]

Great Olympics

In 2015, Kingson was signed in a short-term contract by Great Olympics.[22] The following year, Kingson stated he still dreamed of playing for Asante Kotoko before retiring[23] and it was reported that he would be signed for the team,[24] which was later denied.[25]

International career
Kingson playing for Ghana at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations

Kingson was the starting goalkeeper of the Ghana national team, and was called up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

During the 2006 World Cup, the Ghanaian FA stated that his name is Kingston; however, the player's shirt used the correct spelling of his name, as confirmed by Kingson himself.[26]

He was voted as an All-Star Goalkeeper during the 2008 African Cup of Nations Tournament in Ghana. The Team of the Tournament was decided by the Technical Study Group (TSG) after careful observations of all the tournament's matches.[27]

In 2008, he scored a goal for Ghana in a friendly – a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Tanzania.[28]

As first-choice goalkeeper and team captain he was instrumental in leading Ghana to the final of the 2010 tournament, and was again selected for the all-star team along with Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary.

In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Kingson was selected in Ghana's opening game against Serbia, who had Vladimir Stojković, Kingson's fellow goalkeeper at Wigan Athletic in goal on the other side, keeping a clean sheet in The Black Stars 1–0 victory. In his next game he made a mistake in the 11th minute to give the lead to Australia in a group game which finished 1–1. His final group game ended in a narrow 1–0 defeat to Germany, but the team still qualified for the knock-out stages. In the match of 16 versus USA, he was voted Turkish Airlines Top of the Match after making several saves in the 2–1 extra time victory.[29] The team then moved on to the quarter-finals, where a goal was prevented by Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez and which awarded Ghana a penalty kick. Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty and Ghana ultimately lost in a penalty shootout, with Sebastian Abreu winning it with a Panenka.[30]

Personal life

Kingson is the brother of Laryea Kingston, who was also a member of the Ghana national team. He is a naturalised citizen of Turkey and his Turkish name is Faruk Gürsoy.[31] Kingson is married to Adelaide Tawiah. The ceremony took place in Ghana. Kingson's national teammates Asamoah Gyan and John Paintsil were among the guests at the wedding.

In 2012 a controversy arose when Kingson's wife during a prayer deliverance at the Synagogue Church of All Nations Church of T. B. Joshua in Nigeria confessed that she had used spirits to destroy Kingson's career and rendered him impotent. Kingson defended his wife by saying that it was not she who spoke but a spirit that spoke through her.[32]

Coaching career

After Kingson retired, he went into coaching.[3][4] In May 2017, he was appointed as the goal keeper's coach for the Ghana national football team.[33] In 2019, he was relieved of duties along with the whole technical team. After a reshuffle of the technical national teams, he was appointed as the goal keeper's coach of the Ghana A' national football team in June 2021.[34]

Kingson also served as goal keeper's coach for his former club Accra Great Olympics in January 2021, when Yaw Preko served as the interim head coach.[35] The following month, he joined Accra Hearts of Oak to serve in that same capacity for an interim period.[36]

On 4 August 2021, he was reassigned to the Ghana national team as the goal keeper's coach.[37]

Career statistics

International goals
List of international goals scored by Richard Kingson
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.20 August 2008Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Tanzania1–1DrawFriendly

Honours

Galatasaray S.K.[38]

Ghana

Individual

References
  1. "Premier League clubs submit squad lists" (PDF). Premier League. 1 February 2011. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2011.
  2. "Richard Kingson: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  3. "Ex-Ghana stars Laryea and Richard Kingson complete coaching course". 20 June 2017.
  4. "Former Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson wanted to go into farming after retirement". 11 August 2017.
  5. "Faruk Gürsoy". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007.
  6. "Former Blackpool goalkeeper Richard Kingston's wife claims she used her 'evil powers to trouble his career'". The Daily Telegraph. 10 September 2012.
  7. Sannie, Ibrahim (4 July 2007). "Birmingham complete Kingson deal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  8. "Richard Kingson, Avram Grant and Andre Ayew: The three major talking points". Modern Ghana. 26 March 2015.
  9. "BodyForumTR Vücut Geliştirme Forumu". BodyForumTR Vücut Geliştirme Forumu.
  10. Sannie, Ibrahim (29 June 2007). "Kingson set for Hammarby exit". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  11. "Birmingham 0–2 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 24 November 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  12. "Sullivan slams fans and Bruce buys". ESPNsoccernet. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  13. Tattum, Colin (19 May 2008). "Richard Kingson in a rage over Blues 'slur'". Birmingham Mail. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  14. "Kingson released". Birmingham City F.C. 15 May 2008. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  15. Chowdhury, Saj (9 May 2009). "West Brom 3–1 Wigan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  16. "Wigan sign keeper Ali Al Habsi on loan". BBC Sport. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  17. "Premier League clubs submit squad lists". Premier League. 1 September 2010. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  18. "Blackpool offer contract extension and release players". BBC News. 26 May 2011.
  19. "Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson seals one-year move to Cypriot club Doxa". Ghanasoccernet.com. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  20. "Kingson keeps clean sheet on debut for Cypriot club Doxa". Ghanasoccernet.com. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  21. "Old Galatasaray player to set a new Balıkesirspor goalkeeper".
  22. "Veteran Ghana goalie Richard Kingson yet to decide Great Olympics future". 16 September 2015.
  23. "Richard Kingson says dream to play for Asante Kotoko "still alive"". 11 June 2016.
  24. "Asante Kotoko to offer Richard Olele Kingson a year deal". 14 June 2016.
  25. "Kotoko deny Richard Kingson interest". 14 June 2016.
  26. "Bajens nya målvakt Richard Kingson efter sin första träning med laget". Svenskafans.com. 31 March 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  27. "CAF names Best XI for Ghana 2008 ACN". CAF Online. 10 February 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  28. "Goalkeeper scores late equaliser in Ghana friendly". Reuters. 20 August 2008.
  29. "Top of the Match sponsored by Turkish Airlines: Richard Kingson (Ghana)". Goal.com. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  30. "An ode to el Loco: The day Sebastian Abreu became a Uruguay legend". 2 July 2022.
  31. "Premier Lig Haberleri - Premier Lig Haber". Haberler.
  32. "Former Blackpool goalkeeper Richard Kingson". uk.eurosport.yahoo.com. Eurosport. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012.
  33. "Olele reveals ambitions for Black Stars | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  34. Association, Ghana Football. "Annor Walker gets Black Stars B appointment". www.ghanafa.org. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  35. "Richard Kingson returns to Great Olympics as goalkeeper's trainer". GhanaWeb. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  36. "Richard Kingson: New Hearts of Oak goalkeepers trainer charges fans to rally behind team in difficult period". GhanaSoccernet. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  37. Association, Ghana Football. "Richard Kingston takes over from Najawu as Black Stars goalkeepers trainer". www.ghanafa.org. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  38. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Richard Kingson (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  39. "Ghana v Egypt - African Nations Cup". espn.com. ESPN. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
  40. "26th Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008". cafonline.com. CAF. 9 February 2008. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008.
  41. "CAF names Best XI for Ghana 2008 ACN". CAF Online. 10 February 2008. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  42. "CAF Releases top 11 of Orange CAN". cafonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
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