Junior Quitirna

Junior Quitirna

Personal information
Full name	Armando Junior Quitirna [1]
Date of birth	(2000-04-25) 25 April 2000 (age 24) [2]
Place of birth	Guinea-Bissau [3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Crawley Town
Youth career
0000–2018	AFC Hornchurch
2018–2019	Charlton Athletic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2018	AFC Hornchurch	0	(0)
2019–2021	Charlton Athletic	0	(0)
2021–2023	Waterford	43	(15)
2023–2024	Fleetwood Town	29	(5)
2023	→ Altrincham (loan)	0	(0)
2024–	Crawley Town	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:22, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

Armando Junior Quitirna (born 25 April 2000) is a Bissau-Guinean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League One club Crawley Town. ^[4]

Career

Early career

Quitirna was born in Guinea-Bissau, but moved to London at the age of eight.^{[ citation needed ]} He started his youth career with local side AFC Hornchurch where he featured mainly for the Development squad but also featured for the first team as an unused substitute in the FA Cup and Isthmian League Division One North, against Hertford Town and Witham Town respectively. ^{[5] [6]}

Charlton Athletic

In 2018 he signed for EFL League One side Charlton Athletic and was placed in the under-23 squad. He failed to make an appearance in his first season with the club as Charlton were promoted to the EFL Championship through the play-offs, with victory over Sunderland at Wembley Stadium. In August 2019, he made his professional debut for the first team when he featured as a substitute in the EFL Cup first round 0–0 draw with Forest Green Rovers, which they eventually lost on penalties. ^[7] He failed to feature in another matchday squad as Charlton were relegated back to League One after only one season. Following that campaign he was offered a new one-year contract in July 2020 with another one-year option included. ^[8] He made his second and final appearance for the club in September 2020 in a 0–0 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion U21 in the EFL Trophy. ^[9] It was announced on 18 May 2021 that he would leave the club at the end of his contract, with Quitirna turning down a new deal in order to pursue first team football. ^[10]

Waterford

On 9 July 2021, it was announced that had Quitirna made the move to League of Ireland Premier Division side Waterford after an approach from chairman, Mitch Cowling, who promoted first team football. ^[11] On the same day, he made his debut for the club, scoring a penalty in a 1–0 win away to Finn Harps. ^[12] On 30 July 2021, he came off the bench away to Drogheda United in the 75th minute and scored the winning goal eight minutes later in a 2–1 win for his side. ^[13] He scored six goals in his first 14 appearances in Waterford's hugely-improved form in the second half of the season. Waterford finished in 9th position which sent them into a relegation play-off with First Division side UCD, which they subsequently lost 2–1. ^[14] He made a total of 20 appearances in all competitions over the season, scoring seven goals. ^[15] In his second season for the club he made a total of 35 appearances in all competitions, scoring 13 goals as the club finished in second behind Champions Cork City. ^[2] The club qualified for the promotion play-offs, beating Treaty United in the semi-finals and Galway United in the final. However, they lost the promotion/relegation play-off to UCD for the second season running. He was named in the League of Ireland First Division Team of the Year. ^[16] On 31 January 2023, it was announced that Quitirna had left the club due to ongoing visa issues and a move to sister club, Fleetwood Town, facilitated a move back to his native UK. ^[17]

Fleetwood Town

Quitirna joined League One club Fleetwood Town until his visa issues were sorted and was immediately loaned out to National League club Altrincham on an initial one-month deal, following in the footsteps of Chris Conn-Clarke and Barry Baggley. ^[16] Quitirna returned to his parent club on 2 March 2023, after making just one appearance for Altrincham, playing 10 minutes in an FA Trophy tie away to Bracknell Town, in which he scored the last goal in a 3–1 win. ^[18] Upon his return to Fleetwood, he forced himself into first team contention and scored on his EFL debut on 7 April after replacing Daniel Batty as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat to Cambridge United at the Abbey Stadium. ^[19] He made a further four appearances for the Cods as they finished in 13th position. ^[19]

In January 2024, Quitirna signed a new long-term contract with the club, keeping him at the club until June 2026 with the option for a further year. ^[20]

Crawley Town

On 25 July 2024, Quitirna returned to League One following Fleetwood Town's relegation, joining newly promoted Crawley Town for an undisclosed fee on an initial two-year deal. ^[21]

Career statistics

As of match played 27 April 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup [lower-alpha 1]		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
AFC Hornchurch	2017–18	Isthmian League Division One North	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
Charlton Athletic	2019–20 [7]	Championship	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	2020–21 [9]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	1	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0
Waterford	2021 [2]	LOI Premier Division	16	6	3	1	—		1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	20	7
	2022 [2]	LOI First Division	27	9	3	1	—		5 [lower-alpha 4]	3	35	13
	2023 [2]	LOI First Division	—		—		—		1 [lower-alpha 5]	1	1	1
	Total		43	15	6	2	—		7	4	56	21
Fleetwood Town	2022–23 [19]	League One	5	1	—		—		—		5	1
	2023–24 [22]	League One	24	4	0	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 6]	0	26	4
	Total		29	5	0	0	1	0	1	0	31	5
Altrincham (loan)	2022–23 [19]	National League	0	0	—		—		1 [lower-alpha 7]	1	1	1
Crawley Town	2024–25 [23]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			72	20	6	2	2	0	10	5	90	27

1. Includes FA Cup & FAI Cup
2. One appearance in the EFL Trophy
3. Appearances in 2021 League of Ireland promotion/relegation playoffs
4. One appearance in the Munster Senior Cup & four appearances and three goals in the 2022 League of Ireland promotion/relegation playoffs
5. Appearance in the Munster Senior Cup
6. One appearance in the EFL Trophy
7. Appearance in the FA Trophy

Honours

Individual

• League of Ireland First Division Team of the Season: 2022 ^[16]

References

1. "EFL – Squad List 2022/23: Fleetwood Town - In Squad Players" (PDF). English Football League. p. 52. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
2. "England - J. Quitirna - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
3. "PlayerProfile". www.cafc.co.uk.
4. Junior Quitirna at Soccerway
5. "FA Cup: Hertford Town 1 Hornchurch 2". www.romfordrecorder.co.uk. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
6. "Bostik North: Hornchurch 0 Witham Town 1". www.romfordrecorder.co.uk. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
7. "Games played by Junior Quitirna in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
8. "RELEASED AND RETAINED PLAYERS". www.cafc.co.uk. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
9. "Games played by Junior Quitirna in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
10. "Squad update following completion of the 2020/21 season". www.cafc.co.uk. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
11. "Waterford FC". Waterford FC. 9 July 2021.
12. "Junior Quitirna strikes to give Waterford lifeline at bottom of Premier Division".
13. "Super-sub Junior Quitirna seals Waterford win away to Drogheda United". 30 July 2021.
14. Fennessy, Paul (26 November 2021). "Joy for UCD as they beat beleagured [sic] Waterford to seal Premier Division status". The42.
15. "Guinea-Bissau - Junior Quitirna - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
16. "Junior Quitirna joins Town and heads to Altrincham on loan". www.fleetwoodtownfc.com. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
17. "Update: Junior Quitirna". 31 January 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
18. "Junior rejoins Fleetwood after Alty loan spell comes to an end".
19. "Games played by Junior Quitirna in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
20. "Junior Quitirna pens a new long-term deal with Town". www.fleetwoodtownfc.com. 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
21. "REDS SECURE THE SIGNING OF ARMANDO JUNIOR QUITIRNA". www.crawleytownfc.com. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
22. "Games played by Junior Quitirna in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
23. "Games played by Junior Quitirna in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 July 2024.