Michael Folivi

Michael Folivi

Personal information
Full name	Michael Kwaku Foli Folivi [1]
Date of birth	(1998-02-25) 25 February 1998 (age 26) [2]
Place of birth	Wembley, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) [2]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Hemel Hempstead Town
Youth career
2008–2016	Watford
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2020	Watford	1	(0)
2017	→ Coventry City (loan)	1	(0)
2018	→ Boreham Wood (loan)	13	(1)
2019	→ AFC Wimbledon (loan)	10	(2)
2019–2020	→ AFC Wimbledon (loan)	10	(0)
2020–2021	Colchester United	27	(5)
2023	Chelmsford City	14	(6)
2023–2024	Farnborough	16	(5)
2024–	Hemel Hempstead Town	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:12, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

Michael Kwaku Foli Folivi (born 25 February 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Hemel Hempstead Town.

Club career

Folivi signed his first professional contract with Watford in 2015 whilst still in the club's youth system and completed his scholarship in summer 2016. Having been part of the first team squad that travelled to Liverpool in the Premier League in November 2016, Folivi extended his contract until 2020. ^[3] He made his professional debut on 3 January 2017, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute for Sebastian Prodl in a 2–0 Premier League defeat away at Stoke City. ^[4]

On 31 January 2017 Folivi joined League One side Coventry City on loan for the remainder of the season. ^[5] Having been out injured with an ankle injury, Folivi made his only first team appearance coming on as a substitute for Marcus Tudgay in the final game of the season. He was an unused substitute as Coventry won the 2017 EFL Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium. ^[6]

On 11 January 2018 Folivi joined National League side Boreham Wood on loan for the remainder of the season. ^[7] The club reached the play-offs, and Folivi scored what proved to be the decisive goal in their 3–2 win over Sutton United in the semi-finals. ^[8] He started the final against Tranmere Rovers at Wembley Stadium but was taken off after 70 minutes, prior to Tranmere scoring the winner in a 2–1 victory. ^[9]

On 31 January 2019, Folivi joined League One side AFC Wimbledon on loan for the rest of the season, playing 11 times as the club retained their status in the division. ^[10] He rejoined Wimbledon on a season-long loan in July 2019, but the loan was cut short on 3 January. ^{[11] [12]} He was released by Watford in June 2020. ^[13]

On 2 November 2020, Folivi signed a contract with League Two club Colchester United until the end of the 2020–21 season. ^[14] He made his debut on 3 November as a substitute for Jevani Brown in Colchester's 3–1 home win against Stevenage. ^[15] He scored his first goal for the club on 10 November in Colchester's 6–1 EFL Trophy win against Southend United. ^[16] With his contract with Colchester expiring in the summer, Folivi had been set to sign a new deal with the club. However, he sustained an Achilles tendon injury which resulted in him requiring surgery. As such, his new Colchester contract offer was put on hold. ^[17]

On 20 February 2023, Folivi signed for Chelmsford City following his recovery from injury. ^[18]

On 11 July 2023, Folivi joined Farnborough. ^[19]

Following a six-month spell with Farnborough, Folivi joined fellow National League South side, Hemel Hempstead Town in January 2024. ^[20]

Personal life

Born in England, Folivi is of Ghanaian descent. ^[21]

Career statistics

As of match played 6 January 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Watford	2016–17 [22]	Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2017–18 [23]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2018–19 [24]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2019–20 [25]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Coventry City (loan)	2016–17 [22]	League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Boreham Wood (loan)	2017–18 [23]	National League	13	1	—		—		5 [lower-alpha 1]	1	18	2
AFC Wimbledon (loan)	2018–19 [24]	League One	10	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	11	2
	2019–20 [25]	League One	10	0	0	0	1	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	1	13	1
	Total		20	2	1	0	1	0	2	1	24	3
Colchester United	2020–21 [26]	League Two	27	5	1	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 3]	1	29	6
Chelmsford City	2022–23 [26]	National League South	14	6	—		—		1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	15	6
Farnborough	2023–24 [26] [27]	National League South	16	5	2	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 5]	0	19	5
Hemel Hempstead Town	2023–24 [26]	National League South	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
Career total			92	19	4	0	1	0	10	3	107	22

1. Two appearances in FA Trophy, three appearances and one goal in National League play-offs
2. Two appearances in EFL Trophy
3. One appearance in EFL Trophy
4. One appearance in National League South play-offs
5. One appearance in FA Trophy

Honours

Coventry City

• EFL Trophy: 2016–17 ^[28]

References

1. "EFL Squad Numbering" (PDF). English Football League. p. 40. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
2. "Michael Folivi". Premier League. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
3. "Michael Folivi". Watford F.C. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
4. "Stoke 2–0 Watford". BBC. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
5. https://www.watfordfc.com/club/sky-blues-loan-folivi
6. "Coventry 2–1 Oxford". BBC. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
7. "Michael Folivi: Watford striker joins Boreham Wood on loan". BBC. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
8. "Sutton United 2–3 Boreham Wood". BBC. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
9. "Boreham Wood 1–2 Tranmere Rovers". BBC. 12 May 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
10. "Shane McLoughlin and Michael Folivi: AFC Wimbledon sign duo". BBC Sport. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
11. "He's back! Forward completes his Wimbledon return". AFC Wimbledon. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
12. "Michael returns to Watford". AFC Wimbledon. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
13. "Academy: New Contracts Offered". Watford F.C. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
14. "Michael Folivi: Colchester United sign ex-Watford striker". BBC Sport. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
15. "Colchester United 3–1 Stevenage". BBC Sport. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
16. "Colchester 6–1 Southend". Sky Sports. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
17. Waldron, Jonathan (22 June 2021). "Colchester United target Michael Folivi vows to return stronger". Daily Gazette. Colchester. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
18. "Folivi joins the Clarets". Chelmsford City F.C. 20 February 2023.
19. "Boro complete Folivi signing". Farnborough F.C. 11 July 2023.
20. Lloyd, Dom (13 January 2024). "Michael Folvi departs". Farnborough F.C. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
21. "Performance of Ghanaian Players Abroad: Yartey sparkles, Ache strikes as Antwi hits brace as 20 players score 23 goals abroad – Ghana Sports Online". 12 August 2019.
22. "Games played by Michael Folivi in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
23. "Games played by Michael Folivi in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
24. "Games played by Michael Folivi in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
25. "Games played by Michael Folivi in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
26. "M. Folivi". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
27. "Farnborough – Appearances – Michael Folivi". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
28. Scott, Ged (2 April 2017). "EFL Trophy final: Coventry City 2–1 Oxford United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 March 2024.

External links

• Michael Folivi at Soccerbase
• Michael Folivi at Soccerway