Agyemang began his career at Wimbledon, progressing through the club's youth system. He made his senior debut on loan at Second Division club Brentford during the 1999–2000 season, before returning to Wimbledon to make 137 appearances and score 22 goals over the next four years. Financial difficulties at the club led to his transfer to First Division club Gillingham in January 2004. After ten months, he joined Preston North End for £350,000, scoring 21 times in 135 appearances across four seasons. In January 2008, he signed for Queens Park Rangers, contributing to their promotion to the Premier League during the 2010–11 season and ending that season on loan at Bristol City. He joined Millwall on a one-month loan the following season, making two appearances.
Agyemang joined League One club Stevenage on loan in January 2012, a move made permanent in August, and scored once in 31 appearances. In February 2013, he joined League One club Portsmouth on loan for the remainder of the 2012–13 season, signing permanently in May 2013. Over two years at Portsmouth, he scored eight goals in 69 appearances and had a loan spell with Dagenham & Redbridge. Agyemang retired in 2015, later making brief appearances for non-League clubs Baffins Milton Rovers and Cray Valley Paper Mills. Born in England, Agyemang is of Ghanaian descent and represented the Ghana national team, earning two caps and scoring one goal.
Club career
Wimbledon
Agyemang left school at the age of 16 and was offered academy scholarships by Wimbledon and Charlton Athletic.[3] He opted to sign for Wimbledon as they had a reputation for giving their academy players first-team opportunities.[1][3] Prior to making his Wimbledon first-team debut, Agyemang was loaned to Brentford on a three-month loan agreement during the 1999–2000 season.[2] He made his Brentford debut in a 2–1 home defeat to Gillingham on 19 October 1999, coming on as a 56th-minute substitute in the match.[4] Agyemang made 12 appearances for the club during the three-month spell, of which three were starting appearances.[4] Whilst he did not score during his time at Brentford, Agyemang stated he gained a lot of confidence from his performances.[3] He returned to Wimbledon in January 2000.[2]
The 2000–01 season served as Agyemang's breakthrough season at Wimbledon;[5][6] he played regularly during the season,[6] and scored his first professional goal in a 2–2 away draw against Wycombe Wanderers on 17 February 2001.[6] The goal served as the catalyst for a run of five goals in nine appearances.[6] The following season, Agyemang scored four goals in 35 games as Wimbledon finished ninth in Division One.[7][8] Agyemang scored six goals in 36 games during the 2002–03 season.[9] Despite only playing in the first half of the 2003–04 season, he finished as Wimbledon's top goalscorer with seven goals in all competitions.[3][10]
Gillingham
Due to Wimbledon's financial problems,[11] Agyemang was sold to fellow Division One club Gillingham on 2 January 2004 for a fee of £150,000.[12] Although reluctant to leave, he accepted the necessity of the transfer.[13] Wimbledon manager Stuart Murdoch revealed that Agyemang was sometimes withheld from playing to avoid injury that could jeopardise the transfer, as the club relied on the funds from the sale.[13]
Agyemang made his Gillingham debut in a 2–1 away defeat to Derby County on 17 January 2004,[10] scoring his first goal two weeks later with the match-winner in a 1–0 victory over Bradford City at Priestfield.[10] He added five more goals late in the 2003–04 season, including the first brace of his career against Walsall on 12 April 2004[10] and the winner against former club Wimbledon.[10] After scoring twice in 14 appearances at the start of the 2004–05 season,[14] Agyemang attracted transfer interest from Championship club Preston North End.[15]
Preston North End
Preston agreed a transfer fee in the region of £350,000 with Gillingham for Agyemang on 14 November 2004,[15] with the move completed on 16 November.[16][17] He made his debut in a 1–0 away victory against Cardiff City on 19 November 2004, playing 73 minutes.[14] Agyemang scored his first goal for Preston in the club's 3–0 home victory against Reading on 28 December 2004.[14] He scored four times in 31 appearances during his first season, finishing the season playing a peripheral role behind forwards Richard Cresswell and David Nugent.[14][18] This included three second-half substitute appearances in the Championship play-offs that season, where Preston lost 1–0 to West Ham in the final.[14][19] Agyemang was a regular during the 2005–06 season, scoring six goals in 49 matches, including both play-off matches, which Preston lost 3–1 on aggregate to Leeds United.[20][21] His six goals made him the club's second highest goalscorer for the season.[22][23]
Agyemang scored an overhead kick in a 1–0 home victory against West Brom on 12 September 2006,[24][25] described as "one of the best goals seen at Deepdale in the last couple of decades".[26] He scored seven goals in 33 appearances that season,[27] with Preston missing out on the play-offs by one point.[28] During the 2007–08 season, Agyemang scored four goals in 22 appearances for Preston.[29][30]
Queens Park Rangers
During the 2008 January transfer window, Agyemang was linked with transfers to Leicester City and Queens Park Rangers (QPR), with his Preston contract due to expire that summer.[31][32] He signed for QPR on 3 January 2008 for a nominal fee, agreeing a four-and-a-half-year contract.[33][34] Agyemang debuted for QPR two days later as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 FA Cup defeat away to Chelsea.[29] He scored his first goal in the following match, a 2–1 away defeat to Sheffield United[29] and subsequently scored a further seven goals in five league games.[29] He finished the 2007–08 season with 18 appearances and nine goals for QPR.[29] The 2008–09 season saw reduced playing time, with Agyemang making 12 starts and 23 appearances in total, scoring twice.[35]
Agyemang subsequently signed for Championship club Bristol City on 25 January 2010, on a loan agreement until the end of the 2009–10 season.[36][37] He made his first start a day later in a 6–0 home defeat to Cardiff City,[38] making seven appearances during an injury-affected four months with the club.[39] Returning to QPR for the 2010–11 season, he scored his first goal that season in a 2–2 draw away at Derby County,[40] helping QPR maintain their unbeaten start with an injury-time equaliser.[41] A stress fracture of his tibia sidelined him for most of the season.[42] He made 19 league appearances, all as a substitute, as QPR won promotion to the Premier League.[43]
Following the acquisitions of DJ Campbell and Jay Bothroyd ahead of QPR's return to the Premier League, Agyemang faced increased competition for forward positions.[44][45] He started in the club's first away match of the season, a 1–0 win against Everton at Goodison Park on 20 August 2011,[46] and played the full match in the following 2–0 defeat to Wigan Athletic on 27 August, which was his final appearance for QPR that season.[47][48] Agyemang was made available for loan,[49] joining Championship club Millwall on a 28-day loan agreement on 13 October 2011.[5][50] He debuted two days later, playing the first 45 minutes in a 1–1 away draw against Middlesbrough on 15 October 2011[51] and made one further appearance before returning to QPR in November 2011.[52][53] Agyemang was subsequently omitted from QPR's 25-man squad for the remainder of the season.[54]
Stevenage
After four months without first-team football, Agyemang joined League One club Stevenage on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season on 8 March 2012.[55][56] The move reunited Agyemang with manager Gary Smith, who had previously coached him at Wimbledon.[55] He made his Stevenage debut two days after joining the club, playing the first 61 minutes in Stevenage's 2–2 home draw against Chesterfield.[57] Agyemang scored his first goal for Stevenage in a 6–0 away victory against Yeovil Town on 14 April 2012.[58][59] He made 15 appearances as Stevenage were defeated in the play-off semi-final to Sheffield United.[47][60] Agyemang was released by QPR upon the expiry of his contract in June 2012.[61]
Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Agyemang trained with Stevenage during pre-season and participated in the club's tour of Ireland.[62][63][64] In August 2012, he had a one-week trial with Bidvest Wits of the Premier Soccer League in South Africa.[65] No transfer materialised, and he signed for Stevenage on a free transfer on 31 August 2012.[66][67]
Portsmouth
Having made 16 appearances for Stevenage without scoring, Agyemang joined League One club Portsmouth on a one-month loan on 8 February 2013.[68] He debuted the following day in a 2–0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth[69] and scored his first Portsmouth goal in his sixth appearance, on 2 March 2013, securing a 2–1 victory against Crewe Alexandra and providing an assist in the same match, ending Portsmouth's 23-game winless streak.[70] His loan was extended for a further month on 8 March 2013.[71] Despite Portsmouth's relegation to League Two,[72] Agyemang's performances were cited as a factor in the team's late-season resurgence.[73][74] He made 15 appearances during the loan.[75] and expressed a desire to join the club permanently.[76]
Shortly after the 2012–13 season, Agyemang signed a two-year permanent contract with Portsmouth, officially joining the club on 1 July 2013.[77][78] He played regularly during the 2013–14 season, scoring five times in 44 appearances as Portsmouth finished 13th in League Two.[79] After the departure of manager Guy Whittingham,[11] his playing time reduced, making 10 appearances during the first half of the following season.[80] He joined fellow League Two club Dagenham & Redbridge on loan on 24 November 2014,[81] making four appearances until the loan's conclusion on 3 January 2015.[80][81] Agyemang left Portsmouth by mutual consent on 24 March 2015.[82]
Later career
Without a club and training independently ahead of the 2015–16 season, Agyemang made the decision to retire from playing due to a knee injury, stating he could not maintain the physical demands required to play professional football.[11] He briefly came out of retirement in November 2017, having not played competitive senior football since leaving Portsmouth two years earlier, to play for Baffins Milton Rovers of the Wessex League Premier Division.[83] He made one appearance, in a 4–1 defeat to Horley Town in the FA Vase.[83][84] Agyemang also made one appearance for Cray Valley Paper Mills of the Southern Counties East League, starting in a 5–3 away victory against Lordswood on 18 August 2018.[85]
International career
Agyemang made his international debut for Ghana against Nigeria on 30 May 2003,[86] in the 4-Nation LG Cup in Abuja, with Nigeria winning the match 3–1.[87][88] He scored Ghana's only goal three minutes into his debut.[87]
He was named in Ghana's 40-man preliminary squad for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, but did not make the final selection.[89] In February 2006, Agyemang was called up to play for Ghana in the pre-2006 World Cup friendly against Mexico on 1 March 2006, played in the United States.[89][90] He started the match, playing 74 minutes before being substituted for Alex Tachie-Mensah.[90] Despite being considered an alternative attacking option due to his height and physical presence,[91] Agyemang was not included in Ghana's final 23-man World Cup squad.[92]
Style of play
Agyemang was deployed as a forward throughout his career.[2][93] Described as powerful and possessing "great pace",[36][94] he often played on the shoulder of the last defender, confident that his pace would create goal-scoring opportunities.[12] In the latter stages of his career, Agyemang felt he was wrongly labelled as a target man by managers, a role he felt did not suit his preference for playing with the ball at his feet and running the channels.[11]
Personal life
After retiring from professional football, Agyemang began working as a personal trainer.[11]
Career statistics
Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
↑ Cross, Jordan (25 March 2013). "Agyemang: Fans' faith in me is key". The News. Portsmouth. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑ Wilson, Steve (4 May 2013). "Striker agrees two-year Pompey deal". The News. Portsmouth. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
