Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu

Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu

Mpanzu with West Ham United in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu [1]
Date of birth	(1994-03-22) 22 March 1994 (age 30) [2]
Place of birth	Hendon, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [2]
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Team information
Current team	Luton Town
Number	17
Youth career
2009–2011	Boreham Wood
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011	Boreham Wood	13	(0)
2011–2014	West Ham United	0	(0)
2013	→ Luton Town (loan)	5	(0)
2014–	Luton Town	346	(23)
International career‡
2021–	DR Congo	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 06:31, 6 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:23, 6 June 2021 (UTC)

Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu (born 22 March 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Luton Town. Born in England, he plays for the DR Congo national team. He is the first footballer to climb from the non-league tiers of English football to the Premier League with the same club, having played for Luton since 2013. ^[3]

Club career

Early career

Born in Hendon, Greater London, Mpanzu began his career with the youth system at Boreham Wood and made 13 first-team appearances. ^[4]

West Ham United

Mpanzu signed a two-and-a-half-year professional contract with Championship club West Ham United on 5 December 2011 after a successful trial. ^{[5] [6]} He was a member of the West Ham team which won the Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy against Espanyol in September 2013. ^[7] Mpanzu made his first-team debut in a 2–0 win away to Burnley in the League Cup fourth round on 29 October 2013. ^{[8] [9]} West Ham manager Sam Allardyce said of his debut, "This was their big chance. Three players, all defenders, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, Dan Potts and Leo Chambers, can feel very proud of themselves, what they've done." ^[10]

Luton Town

On 28 November 2013, Mpanzu signed for Conference Premier club Luton Town on loan until 4 January 2014. ^[11] He made his Luton debut in central defence two days later in a 0–0 draw with Staines Town in the FA Trophy, ^[12] and was named man of the match in the replay, which Luton won 2–0, while playing in central midfield. ^[13] He played in central midfield for five further matches, all victories, before being recalled back to West Ham's squad on 30 December due to his parent club's injury crisis. ^{[4] [14]} After impressing in his seven matches for Luton, manager John Still revealed that he was looking to bring Mpanzu back to Kenilworth Road. ^[14] On 28 January 2014, Mpanzu signed for Luton permanently on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, in a transfer described as a "major coup". ^[15] He scored his first goal for the club in a 7–0 win over Hereford United on 15 February 2014, ^[16] before scoring his second two months later, a "scorching half-volley" in a 2–1 away win over Dartford. ^[17] He finished 2013–14 with 24 appearances and two goals, ^[4] as Luton won the Conference Premier title and promotion to League Two. ^[18] Mpanzu said that his decision to leave West Ham and drop down the divisions had been "the right choice" ^[19] as he had a winner's medal to justify it. ^[19]

Mpanzu suffered numerous injuries, including a rare calcification of the hamstring muscle, ^[20] over the course of 2014–15 and made 18 appearances, of which only 10 were in the starting lineup. ^[4] He scored one goal during the campaign; an injury-time equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Bury. ^[21]

He remained fit for most of the 2016–17 season, playing in 52 games in all competitions including both legs of the play-off semi-final, which Luton lost 6–5 on aggregate to Blackpool. ^[22] Mpanzu signed a new three-year contract with Luton on 3 August 2017, with the option of a further year. ^[23] In the following two seasons, he achieved two consecutive promotions with Luton to reach the Championship. ^[24] In July 2021, he signed a new undisclosed-length deal to remain at the club. ^{[25] [26]}

On 28 January 2023, he played his 350th match with the club in a 2–2 draw against Grimsby Town in the FA Cup. ^[27] With Luton Town's promotion to the Premier League secured after winning the 2023 EFL Championship play-off final against Coventry City, he became the first player to go from non-league to the Premier League with the same club. ^[28] On 10 July 2023, he signed a new contract to extend his tenure at the club into the Premier League. ^[29]

International career

Born in England, Mpanzu is of Congolese descent. He was called up to represent the DR Congo national team for a pair of friendlies in June 2021. ^[30] He debuted with the DR Congo in a 1–0 friendly loss to Tunisia on 5 June 2021. ^[31]

Style of play

Mpanzu has been described as a "powerful" ^[32] box-to-box midfielder with "endless energy". ^{[33] [34]} Mpanzu has stated that central midfield is his natural position, but that he is able to play as a centre-back. ^[33]

Personal life

His cousin Peter Kioso is also a footballer; the two played together at Luton Town. ^[35]

Career statistics

As of match played 3 February 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Boreham Wood	2011–12 [4]	Conference South	13	0	0	0	—		0	0	13	0
West Ham United	2011–12 [36]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2012–13 [37]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2013–14 [9]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Luton Town	2013–14 [4]	National League	21	2	0	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 1]	0	24	2
	2014–15 [38]	League Two	16	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	18	1
	2015–16 [39]	League Two	21	2	0	0	2	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	24	2
	2016–17 [22]	League Two	42	2	2	0	2	0	6 [lower-alpha 3]	0	52	2
	2017–18 [40]	League Two	28	2	3	0	1	0	4 [lower-alpha 4]	0	36	2
	2018–19 [41]	League One	46	5	4	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	52	5
	2019–20 [42]	Championship	44	3	0	0	2	0	—		46	3
	2020–21 [43]	Championship	44	2	1	0	1	0	—		46	2
	2021–22 [44]	Championship	34	1	1	0	0	0	—		35	1
	2022–23 [45]	Championship	30	3	4	0	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 5]	0	37	3
	2023–24 [46]	Premier League	18	0	2	0	2	0	—		22	0
	Total		344	23	18	0	12	0	18	0	389	23
Career total			357	23	18	0	13	0	18	0	406	23

1. Appearances in FA Trophy
2. Appearance in Football League Trophy
3. Four appearances in EFL Trophy, two in League Two play-offs
4. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
5. Three appearances in the Championship play-offs

Honours

Luton Town

• EFL Championship play-offs: 2023 ^[47]
• EFL League One: 2018–19 ^[48]
• EFL League Two runner-up: 2017–18 ^[49]
• Conference Premier: 2013–14 ^[50]

Individual

• Luton Town Player of the Season: 2019–20 ^[51]

References

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2. "Pelly Ruddock". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
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49. Anderson, John, ed. (2018). Football Yearbook 2018–2019. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 214–215. ISBN   978-1-4722-6106-9.
50. Anderson, John, ed. (2014). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2014–2015. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 636–637. ISBN   978-1-4722-1251-1.
51. Simmonds, Mike (10 September 2020). "Cornick and Mpanzu win big at Hatters' awards night". Luton Today. JPIMedia Publishing. Archived from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2020.

External links

• Profile at the Luton Town F.C. website
• Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu at Premier League
• Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu at Soccerbase