Charles Asampong Taylor

Kweku Charles Bismark Taylor Asampong (born 14 July 1981 in Sefwi, Western Region) is a Ghanaian football striker who currently plays for Berekum Chelsea.[1][2] He had his greatest playing days and is one of the few players to play for Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. and Asante Kotoko. As a kid, he was often called tailor, after his uncle who was a tailor as he used to help his uncle with work, hence, he adopted the name Charles Taylor after the former Liberian president. Nicknamed "Terror" due to his ability to terrorise opponents. He's arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the Ghana premier league and a key member of the famous "64 Battalion" squad of Accra Hearts of Oak S.C. that won the African Champions League in 2000 and consecutive Ghanaian league titles.[3][4]

Kweku Asampong
Personal information
Full name Kweku Charles Bismark Taylor Asampong
Date of birth (1981-07-14) 14 July 1981
Place of birth Sefwi Asanwinso, Ghana
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Berekum Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 Great Olympics
2000–2003 Accra Hearts of Oak
2003–2004 Asante Kotoko
2004–2008 Etoile du Sahel
2008–2010 Accra Hearts of Oak
2010–2011 Enugu Rangers
2011– Berekum Chelsea
National team
1999–2004 Ghana 16 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Football career

Early life

His playing career started off at Great Olympics, where he used to polish the shoes of their management, he had a bet with the then chairman Ade Coker that he could play better than the team players, he was asked to play and showed excellent dribbling skills, he later signed for the club.

Personal life

On 31 August 2015, reports suggest that he has been ordained as a priest.

Accra Hearts of Oak

He transferred to Accra Hearts of Oak in 2000 where he helped them win the Ghana premier national league in 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons. Then coached by Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio and Offei-Ansah, Taylor formed a fantastic partnership with Ishmael Addo and Emmanuel Osei Kuffour affectionately called the deadly trio. In addition to the national premier league in 2000, Hearts of oak won the FA cup and the African champions league for the first time. In February 2001, they won the African Super Cup Championship where he scored the first goal against Al-Zamalek of Egypt at the Kumasi Sports Stadium. Charles Taylor alongside Charles Allotey, Amankwaah Mireku, Joseph Ansah, Jacob Nettey, Stephen Tetteh, Ishmael Addo, Emmanuel Osei Kuffour, Sammy Adjei, Edmund Copson, and Emmanuel Adjogu were deemed as the best squad ever to be assembled by Accra Hearts of oak and also famously called "64 Battalion" a name after the most feared unit of the Ghana Army during Jerry Rawlings' rule.

Asante Kotoko

He controversially transferred from Accra Hearts of Oak to archrivals Asante Kotoko in 2003 for the then domestic transfer record fee of GH₵ 40,000 (roughly US$42,000). Charles Taylor essentially boycotted training with Hearts of oak and did not play any games way into the season just to force the move. His first season with Kotoko was a success and he won the Ghana Premier league with Kotoko in 2003. However, this transfer caused a lot of bitter local sentiment towards Taylor, from which his popularity has never recovered...[5] Taylor joined Etoile du Sahel from Kotoko in 2004 for a fee of US$250,000[6] After an unsuccessful spell in Tunisia he was loaned to Accra Hearts of Oak in October 2006.[7]

International career

He was part of the Ghanaian 2004 Olympic football team that exited in the first round, having finished in third place in group B. He was a silver medalist with Ghana U-20 team at 2001 Africa youth championship in Ethiopia. He currently has forty one caps for the Ghana national football team, the Black Stars, scoring nineteen goals. Taylor represented the Black Stars at 2009 African Championship of Nations in Côte d'Ivoire, where they finished second, beaten by the famous Congo.[8]

Honours

Individual

▪ 2002: Ghana premier league Top Scorer (shared with Bernard Dong Bortey)

▪ 2002: SWAG Sports Personality of the year award.

▪ 2001: GFA player of the year.

Clubs

References
  1. socceringhana (1 November 2011). "THE STAR THAT FAILED TO SHINE-Charles Taylor". Socceringhana's Blog. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  2. Charles Taylor Debuts For Enugu Rangers | Transfers 2010-03-28
  3. "Today in history: Hearts win 2000 Champions League after chaotic final - Ghanasoccernet.com". social_image. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  4. **###. "The African Champions League 2000: results, club portraits, and match reports". www.the-shot.com. Retrieved 14 March 2017.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. Charles Taylor fit to play for Hearts Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Charles Taylor To Miss Next Match
  7. Hearts complete Taylor registration Archived 7 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  8. CHAN 2009: Squad List
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