John Cofie

John Erzuah Cofie (born 21 January 1993) is a Ghanaian-born English retired footballer who played as a forward.

John Cofie
Personal information
Full name John Erzuah Cofie[1]
Date of birth (1993-01-21) 21 January 1993
Place of birth Aboso, Ghana
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
2007 Burnley
2007–2010 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Manchester United 0 (0)
2012 → Royal Antwerp (loan) 13 (3)
2012–2013 → Sheffield United (loan) 16 (2)
2013 → Notts County (loan) 7 (1)
2013–2014 Barnsley 0 (0)
2014–2015 Molde 0 (0)
2015 Crawley Town 1 (0)
2015–2016 Wrexham 2 (0)
2016 AFC Telford United 17 (4)
2016–2017 Southport 8 (0)
2016 → Bradford Park Avenue (loan) 2 (1)
2016–2017 → Chorley (loan) 2 (0)
2017 Stalybridge Celtic 4 (0)
2017–2018 Derry City 4 (0)
2018 Hume City
2020 Global
National team
2010 England U17 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He began his career with Burnley and moved to Manchester United for a fee of £1m at the age of 14,[2] but failed to make the break into the first-team. Following loan spells with Royal Antwerp, Sheffield United and Notts County he was released by Manchester United, joining Barnsley on a free transfer in July 2013. He never made a first-team appearance at Barnsley before joining Norwegian club Molde in August 2014. In March 2015, he returned to England, joining Crawley Town. He moved to Wrexham in November 2015. In January 2016, Cofie joined AFC Telford United before moving to Southport in June 2016. In October 2020 it was announced that he had taken up a coaching and mentoring role at his former school, Moorland School in Clitheroe.[3]

Born in Aboso, Ghana, Cofie moved to England at a young age and has been capped by England at under-17 level.

Club career

Manchester United

Cofie began his football career as a junior player with Burnley.[4] After Burnley rejected a £250,000 bid from Liverpool for Cofie in November 2007,[5] he refused to return to training with the club. After further interest from Chelsea, Cofie was signed by Manchester United in November 2007[6] and joined their Academy in July 2009.[4] After signing professional terms with United in 2010, he continued to play for the youth side and looked to break through into the reserve side.[4]

In 2012, he was loaned to Belgian side Royal Antwerp to gain first-team experience.[4] The following summer, Cofie signed a one–year loan deal with League One side Sheffield United for the 2012–13 season.[7] After making his debut in the opening game of the season against Shrewsbury Town, Cofie scored his first goal for the club a week later at Colchester United.[8] On 3 January 2013, it was revealed that Cofie had returned to Manchester United, despite having expressed a desire to see out the season with the Blades.[9]

In February 2013, Cofie joined another League One side, Notts County, on a one-month long loan deal.[10][11] Cofie scored on his debut, in a 1–1 draw with Crewe Alexandra, but his deal was not extended and he returned to United in March having made seven appearances for County.[12] After failing to break through into their first team, Cofie was released by Manchester United at the end of the 2012–13 season.[13]

Barnsley

Available on a free transfer, Cofie signed a one-year deal with Championship side Barnsley on 19 July 2013.[14] Cofie was released by Barnsley at the end of the 2013–14 season.[15]

Molde

On 9 August 2014, Cofie signed a contract with Tippeligaen side Molde FK.[16]

He was released in January 2015 after not making a single first team appearance for the club.[17]

Crawley Town

Cofie signed for Crawley Town on a one-month contract on 25 March 2015.[18]

Wrexham

Cofie signed for Wrexham on non-contract terms on 25 November 2015.[19]

AFC Telford United

Cofie moved to AFC Telford United in the National League North in January 2016.[20]

Southport

In June 2016, Cofie joined National League club Southport on a free transfer.[21] He joined National League North side Bradford Park Avenue on loan on 19 November 2016.[22] On 29 December 2016, he was loaned out once again, this time to National League North club Chorley on a one-month deal.[23]

Stalybridge Celtic

In September 2017 he joined Stalybridge Celtic.[24]

Derry City

Cofie joined Derry City on 28 November 2017.[25]

Hume City

Cofie played for Australian club Hume City of the second-tier league, National Premier Leagues in 2018.[26]

Global F.C.

Cofie was without a club until January 2020, when he was signed in by Philippines Football League side, Global FC.[26] In July 2020, 27-year old Cofie announced his retirement to start a coaching career.[27]

Career statistics
As of match played 7 January 2017[28]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other[nb 1] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United 2011–12 Premier League 000000000000
2012–13 Premier League 00000000–00
Total 000000000000
Royal Antwerp (loan) 2011–12 Belgian Second Division 13300–––133
Sheffield United (loan) 2012–13 League One 1621000–10182
Notts County (loan) 2012–13 League One 710000−0071
Barnsley 2013–14 Championship 000000−−00
Molde 2014 Tippeligaen 0000−00−00
Crawley Town 2014–15 League One 100000−0010
Wrexham 2015–16 National League 2000−−1030
AFC Telford United 2015–16 National League North 17400−−00174
Southport 2016–17 National League 8020−−00100
Bradford Park Avenue (loan) 2016–17 National League North 2100−−0021
Chorley (loan) 2016–17 National League North 2000−−0020
Career total 6811300000207311
  1. Includes appearances in the EFL Trophy and FA Trophy

References
  1. "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). premierleague.com. Premier League. 2 September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  2. Aarons, Ed (17 December 2015). "Paid too much, too young, but George Green makes new start at Ossett". Retrieved 6 September 2016 – via The Guardian.
  3. Black, Dan (31 October 2020). "Back to School". Lancashire Evening Post.
  4. "John Cofie - Player Profile". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  5. "Burnley warn Liverpool over Cofie". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 8 November 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  6. "Man Utd capture 14-year-old Cofie". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 9 November 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  7. "Blades boss wins over Fergie to get Manchester United's John Cofie". The Star. Sheffield: Johnston Publishing. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  8. "Cofie on the go". UTB - Matchday Magazine. 1 September 2012. p. 31.
  9. Marshall, Adam (3 January 2013). "Duo return from loans". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  10. Marshall, Adam (8 February 2013). "Cofie joins County on loan". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  11. Dixon, Jamie (8 February 2013). "Man Utd Striker Arrives On Loan". NottsCountyFC.co.uk. Notts County FC. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  12. "Cofie goes back to Red Devils". Football 365. 11 March 2013. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  13. "Veseli heads list of released United players". Manchester Evening News. MEN Media. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  14. "Cofie Joins Reds". barnsleyfc.co.uk. Barnsley FC. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  15. "Barnsley release defender Bobby Hassell after 10 years". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 7 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  16. "Molde signerer John Cofie" (in Norwegian). Molde FK. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  17. "To spillere har forlatt Molde" (in Norwegian). Molde FK. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  18. "John Cofie: Crawley Town sign ex-Manchester United trainee". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 25 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  19. "I'll repay Wrexham AFC faith says striker John Cofie". Daily Post. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  20. "AFC Telford bring in ex-United man John Cofie". Shropshire Star. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  21. "Southport: Tyrell Belford and John Cofie join National League side". BBC Sport. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  22. "John Cofie Out On Loan At Bradford Park Avenue". Southport FC. 19 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  23. "Southport striker joins Chorley on loan". Southport Visiter. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  24. http://www.stalybridgeceltic.co.uk/news.php?id=2371
  25. "Derry City Welcome Five New Players!". Derry Football Club. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  26. Malihan, Drew (24 January 2020). "Global signs former Man United youngster John Cofie". Dugout Philippines. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  27. John Cofie interview: Signed by Manchester United for £1m at 14, a friendship with Paul Pogba and retiring at 27, manchestereveningnews.co.uk, 9 October 2020
  28. "J. Cofie". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
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