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Cole Kpekawa
Cole Desmond Kpekawa (born 20 May 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Oxford City. Club careerQueens Park RangersBorn in Blackpool,[3] Kpekawa came through the Academy at Queens Park Rangers.[4] He signed a two-year scholarship with the club in July 2012 at the age of 16.[1] On 2 April 2014, he signed his first professional contract on a one-year deal.[5][6] Kpekawa joined League One side Colchester United for an initial one-month loan deal on 20 November 2014.[7] He made his professional debut against Coventry City at the Colchester Community Stadium in a 1–0 League One defeat on 22 November.[8] After making four appearances for Colchester, his loan was extended for a further month until 24 January 2015.[9] He made six appearances for Colchester, four in League One and two in the FA Cup.[10] On 19 March 2015, he was loaned to League Two side Portsmouth until the end of the season.[11] He made his debut on 21 March in a 1–0 defeat against AFC Wimbledon where he played the full 90-minutes.[12] He was recalled from his loan at Portsmouth by QPR on 20 April having made two first-team appearances.[13] On returning to QPR, Kpekawa made his debut for the club as an 85th-minute substitute for Yun Suk-young in a 5–1 Premier League defeat to Leicester City on 24 May 2015.[14] On 19 November 2015, he joined League Two side Leyton Orient in an initial one-month loan deal.[15] He made his debut two days later on 21 November as an early substitute in a 3–2 league win against York City.[16] His loan was extended in December 2015,[4] and again in January 2016 to remain with the O's until 1 March 2016.[17] He was recalled from his loan by parent club QPR on 1 February 2016 after making nine appearances for Orient.[18] BarnsleyAfter struggling to hold down a first-team place at Queens Park Rangers, Championship rivals Barnsley signed Kpekawa for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £450,000, on 31 August 2016. He agreed a three-year contract with the club.[19][20] He made his Barnsley debut on 10 September 2016 as a late substitute in their 2–1 win at Preston North End.[21] However, after only four starts, Kpekawa found himself out of the first-team picture as manager Paul Heckingbottom preferred to play right-back Andy Yiadom out of position at left-back, while the club coaches worked with Kpekawa to suit a more central role.[22] Colchester UnitedHaving made only seven league appearances for Barnsley, Kpekawa made a permanent return to his former loan club Colchester United on 17 July 2017.[23] He signed an initial one-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[24] He made his second Colchester United debut on 5 August as a substitute in their 3–1 defeat at Accrington Stanley.[25] After failing to establish himself in Colchester's first-team and having not made an appearance since January 2018, Kpekawa left the club by mutual consent on 13 April 2018.[26] St MirrenOn 13 July 2018, it was announced that Kpekawa had signed a two-year deal with St Mirren after a successful trial period with the Scottish Premiership side.[27] Kpekawa made his debut for the club on the same day, starting in a 0–0 draw with Kilmarnock in the Scottish League Cup.[28] After failing to break into the first team at Saints, he was released by mutual consent in January 2019.[29] AS TrenčínOn 20 August 2019, Kpekawa joined Fortuna Liga side AS Trenčín on a multi-year contract following a spell with Billericay Town.[30] Kpekawa made his Fortuna Liga debut against Zemplín Michalovce on 14 September 1019.[31] In his debut match, Kpekawa was sent off in the 9th minute of the match, after he broke a leg of 18 year old Matej Trusa. Later that day, Trusa was diagnosed with a double fracture of his right leg. It was expected to take approximately 12 months until he recovers.[32] Trusa, however, managed to return in 6 months. On 20 September 2019, Kpekawa was suspended for six months by the disciplinary committee of Slovak Football Association for his foul on Trusa.[33] Non-LeagueOn 30 October 2020, Kpekawa signed for National League South club Chelmsford City.[34] On 2 June 2021, Chelmsford announced fellow National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town had signed Kpekawa.[35] On 27 May 2022, Kpekawa joined National League club Maidenhead United.[36] He was released at the end of the season.[37] He joined Bromley for the 2023-24 season.[38] In November 2023, he joined Oxford City on loan.[39] In February 2024, he was loaned to Kidderminster Harriers until the end of the season.[40] Following Bromley's promotion, Kpekawa departed the club at the end of the 2023–24 season.[41] In July 2024, Kpekawa returned to National League North side Oxford City on a permanent deal following a loan spell with the club the previous season.[42] International careerKpekawa was born in England and is of Sierra Leone descent.[43] On 3 September 2015, following an injury to Kean Bryan of Manchester City, Kpekawa was called up to the England under-20 squad for their match against the Czech Republic.[44] Two days later he made his international debut as the Czech Republic were defeated 5–0. He featured for the full 90-minutes.[45] He was again called up to the under-20 squad for the Mercedes-Benz Elite Cup in Germany, where England would play the Netherlands, Turkey and Germany.[46] He started in England's 2–1 win against Turkey and featured as a substitute in their 1–0 defeat by Germany as England ended the competition as runners-up.[47] Style of playKpekawa primarily plays as a left-back but can also operate as a centre-back. Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom described him as "tall, quick, strong, with a good left foot".[48] Career statistics
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