Roy_Essandoh
Roy Essandoh
Northern Irish footballer
Roy Kabina Essandoh (born 17 February 1976) is a Northern Ireland former professional footballer.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roy Kabina Essandoh[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1976-02-17) 17 February 1976 (age 48) | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1994 | Cumbernauld United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1997 | Motherwell | 5 | (0) |
| 1998 | East Fife | 5 | (0) |
| 1998 | St. Pölten | 3 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | JJK Jyväskylä | 16 | (5) |
| 1999–2000 | Vaasan Palloseura | 50 | (7) |
| 2001 | Rushden & Diamonds | 2 | (0) |
| 2001 | Wycombe Wanderers | 13 | (0) |
| 2001 | Barnet | 6 | (1) |
| 2001–2002 | Cambridge City | 15 | (3) |
| 2002 | Bishop's Stortford | 5 | (3) |
| 2002 | Billericay Town | 15 | (8) |
| 2002–2003 | Grays Athletic | 19 | (4) |
| 2003–2004 | Bishop's Stortford | 17 | (5) |
| 2004 | → Gravesend & Northfleet (loan) | 5 | (3) |
| 2004–2005 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 45 | (16) |
| 2005 | Kettering Town | 3 | (0) |
| 2005–2008 | Bishop's Stortford | 149 | (62) |
| 2008–2010 | Glenavon | ? | (?) |
| 2010–2011 | St Neots Town | 16 | (5) |
| 2011 | Braintree Town | ? | (?) |
| 2011–2012 | Bury Town | ? | (?) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He is best remembered for his last gasp FA Cup quarter final winner while with Wycombe Wanderers.[2]
Born in Belfast, Essandoh moved with his family to Ghana (his father Richard's birthplace) when he was seven months old. When he was eight, the family moved back to Northern Ireland, where he attended school.
Essandoh began his career at Motherwell when he was 18 years of age. Following a short spell at East Fife, he moved to Finland to play for VPS Vaasa until the turn of the new millennium when he returned to the United Kingdom.
Upon his return, and after just a couple of games for Conference National side Rushden & Diamonds, followed the highlight of his career when somewhat extraordinarily Essandoh's agent responded to an appeal by Wycombe Wanderers manager Lawrie Sanchez looking for a fit, non-cup-tied striker the week before their FA Cup quarter-final match with Leicester City, which had been posted on the club's website and spotted by a journalist who published the story on the BBC's television text service Ceefax. Offered a two-week contract, Essandoh came on as a late substitute at Leicester's Filbert Street ground and scored a last-minute winning header to secure third-tier Wycombe a first-ever FA Cup semi-final place, against Liverpool.[3][4]
Essandoh's goal in the FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester City was voted the 76th best FA Cup moment ever in Andy Gray's FA Cup Madness. It was however the only goal he scored for Wycombe, and he was released at the end of his first season in English football.
Essandoh continued his football career in England, mostly for non-league clubs in the East and South East. At Barnet, he scored against Yeovil in the league[5] and Bournemouth in the Football League Trophy.[6] Essandoh returned to Bishop's Stortford for an extended spell starting in 2005, after which he returned to his birth country to play for Glenavon. In August 2010, Essandoh signed for St Neots Town,[7] before signing for Braintree Town on 31 March 2011.
On 6 July 2014 he played for Hemingford Veterans FC v Cambridge in a 5–2 win.
- "Roy Essandoh". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
- "Cyberman Essandoh hits the net". BBC News. 11 March 2001. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- "Cyberman Essandoh hits the net". BBC News. 11 March 2001.
- "10 things you didn't know about Ceefax". BBC News. 23 September 2009.
- "Barnet 2–3 Yeovil". BBC. 2 October 2001. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- "Barnet 2–1 Bournemouth". BBC. 16 October 2001. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- "Roy Essandoh Profile | Aylesbury United FC". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- Roy Essandoh at Soccerbase
- Interview with Essandoh's mother
- Roy Essandoh at NonLeagueDaily
