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Richard Kingson
 |
| Personal information |
| Full name |
Richard Paul Franck Kingson
"Faruk Gürsoy" |
| Date of birth |
13 June 1978 (1978-06-13) (age 31) |
| Place of birth |
Accra, Ghana |
| Height |
1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Playing position |
Goalkeeper |
| Club information |
| Current club |
Wigan Athletic |
| Number |
22 |
| Senior career* |
| Years |
Team |
Apps† |
(Gls)† |
| 1996–1998 |
Great Olympics |
|
|
| 1998–1999 |
Sakaryaspor |
30 |
(0) |
| 1999–2001 |
Göztepe A.Ş. |
29 |
(0) |
| 2001–2002 |
Antalyaspor |
25 |
(0) |
| 2002–2003 |
Elazığspor |
20 |
(0) |
| 2003–2004 |
Ankaraspor |
20 |
(0) |
| 2004–2005 |
Galatasaray S.K. |
1 |
(0) |
| 2005–2007 |
Ankaraspor |
24 |
(0) |
| 2007 |
→Hammarby IF (loan) |
11 |
(0) |
| 2007–2008 |
Birmingham City |
1 |
(0) |
| 2008- |
Wigan Athletic |
3 |
(0) |
| National team‡ |
| 1996– |
Ghana |
58 |
(1) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:52, 24 May 2009 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:20, 22 February 2010 (UTC) |
Richard Paul Franck Kingson (born 13 June 1978 in Accra, Ghana), also known as Faruk Gürsoy,[1] is an association football player who plays as a goalkeeper. He is currently playing for Wigan Athletic, having been released from his contract with English Championship club Birmingham City.[2] He represents the Ghana national football team as an international.
[edit] Club career
Kingson left his native city in 1996 to pursue a career in Turkey, where he represented six different clubs, and became a naturalised citizen, taking a Turkish name. His first club in Turkey was Galatasaray, who he signed in December 1996 but he didn't play a single game there.
After a three month period on loan to Swedish club Hammarby IF, he drew attention from other clubs in Europe,[3] including Aalborg, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Birmingham City, eventually joining the latter. On 28 August 2007, Kingson made his debut for Birmingham in a League Cup third round tie against Hereford United. He played once in the Premier League, a 2–0 defeat to Portsmouth in caretaker manager Eric Black's only game in charge.[4] At the end of the season, co-owner David Sullivan blamed the club's relegation on the quality of previous manager Steve Bruce's signings, branding Kingson a "complete waste of space".[5] Kingson was disappointed and angered by the perceived unfairness of Sullivan's reaction, saying that "An older person, in his position, has to speak maturely. He has to be a responsible man as co-owner to speak well and set an example to younger people."[6] The player's contract, which still had one year to run, was cancelled by mutual consent at the end of the 2007–08 season.[2]
Kingson joined up with former manager Steve Bruce when he signed for Wigan Athletic on 12 September 2008. He was given the number 22 shirt, the same number as he wears for Ghana. He made his first-team debut in the FA Cup third round tie against Tottenham Hotspur, where his side lost 3–1. He made his first Premier League appearance for the club when he replaced the injured Chris Kirkland after 10 minutes of the away match against West Bromwich Albion on 9 May 2009. He saved a penalty from Chris Brunt, but Brunt was able to score from the rebound, and the game ended as a 3–1 defeat.[7]
[edit] International career
Kingson is the starting goalkeeper of the Ghana national football team, and was called up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
During the 2006 World Cup, the Ghanaian FA stated that his name is Kingston;[citation needed] however, the player's shirt used the correct spelling of his name, as confirmed by Kingson himself.[8]
He was voted as an All-Star Goalkeeper during the 2008 African Cup of Nations Tournament in Ghana. The Team of the Tournament was decided by the Technical Study Group (TSG) after careful observations of all the tournament's matches.[9]
As first-choice goalkeeper and team captain he was instrumental in leading Ghana to the final of the 2010 tournament, and was again selected for the all-star team along with Egypt custodian Essam El-Hadary.
[edit] Personal life
Kingson is the brother of Laryea Kingston, who is also a member of the Ghana national team. He is a naturalised citizen of Turkey and his Turkish name is Faruk Gürsoy.[10]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
