Charles Kwame Takyi (born 12 November 1984) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Charles Takyi
Takyi during practice with St. Pauli in 2008
Personal information
Full name Charles Kwame Takyi[1]
Date of birth (1984-11-12) 12 November 1984 (age 39)
Place of birth Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1992–1999 Tennis Borussia Berlin
1999–2003 Schalke 04
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Schalke 04 II 20 (3)
2004–2006 Hamburger SV II 54 (1)
2005–2006 Hamburger SV 1 (0)
2006–2008 FC St. Pauli 57 (13)
2008–2009 Greuther Fürth 29 (3)
2009–2012 FC St. Pauli 59 (12)
2013 AC Horsens 11 (2)
2013–2014 Energie Cottbus 21 (2)
2014 Dibba Al-Fujairah Club 0 (0)
2015–2016 BFC Viktoria 1889 6 (0)
2016–2018 KFC Uerdingen 05 8 (0)
Total 266 (36)
International career
1998–1999 Germany U15 5 (0)
1999–2000 Germany U16 7 (2)
2000–2001 Germany U17 2 (1)
2001 Germany U18 1 (0)
2011–2012 Ghana 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Early career edit

Born in Accra, Ghana, Takyi moved to Berlin with his parents when he was five years old.[2] He started playing for Tennis Borussia Berlin and joined the FC Schalke 04 youth setup when he was 15 years old.[2]

Schalke 04 edit

Takyis first senior season was with FC Schalke 04 II, the reserve team of FC Schalke 04, in 2003. Although making 21 appearances for the team and scoring three goals,[3] Takyi never managed to get into the professional squad. After one year at Schalke, he left the Gelsenkirchen team and joined Hamburger SV.

Hamburger SV edit

Like in Schalke, Takyi was a member of Hamburgs second team, known as Hamburger SV II. He became a key member in his first season with the team, appearing in 28 of 36 possible games, 27 times as a starter.[4] For the 2005–06 season, he was promoted to the senior besides playing for HSV II. He made his Bundesliga debut on 10 December 2005 against Hertha BSC Berlin, coming in as a substitute for Guy Demel in the 71st minute.[5] It was the only league game Takyi made during his time at Hamburg. With HSV II, he finished in 13th place at the end of the 2005–06 season avoiding relegation with the club.[6]

AC Horsens edit

After six months without a contract, Takyi joined Danish Superliga side AC Horsens.[7] He signed a six-month contract with the Danish side.[7] He made his Superliga debut on 3 March 2013 against Nordsjælland, receiving a yellow card in the 38th minute of a 1–0 defeat.[8]

Retirement edit

In November 2018, it was reported Takyi had retired as a player.[9]

International career edit

While playing for Germany at youth levels, Takyi expressed his favor to play for his birth country. The Ghana Football Association applied to FIFA for a nationality switch of Takyi in November 2011.[10] In October 2011, it was reported that Takyi was giving permission to play for Ghana.[11][12] He was first called up for the national team in November 2011 for the friendlies against Gabon and Sierra Leone.[13] Takyi made his debut for the Black Stars in the friendly against Gabon on 14 November 2011.[14]

Takyi was included in the Ghana national team's 23 man squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in January 2012 and he made his tournament debut, coming on as a substitute for Sulley Muntari in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Group D match against Mali on 28 January 2012.[15]

References edit

  1. ^ Sannie, Ibrahim (21 October 2011). "German Charles Takyi gets clearance to play for Ghana". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Erste Schritte – Charles Takyi" (in German). Takyis official website. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Charles Takyi » Club matches". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  4. ^ "Hamburger SV II – Appearances 2004/2005". Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Match details / line-up: Hamburger SV – Hertha BSC Berlin". Worldfootball.net. 10 December 2005. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  6. ^ "Regionalliga Nord 2005/2006 > 38. round". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Ny Horsens-profil: Fantastisk modtagelse" (in Danish). kanalsport.dk. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Ny Horsens-spiller: God Superliga-debut". Kanalsport. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  9. ^ Winkel, Christoph (13 November 2018). "Charles Takyi hospitiert auf Schalke bei Norbert Elgert". WAZ (in German). Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  10. ^ Mensah, Kent (7 September 2011). "Ghana apply to Fifa for Germany youth international Takyi". Goal.com. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  11. ^ Mensah, Kent (20 October 2011). "Charles Takyi cleared to play for Ghana". Goal.com. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  12. ^ "Charles Takyi cleared for Ghana". SuperSport. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  13. ^ "Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic has called up two new faces". Kickoff.com. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  14. ^ "German strikers Jeffrey Schlupp and Charles Takyi join Black Stars". GhanaToGhana. 16 November 2011. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  15. ^ "Ghana vs Mali, 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Group D (Match Report)". cafonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 28 January 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2012.

Honours edit

Hamburger SV

External links edit