Stephen Leroy Appiahis a former
GhanaThe Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
International football
midfielderA midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
and captain. He is currently a
free agentIn professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
. He has played for several European clubs since 1997 and is currently without a club. Appiah was a member of the
Ghana national teamThe Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
, which he has represented at the youth, Olympic, and senior levels. He captained Ghana at their
World CupThe 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
debut in 2006 and was a member of their squad for the
2010 World CupThe 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
. He was also the captain of the national team.
Club career
A strong all-round box-to-box midfielder able to defend as well as create and score goals, Stephen Appiah began his career at local club
Hearts of OakAccra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is an association football club based in Accra, Ghana.- History :...
in 1995, at 15 years of age. In 1996 he had trials with
Galatasaray S.K.Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....
's youth squad but was not signed and he returned to Hearts of Oak.
In 1997 he moved abroad to join Italian
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
side
UdineseUdinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....
. He spent three seasons with the club and while there changed from striker to midfield. A transfer to
ParmaParma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...
in 1999 was jeopardised by viral hepatitis, but Appiah overcame the illness to move there in the summer of 2000. After two seasons at Parma, Appiah went on loan to
BresciaBrescia Calcio , known simply as Brescia, is the largest football club in the Lombard city of Brescia, where it was founded in 1911.In the 2009–10 season, in the return leg of the Serie B playoff final, they defeated Torino 2-1 at home , returning to Serie A after a 5-year absence...
for the 2002-03 season. Appiah became a first-team regular for the Lombardians, and scored seven times in 31 games.
Appiah's success at
ParmaParma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...
alerted defending Serie A champions
JuventusJuventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
to his talents. Juventus paid Parma €2m in the summer of 2003 to secure Appiah's services on loan, with an option to a permanent €6M transfer in 2004. In 2003, Appiah finished 8th for African Footballer of the Year.
He went on to enjoy a good first season for Juventus, playing in 30
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
games and appearing in the
Coppa ItaliaThe Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
final. He also made his debut in the
UEFA Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
. In his second season at Juventus, Appiah played in 18
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
games.
Fenerbahçe
In July 2005, he was transferred from Juventus to Turkish giants Fenerbahçe for €8M. He went on to win the Turkish Super League Championship with the club in their centenary year. In January 2007 he was injured during the international duty with the Black Stars and he delayed the operation on his left knee until end of season.
At the end of the 2006–07 season, Appiah expressed a desire to leave and a German club made a offer of €4 million to Fenerbahçe, after Appiah's agent contacted other clubs without Fenerbahçe's permission. Fenerbahçe rejected the offer.
Injury & contract dispute
After an extended knee-injury layoff, Appiah came off the bench for Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Super League on 6 October 2007. However, the injury recurred after his last game on 1 December, and Appiah went to Italy for rehabilitation on 20 December 2007. The long-term injury forced him to miss the
2008 African Cup of NationsThe 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confederation of African Football . The tournament was staged at...
as a player, instead, he became a special adviser of the team. Fenerbahçe also wanted to de-register Appiah as he occupied a foreigner quota, but he refused as he was unclear with the matter. Appiah also refused to take rehabilitation in Turkey. The club also thought that Appiah was actually AWOL and Appiah thought the club exposed his medical history to the press and mistreatment to his injury, although the club defended that it had made an appointment for Appiah to visit
Mayo ClinicMayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...
, United States, but Appiah did not attend. On 1 February 2008, Appiah formally submitted a claim of mistreatment by asking to leave as free agent on 1 July 2008 and received the pre-agreed 2008–09 season salary of €2 million. In response, Fenerbahçe notified
FIFAThe Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
. In April 2008 the case went to FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), and both parties sued each other. He unilaterally terminated the contract at the end of season, as he thought the club had breached the contract by not fulfilling its duties. He also discussed with
West Ham UnitedWest Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
in summer 2008 for a possible contract. DRC ordered Appiah to pay Fenerbahçe €2,281,915 as he breached the contract without just cause on 9 January 2009. He immediately appealed to the
Court of Arbitration for SportThe Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport. Its headquarters are in Lausanne and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne, Switzerland...
in May after received the decision on 5 May 2009 and the club also submitted its appeal. On 7 June 2010 CAS ruled that Appiah did not needed to pay Fenerbahçe, as Fenerbahçe saved more in wages (€2,633,020.65) than losses (€2,496,278.85).
Serie A return
Appiah was on trial with London based football team
TottenhamTottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
in January 2009 with a view to a 6-month permanent contract, however concerns over his knee and fitness resulted in no contract being offered, as Spurs took up the option of signing
Wilson PalaciosWilson Roberto Palacios Suazo is a Honduran footballer who plays in the Premier League for Stoke City.Born in La Ceiba, he played for Victoria and Olimpia in Honduras before moving to England where he played for Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic. In 2009 he joined Tottenham Hotspur, generally...
from
Wigan Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
instead. The following month Appiah underwent a trial at
FC Rubin KazanFC Rubin Kazan is a Russian association football club based in the city of Kazan . Rubin won the Russian Premier League championship in 2008 and 2009.-History:...
, but the Russian champions decided against signing the player because of the same fitness concerns. Despite being without a club since his departure from Fenerbahçe in June 2008, Appiah remained a regular with the national team throughout the 2008–09 season.
On 1 November, 2009
BolognaBologna Football Club 1909, known simply as Bologna, is an Italian Football League club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1993. The club are nicknamed the rossoblù because of the red and blue striped shirts they wear. Red and Blue are the official colours of the town.During its history...
announced the signing of Appiah on a free transfer, worth just €200,000 net per season. Poor form caused by his long inactivity, together with a number of recurring injuries, prevented him from appearing with the first team throughout the season, and he made his debut in a Bologna shirt only on May 9, 2010, as a half-time substitute during a league game versus
CataniaCalcio Catania is an Italian football club founded in 1908 and based in Catania, Sicily. The club has spent much of its history in Serie B, gaining promotion to Italy's top league Serie A five times...
.
On 7 August 2010, Appiah signed for newly-promoted Italian Serie A side
CesenaAssociazione Calcio Cesena is an Italian football club based in Cesena, Romagna. The club was formed in 1940 and won the first promotion to Serie A in 1973. Since then, the club have been in the Italian Premier League for a total of in 11 seasons, reaching the best achievement in 1976 with the 6th...
on a one-year deal with the option of another year if the club stays in the top flight. At the end of the 2010/2011 season his contract expires with Cesena and remains untied.
International career
Appiah has appeared with the Ghana National Team at the
1995 FIFA U-17 World ChampionshipThe FIFA U-17 World Championship 1995 was held in the cities of Guayaquil, Portoviejo, Quito, Ibarra, Cuenca, and Riobamba in Ecuador between 3 August and 20 August 1995. Players born after 1 August 1978 could participate in this tournament...
, the
1997The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 11th staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from June 16 to July 5, 1997 in Malaysia.-Venues:-Qualification:The following 24 teams qualified for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship...
and
1999The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between April 3 and April 24, 1999. The 1999 championship was the 12th contested.- Qualification :The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.-Squads:...
World Youth ChampionshipsThe FIFA U-20 World Cup, until 2005 known as the FIFA World Youth Championship, is the world championship of football for male players under the age of 20 and is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association...
, the
2004 Olympic tournamentThe football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics started on 11 August, , and ended on 28 August.The men's tournament is played by U-23 national teams, with up to three over age players allowed per squad...
, and the
2006 FIFA World CupThe 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
where the team reached the second round.
During Ghana's third game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Appiah powered in a penalty kick against the United States to send the Black Stars to the second round.
Appiah was also included in
Ghana'sThe Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
squad for the
World Cup in South AfricaThe 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
. In Ghana's first game at the
2010 FIFA World CupThe 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
, Appiah came on as a substitute to help the squad to a 1-0 victory over
SerbiaThe Serbia national football team represents Serbia in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia, the governing body for football in Serbia. Serbia's home ground is Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and their last head coach was Vladimir Petrović...
; thus helping the Black Stars go top of their group.
He did not play in the next 2 group stage games against Australia and
GermanyThe Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
. He played again on June 26 against
United StatesThe United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...
in the round of 16, which Ghana won 2-1 after extra time. After the World Cup, he announced his retirement from
The Black StarsThe Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
of
GhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
.
Other endeavours
Appiah has designed a clothing line named StepApp that was released in late November in his hometown of
AccraAccra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
. All proceeds go to the StepApp foundation. The clothing line will initially be released in Africa before arriving in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the following months.
Statistics
|-
|1997/98||rowspan="3"|
UdineseUdinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....
||rowspan="3"|
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||11||0||||||||||||
|-
|1998/99||21||0||||||||||||
|-
|1999/00||4||0||||||||||||
|-
|2000/01||rowspan="2"|
ParmaParma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...
||rowspan="2"|
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||16||0||||||||||||
|-
|2001/02||13||0||||||||||||
|-
|2002/03||
BresciaBrescia Calcio , known simply as Brescia, is the largest football club in the Lombard city of Brescia, where it was founded in 1911.In the 2009–10 season, in the return leg of the Serie B playoff final, they defeated Torino 2-1 at home , returning to Serie A after a 5-year absence...
||
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||31||7||0||0||0||0||31||7
|-
|2003/04||rowspan="2"|
JuventusJuventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
||rowspan="2"|
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||30||1||0||0||7||0||37||1
|-
|2004/05||18||2||0||0||3||0||21||2
|-
|2005/06||rowspan="3"|Fenerbahçe||rowspan="3"|Süper Lig||32||8||2||1||6||2||40||11
|-
|2006/07||26||3||0||0||10||3||36||6
|-
|2007/08||6||0||1||0||2||0||9||0
|-
|2009/10||
BolognaBologna Football Club 1909, known simply as Bologna, is an Italian Football League club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1993. The club are nicknamed the rossoblù because of the red and blue striped shirts they wear. Red and Blue are the official colours of the town.During its history...
||
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||2||0||0||0||0||0||2||0
|-
|2010/11||
CesenaAssociazione Calcio Cesena is an Italian football club based in Cesena, Romagna. The club was formed in 1940 and won the first promotion to Serie A in 1973. Since then, the club have been in the Italian Premier League for a total of in 11 seasons, reaching the best achievement in 1976 with the 6th...
||
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||14||0||1||0||0||0||15||0
146||10||||||||||||
64||11||||||||||||
210||21||||||||||||
|}
|-
|1995||1||0
|-
|1996||0||0
|-
|1997||0||0
|-
|1998||2||0
|-
|1999||1||0
|-
|2000||5||1
|-
|2001||5||2
|-
|2002||2||0
|-
|2003||5||3
|-
|2004||5||2
|-
|2005||7||1
|-
|2006||16||2
|-
|2007||3||1
|-
|2008||3||1
|-
|2009||7||1
|-
|2010||||
|-
!Total||69||16
|}
Club
Hearts of Oak
- Ghanaian FA Cup
The Ghanaian FA Cup is the top knockout tournament of the Ghanaian football.-Winners:- References :*...
: 1996
- OneTouch Premier League: 1997
ParmaParma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...
- Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
: 2002
JuventusJuventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
- Italian Serie A: Serie A 2004-05
In the 2004–05 season, the Serie A, the highest professional football league in Italy, was composed of 20 teams for the first time in several years....
*
- Supercoppa Italiana
The Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
: 2003The 2003 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the Serie A 2002-03 winner, and Milan, the Coppa Italia 2002-03 winner.It was the sixth appearance for Juventus and the seventh for Milan .The match was played in New York, U.S.A..-Match details:-References:...
Fenerbahçe
- Turkcell Super League
The Süper Lig is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system. It is one of the top leagues in the UEFA confederation and the winner of the competition automatically qualifies for the UEFA Champions League...
: 2006-07
- Turkish Super Cup
The TFF Süper Kupa, as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known as the Cumhurbaşkanlığı Kupası from 1966 to 1998. No competition was held between 1999 and...
: 2007
International
GhanaThe Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
- FIFA U-17 World Championship: 1995
The FIFA U-17 World Championship 1995 was held in the cities of Guayaquil, Portoviejo, Quito, Ibarra, Cuenca, and Riobamba in Ecuador between 3 August and 20 August 1995. Players born after 1 August 1978 could participate in this tournament...
Individual
External links