Godfrey Poku

Godfrey Poku

Personal information
Full name	Godfrey Akwasi Poku
Date of birth	(1990-07-22) 22 July 1990
Place of birth	Newham, London, England
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Woking
Number	12
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2010	St Albans City	13	(1)
2010–2012	Luton Town	19	(0)
2010	→ St Albans City (loan)	6	(0)
2011–2012	→ Southport (loan)	22	(0)
2012–2014	Mansfield Town	4	(0)
2012–2013	→ Southport (loan)	32	(0)
2014	→ Alfreton Town (loan)	17	(0)
2014–2015	AFC Telford United	39	(0)
2015–	Woking	18	(0)
2015	→ Havant & Waterloovile (loan)	5	(4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Godfrey Akwasi Poku (born 22 July 1990) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Woking in The National League. He has also previously played for St Albans City, Luton Town, Southport and AFC Telford United.

Career

St Albans City

Born in the Newham, London, Poku was educated at nearby Redbridge College under the guidance of Andy Russell. In February 2009, he was offered a scholarship to Fort Lewis College in Colorado, United States, having impressed scouts at an invitational football tournament at Preston College in Phoenix, Arizona the previous year. Poku chose to turn down the offer, instead preferring to pursue a full-time career in English football, and joined Conference South side St Albans City for the beginning of the 2009–10 season. He made his St Albans debut on 19 September 2009 against Weymouth. He played in 14 further games for St Albans, scoring a 25-yard goal in the return fixture against Weymouth. During his time at the club, Poku had trials with Football League clubs Reading, Leyton Orient and Southend United.

Luton Town

On 5 January 2010 Poku was signed on a free transfer by Conference Premier club Luton Town, along with fellow St Albans player JJ O’Donnell. Poku was highly rated by St Albans manager Steve Castle, who pleaded with him to stay at the club, and had been attracting interest from Championship side Swansea City. On 30 January, Poku and O’Donnell were loaned back to St Albans for one month. He made six further appearances for The Saints before returning to Kenilworth Road.

Poku made his Luton debut the next season on 2 October 2010 in a league match away at Barrow, coming on as a substitute, but only after making the bench because Adam Newton picked up an injury during the warm-up. Mike Simmonds of Luton Today reported after the match that "Poku in particular was highly impressive during his brief spell on the pitch, breaking up Barrow attacks and as he grew into the game, showing an eye for a pass too." Speaking after Poku's professional debut, Luton's then-manager Richard Money said, "he gave the team a lift in that crucial 15 to 20 minutes. I was really pleased with his debut."

He made two further league substitute appearances in wins over Eastbourne Borough and Forest Green Rovers, before signing a two-year contract extension in November 2010.

Poku started his first game for Luton in a 0–0 FA Trophy draw with Welling United on 12 December.

...there's a very interesting player developing there. That's his debut at this level and...he can be really pleased with it.

Quote from then Luton Town manager Richard Money in the wake of Poku’s first start for the club in a 5–0 win over York City on 18 January 2011

Poku made his first league start in a 5–0 win over York City on 18 January 2011, and was praised by manager Richard Money, who called him "highly interesting" and that he could be "really pleased" with his performance. Over the course of the 2010–11 season, he made a total of 19 appearances in Luton colours.

On 26 August 2011, Poku was loaned to Conference Premier side Southport for six months as part of the transfer that took Southport midfielder John Paul Kissock to Luton. He made a strong impression in his first games for The Sandgrounders, with captain Alan Moogan saying, "[Poku is] a good player. He wants to get on the ball, puts a foot in and he's all over the pitch... it's really good playing with him."

The 22 league games Poku played while at Southport coincided with a change in fortunes for the club – he joined them when they were 23rd in the Conference Premier and when his loan finished in early January, Southport were 6th. Southport midfielder Karl Ledsham praised Poku's contribution when he told the Liverpool Echo "Godfrey is a great lad and has done an unbelievable job, considering he’d not had many games for Luton. But you look at him and wonder how he didn’t get in their team because he has brought so much to us and our midfield. He has won games by himself and has picked the lads up when we’ve been down in games. He’s carried a couple of lads as well and has been an unbelievable signing."

Whilst Poku declared himself to be happy to return to Southport for the remainder of the season, Luton Town manager Gary Brabin remained undecided on whether to let him return to Southport. Southport manager Liam Watson told BBC Radio Merseyside "I'm more than optimistic that loan deal will be extended, but not until after the Luton game. I'd say it's 90%. I've already spoken to Gary Brabin and he's not going to make a decision until after we play the Luton game"

After returning to Luton, Poku's first eligible match for the Hatters was, coincidentally, against Southport. When asked whether Poku could give any tactical information about the Southport team, Gary Brabin said "Anyone who knows Godfrey knows that he's got no knowledge."

Southport made a bid for Poku during the January 2012 transfer window which Luton turned down. Luton Town boss Gary Brabin's reaction to the bid was to say "I’m certainly not going to be bullied into selling him or him going back on loan."

Mansfield Town

Despite interest from Southport, Poku signed for Mansfield on 1 July 2012.

Southport

Poku was sent out on loan by Mansfield on the last day of the transfer window to Southport once again, lasting this time till the end of the season.

Alfreton Town

On 3 January 2014, Poku joined Conference Premier side Alfreton Town on loan until the end of the season.

AFC Telford United

After a year chasing Poku, Liam Watson and the club officially signed him on 31 July 2014.

Woking

At the end of the 2014–15 season, Poku left AFC Telford and went on to sign for The National League side Woking on a one year contract.

Career statistics

As of match played 30 April 2016.

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
St Albans City	2009–10	Conference South	13	1	1	0	—		1	0	15	1
Luton Town	2009–10	Conference Premier	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
	2010–11	Conference Premier	9	0	4	0	—		6	0	19	0
	2011–12	Conference Premier	10	0	0	0	—		0	0	10	0
	Total		19	0	4	0	—		6	0	29	0
St Albans City (loan)	2009–10	Conference South	6	0	0	0	—		0	0	6	0
Southport (loan)	2011–12	Conference Premier	22	0	1	0	—		1	0	24	0
Mansfield Town	2012–13	Conference Premier	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
	2013–14	League Two	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	Total		4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Southport (loan)	2012–13	Conference Premier	32	0	1	0	—		3	0	36	0
Alfreton Town (loan)	2013–14	Conference Premier	2	0	0	0	—		0	0	2	0
AFC Telford Utd	2014–15	Conference Premier	39	0	5	0	—		3	0	47	0
	Total		39	0	5	0	0	0	3	0	47	0
Havant & Waterlooville (loan)	2015–16	National League South	5	4	0	0	—		0	0	5	4
Woking	2015–16	National League	18	0	0	0	—		2	0	20	0
	Total		18	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	20	0
Career total			160	5	13	0	0	0	16	0	189	5

Footnotes

A. ^ The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Conference Premier and Conference South.

B. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the FA Trophy.

External links

• Godfrey Poku career statistics at Soccerbase
• Profile at Luton Town's official website
• Godfrey Poku profile at St Albans City F.C.