 Boateng playing forMiddlesbrough in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Antwi Boateng[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1975-09-05)5 September 1975 (age 50) | ||
| Place of birth | Nkawkaw, Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1995 | Excelsior | 9 | (0) |
| 1995–1997 | Feyenoord | 68 | (1) |
| 1997–1999 | Coventry City | 46 | (5) |
| 1999–2002 | Aston Villa | 103 | (4) |
| 2002–2008 | Middlesbrough | 182 | (7) |
| 2008–2010 | Hull City | 52 | (1) |
| 2010–2011 | Skoda Xanthi | 19 | (2) |
| 2011–2012 | Nottingham Forest | 5 | (1) |
| 2012–2013 | T-Team | 15 | (2) |
| Total | 499 | (23) | |
| International career | |||
| 1995–1998 | Netherlands U21 | 18 | (0) |
| 2001–2006 | Netherlands | 4 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2014–2015 | Kelantan | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
George Antwi Boateng (born 5 September 1975) is a former professionalfootballer who played as adefensive midfielder.
After making his breakthrough withFeyenoord in the DutchEredivisie, he spent most of his career in England, making 384Premier League appearances and scoring 17 goals. He played for Coventry City,Aston Villa,Middlesbrough andHull City, winning theFootball League Cup with Middlesbrough in2004.
Born in Ghana and raised in the Netherlands, Boateng made four appearances for theNetherlands national team.
Boateng was born inNkawkaw, Ghana. He spent some of his childhood in the Ghanaian capital,Accra, where he played football barefoot despite having boots and rocky pitches. He was raised in the Netherlands from age 10 after his father remarried. At 16, he signed forFeyenoord, where he was autility player, being used in all positions exceptgoalkeeper,left winger andcentre forward.[2][3]
Boateng watched a4–3 game betweenLiverpool andNewcastle United in April 1996, convincing him about English football's quality.[2] With six months left of his Feyenoord contract and a four-year extension being offered, he completed a £250,000 move toCoventry City in December 1997. ManagerGordon Strachan signed him on a 31⁄2-year deal.[2] He scored his first goal for the Sky Blues on 2 May 1998, in a 2–0 home win overBlackburn Rovers.[4] On 27 February 1999, he andJohn Aloisi scored twice each in a 4–1 win away to fellowWest Midlands clubAston Villa – his team's first ever league win atVilla Park.[5]
In July 1999, Boateng signed for Aston Villa for a £4.5 million fee. The club had previously bid £3 million after he had scored twice against them. Coventry chairman Bryan Richardson accused Villa managerJohn Gregory of making illegal approaches for Boateng. Gregory said that Richardson approached Villa to tell them they could buy Boateng for £5 million, opening up negotiations again.[6]
Boateng played 131 matches for Villa, including the2000 FA Cup final, which his team lost by a single goal toChelsea.[7] On 20 April 2002, away toLeicester City, opponentPaul Dickov's boot came off, and Boateng threw it into the crowd. He apologised for his actions and was warned by managerGraham Taylor.[8] Boateng missed only one game in2001–02, but immediately requested a transfer once the season ended.[9]
In the summer of 2002, a potential move to Liverpool collapsed, while negotiations withFulham slowed down. Boateng moved toMiddlesbrough for £5 million. He said he was initially hesitant because he found Boro an easy team to play against. Still, he was convinced when Netherlands teammateJaap Stam spoke highly of managerSteve McClaren, who had been assistant manager when Stam was atManchester United.[10]
In November 2002, Boateng avoided action fromthe Football Association on two occasions after clashing withGianfranco Zola of Chelsea andNick Barmby ofLeeds United.[11] He played in the2004 Football League Cup final as Boro won the first major honour in their history.[12] On 16 October 2004, he scored his first goal since September 2001 in a 4–0 win at Blackburn.[13] In2004–05, he missed 12 games through injury before returning to help the team to 7th place andUEFA Cup qualification.[14] He played in the2006 UEFA Cup final; his team lost 4–0 toSevilla.[15]
In June 2006, after negotiations of nearly a year, Boateng signed a new three-year contract.[14] He was namedcaptain the following month afterGareth Southgate retired and became manager.[16] In the2007–08 season, Southgate gave the captain's armband toJulio Arca in December and thenEmmanuel Pogatetz in March, saying he wanted to move away from having one permanent captain.[17]
Newly promoted Premier League clubHull City announced on 10 July 2008 that Boateng had agreed to sign a two-year contract with them, for an undisclosed fee.[18] After completing a medical, the move was completed on 16 July for an estimated fee of £1 million.[19]
On 6 February 2010, Boateng scored his first goal for Hull City in a 2–1 win overManchester City, their first win since November 2009.[20]
Boateng's contract with Hull City ended following their relegation from the Premier League in 2010. He was runner-up toStephen Hunt for the Player of the Year award.[21]
After holding talks withCeltic,[22] Boateng joined Greek sideSkoda Xanthi on a two-year deal in July 2010.[23]
On 27 July 2011, Boateng joinedNottingham Forest of theFootball League Championship on a one-year deal. He reunited with former Middlesbrough manager McClaren, while former Dutch international and Middlesbrough teammateJimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was first-team coach.[24] He played 7 games in total for Forest, scoring an added-time equaliser in a 2–2 draw withEast Midlands rivals Leicester City on 20 August.[25]
On 15 November 2012, Boateng arrived in Malaysia to sign withT-Team.[26] Four days later, he signed a one-year contract, linking him again with former Hull teammate andRepublic of Ireland internationalCaleb Folan.
Born in Ghana and raised in the Netherlands, Boateng represented theNetherlands internationally, having not been approached by theGhana Football Association.[27] He was the captain of theunder-21 team.[2]
Boateng played four senior games for the Netherlands, each in afriendly match in a different year.[28] He debuted on 10 November 2001 in a 1–1 draw away toDenmark, playing the full 90 minutes.[29] On 12 November 2005, he ended 31⁄2 years without acap by coming on as a substitute in a 3–1 home loss toItaly at theAmsterdam ArenA.[30]
In 2014, Boateng was unveiled as the new head coach ofKelantan, replacingSteve Darby, who had been shown the door after a 4–0 loss toSime Darby[31] On 6 May 2014, Kelantan came back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 withFelda United in first leg of theMalaysia FA Cup semi-final in Boateng's first game as head coach.[32] Boateng apologised to the Kelantan fans after Kelantan were knocked out of theMalaysia Cup byKedah with 4–3 aggregate; reports were saying that he would step down from his role as Kelantan head coach the following season, but that proved to be wrong by Kelantan President, Annuar Musa.[33][34] He was moved to the Technical Director position on 24 March 2015, and his position as head coach was taken byMohd Azraai Khor Abdullah.[35] Boateng left his post as technical director of Kelantan on 11 May 2015 to work as a coach or manager again.
On 5 September 2018, Boateng signed on as Under-13s head coach atChampionship clubBlackburn Rovers, where he coached different age groups at the academy.[36]
On 29 July 2019, it was announced that Boateng had left Rovers to take up a position asAston Villa Under-18 Professional Development Coach.[37]
In September 2020, Boateng was promoted to become the Professional Development Coach of the under 23 squad at Aston Villa.[38]
On 26 August 2022, Boateng announced that he would be leaving his role at Aston Villa to focus on his role with the Ghana national team in the build-up to the2022 FIFA World Cup that winter.[39]
In May 2022, theGhana Football Association announced that Boateng would be the new assistant coach of theGhana national team.[40]
On 1 July 2024, Boateng returned to another of his former clubs, being appointed first-team coach at Coventry City.[41]
On 28 November 2024, Boateng departed the club following the appointment ofFrank Lampard as manager.[42]
Boateng is a devout Christian who says his faith affects how he conducts himself.[43] In an interview withChurch Times, he stated: "My family and I have become very devoted Christians. Hearing and acting on the Word is very important."[44]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Excelsior | 1994–95 | Eerste Divisie | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 0 | ||
| Feyenoord | 1995–96 | Eredivisie | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 1 | ||
| 1996–97 | Eredivisie | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 0 | |||
| 1997–98 | Eredivisie | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2[c] | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
| Total | 68 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 70 | 1 | |||
| Coventry City | 1997–98 | Premier League | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 1 | ||
| 1998–99 | Premier League | 32 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 38 | 6 | ||
| Total | 46 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 57 | 7 | |||
| Aston Villa | 1999–2000 | Premier League | 33 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 1 | – | 45 | 3 | |
| 2000–01 | Premier League | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | 41 | 1 | |
| 2001–02 | Premier League | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[e] | 0 | 48 | 1 | |
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 103 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 135 | 5 | ||
| Middlesbrough | 2002–03 | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 28 | 0 | |
| 2003–04 | Premier League | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 43 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | Premier League | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[f] | 0 | 29 | 3 | |
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 26 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12[f] | 1 | 44 | 3 | |
| 2006–07 | Premier League | 35 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 41 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08 | Premier League | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 38 | 1 | ||
| Total | 182 | 7 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 223 | 9 | ||
| Hull City | 2008–09 | Premier League | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 25 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | Premier League | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 31 | 1 | ||
| Total | 52 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 56 | 1 | |||
| Skoda Xanthi | 2010–11 | Super League Greece | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 2 | ||
| Nottingham Forest | 2011–12 | Championship | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 7 | 1 | |
| T-Team | 2012–13 | Malaysia Super League | 15 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 20 | 4 | |
| Career total | 499 | 23 | 41 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 596 | 29 | ||
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Kelantan | Malaysia | 25 April 2014 | 24 March 2015 | 37 | 18 | 2 | 17 | 048.65 |
Aston Villa
Middlesbrough
