Osei Sankofa

Osei Omari Kwende Sankofa (born 19 March 1985) is an English footballer, who last played for Isthmian League Premier club Dulwich Hamlet.

He plays as a defender who can play anywhere across the back line.

Sankofa started out his career at Charlton Athletic and went out on loan to Bristol City and Brentford.

Born in London, UK, Sankofa started out his career at Charlton Athletic and joined the academy in 2000.

After progressing through the Charlton Athletic academy, he made his Charlton Athletic debut in the 4–1 defeat to Manchester United in the 2002–03 season.

Despite the defeat, he said the match was his career highest.

In December 2004, he signed a contract with the club.

The next season, he was an unused substitute on more than one occasion.

Sankofa went on loan to Bristol City in September 2005.

He made his Bristol City debut on 28 September 2005, where he started and kept a clean sheet, in a 3–0 win over Barnsley; and was praised by Manager Gary Johnson for his impressive display.

Following his debut, Sankofa was given a handful of first team appearances at Bristol City, resulting his loan spell at the club extended for another month.

However, on 11 November 2005, he was sent off against Swindon Town for a professional foul on Hamer Bouazza, which saw them lose 2–1.

Sankofa went on to make eight appearances for Bristol City before returning to his parent club soon after.

Sankofa went on to make four appearances for Charlton Athletic at the end of the 2005–06 season.

After his loan spell at Bristol City came to an end, Sankofa made his first Charlton Athletic appearance for the first time in three years, in a 2–1 win over Portsmouth on 17 April 2006.

This was followed up by against Bolton Wanderers on 22 April 2006, where he made his full debut, in a 4–1 win for Charlton Athletic.

After suffering an injury at the start of the 2006–07 season, Sankofa's first appearance came on 19 September 2006, coming on as a late substitute, in a 1–0 win over Carlisle United in the second round of the League Cup.

His first Premier League appearance of the season came on 23 December 2006, in a 2–0 loss against Middlesbrough.

After returning from suspension, Sankofa went on to make a total of 12 appearances at the end of the 2006–07 season but Charlton Athletic were relegated to the Championship.

However, Sankofa was sent off again whilst playing against Arsenal on 2 January 2007 for a professional foul on Robin Van Persie.

He subsequently got the initial one match ban extended by one match for what the FA deemed to be a "frivolous" appeal.

Despite this, on 8 June 2007, he signed a new one-year contract with Charlton.

However, in the 2007–08 season, Sankofa made only two appearances for the club; with one came from the league and the other one came from the League Cup.

It came after when he suffered an injury at the start of the season.

As a result, he was expected to leave the club on loan in January by Manager Alan Pardew.

After being released by Charlton Athletic, he joined Southend United in 2008.

Following his two–years spell, where he was used primarily as a Utility player, Sankofa played for various non–league club, starting at Farnborough, Boreham Wood, Eastleigh, Hayes & Yeading United, Ebbsfleet United, Whitehawk and Dulwich Hamlet.

In January 2008, Sankofa was loaned out to Brentford on a one-month deal.

He made his Brentford debut on 29 January 2008, where he came on as a first half substitute, in a 0–0 draw against Notts County.

After making his first start in a 3–2 win over Mansfield Town on 2 February 2008, his loan spell at Brentford was extended until the end of the season.

After suffering injuries, Although he lost his first team place towards the end of the season, Sankofa went on to make 11 appearances for Brentford.

In May 2008, Sankofa was released by Charlton.

On 23 June 2008, Sankofa joined Southend United on a free transfer, signing a two–year contract.

Upon joining the club, he said the move would help his kickstart his career and can play at both right-back and centre-back.

He was then given a number 15 shirt ahead of the new season.

He made his Southend United debut on 12 August 2008, coming on as substitute in extra time, in a 1–0 loss against Cheltenham Town in the first round of League Cup.

Six days later, on 18 August 2008, he made his league debut for the club, again coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw against Millwall.

Initially on the substitute bench at the start of the season, Sankofa began to receive more playing time around October.

Although he was demoted back to the substitute bench between late–October and mid–December, Sankofa regained his first team place soon after from December.

His first team place saw him regained his confidence for the next three months.