Richard Kingson

Richard Kingson (born 13 June 1978) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He currently serves as a goalkeeper coach for the Ghana national football team.

He is also known by his Turkish name Faruk Gürsoy and sometimes by the surname Kingston, which is the surname he used in his UEFA registration and also the surname of his brother Laryea Kingston.

The different spelling of the surnames is due to "irregularity on his identity documents".

Even in his native Ghana, he was quoted as "the man who got the 't' off his surname".

Kingson left his native Accra in 1996 to pursue a career in Turkey, where he represented six different clubs, and became a naturalised citizen, taking a Turkish name, Faruk Gürsoy, coming from Faruk Süren and Ergun Gürsoy.

His first club in Turkey was Galatasaray S.K., whom he signed for in December 1996 but did not play a single game.

On 2004–05 season when he played with Galatasaray again, he was suspended from football for six months after a failed doping test.

After a three-month period on loan to Swedish club Hammarby IF, he drew attention from other clubs in Europe, including Aalborg, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Birmingham City, eventually joining the latter.

Kingson was the starting goalkeeper of the Ghana national team, and was called up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

During the 2006 World Cup, the Ghanaian FA stated that his name is Kingston; however, the player's shirt used the correct spelling of his name, as confirmed by Kingson himself.

On 28 August 2007, Kingson made his debut for Birmingham in a League Cup third round tie against Hereford United.

He played once in the Premier League, in a 2–0 defeat to Portsmouth in caretaker manager Eric Black's only game in charge.

At the end of the season, co-owner David Sullivan blamed the club's relegation on the quality of previous manager Steve Bruce's signings, branding Kingson a "complete waste of space".

Kingson was disappointed and angered by the perceived unfairness of Sullivan's reaction, saying that "an older person, in his position, has to speak maturely. He has to be a responsible man as co-owner to speak well and set an example to younger people."

The player's contract, which still had one year to run, was cancelled by mutual consent at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Kingson joined up with former manager Steve Bruce when he signed for Wigan Athletic on 12 September 2008.

He was given the number 22 shirt, the same number as he wears for Ghana.

He made his first-team debut in the FA Cup third round tie against Tottenham Hotspur, where his side lost 3–1.

He was voted as an All-Star Goalkeeper during the 2008 African Cup of Nations Tournament in Ghana.

The Team of the Tournament was decided by the Technical Study Group (TSG) after careful observations of all the tournament's matches.

In 2008, he scored a goal for Ghana in a friendly – a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Tanzania.

He made his first Premier League appearance for the club when he replaced the injured Chris Kirkland after 10 minutes of the away match against West Bromwich Albion on 9 May 2009.

He saved a penalty from Chris Brunt, but Brunt was able to score from the rebound, and the game ended as a 3–1 defeat.

He was released after his contract expired at Wigan at the end of the 2009–10 season

After leaving his home country, he played for several clubs in Turkey, for Hammarby in Sweden, and in England for Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Blackpool, who released him at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Kingson was the vice-captain for the Ghana national football team.

Following his release by Wigan Athletic, he signed for Premier League newcomers Blackpool in September 2010.

He made his debut for the Seasiders in a 3–2 defeat to Aston Villa on 10 November 2010.

Following an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Matt Gilks, Kingson had an extended run in the first team.

As first-choice goalkeeper and team captain he was instrumental in leading Ghana to the final of the 2010 tournament, and was again selected for the all-star team along with Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary.

In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Kingson was selected in Ghana's opening game against Serbia, who had Vladimir Stojković, Kingson's fellow goalkeeper at Wigan Athletic in goal on the other side, keeping a clean sheet in The Black Stars 1–0 victory.

On 26 May 2011, Kingson was released, along with several other Blackpool players.

In his next game he made a mistake in the 11th minute to give the lead to Australia in a group game which finished 1–1.

His final group game ended in a narrow 1–0 defeat to Germany, but the team still qualified for the knock-out stages.

After two years out of the game, Kingson signed a one-year deal for Cypriot First Division club Doxa Katokopias in July 2013.

He made his debut on the opening day of the league season, keeping a clean sheet as his team beat Nea Salamis 2–0.

In January 2014, Kingson returned to Turkey, to play for Turkish second-tier side Balıkesirspor on a half-year plus two years deal.

In 2015, Kingson was signed in a short-term contract by Great Olympics.

The following year, Kingson stated he still dreamed of playing for Asante Kotoko before retiring and it was reported that he would be signed for the team, which was later denied.