Koby Arthur

Koby Arthur

Arthur with Birmingham City in 2016
Personal information
Full name Koby Owusu Arthur[1]
Date of birth (1996-01-31) 31 January 1996[2]
Place of birth Kumasi, Ghana
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[3]
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
Number 15
Youth career
2012 Woodford United
2012–2013 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013– Birmingham City 12 (0)
2014 → Lincoln City (loan) 6 (0)
2014 → Cheltenham Town (loan) 7 (3)
2016– → Cheltenham Town (loan) 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:51, 18 September 2016 (UTC).


Koby Owusu Arthur (born 31 January 1996) is a Ghanaian footballer who plays for Cheltenham Town on loan from Championship club Birmingham City. A midfielder who can also play as a forward, he made his Football League debut in April 2013. He has spent time on loan at Conference Premier club Lincoln City and in League Two in a previous spell with Cheltenham Town, for whom he scored his first senior goal.

Early life and career

Arthur was born in Kumasi, Ghana.[4] After moving to England he joined the youth system of Southern League club Woodford United,[5] where he was noticed by a Birmingham City scout in 2012. The 16-year-old Arthur moved into the football and education development programme run by Birmingham City's community department, and was soon recruited into the club's main development system.[6][7] He played for the club's under-18 team, and made his reserve team debut in February 2013 in a 2–1 Birmingham Senior Cup defeat to Stourbridge. Development squad coach Richard Beale described his performance as excellent: "He won his headers and tackles and he got the ball down and tried to pass it and he can be very pleased with the way he played."[8] A few days later, he produced another good performance on his first Professional Development League appearance.[9]

Arthur is short in stature, at 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m), but solidly built. Manager Lee Clark described him as a "pocket battleship", who plays at a high tempo with "so much energy and enthusiasm".[3] According to his profile on the Birmingham City website, he is "a powerful striker of the ball", able to play in any midfield position or as a forward.[2]

Club career

Birmingham City

Arthur was given squad number 16 ahead of the visit of Sheffield Wednesday on 19 February 2013,[4] but did not make the 18-man matchday squad, and was included in the travelling party for the next match, away at Peterborough United.[3] Amid tabloid reports of interest from Premier League clubs,[10] Arthur signed a two-year professional contract with Birmingham.[11] He made his first-team debut on 1 April in a 3–2 defeat at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute for Mitch Hancox. According to the Birmingham Mail's match report, "he was nimble, showed the odd glimpse".[12] He made his second and last appearance of the season, also as a late substitute, in Birmingham's next match.[13] At the end-of-season awards ceremony, Arthur was honoured as Academy Player of the Season.[14]

He made his first competitive start on 6 August 2013, as Birmingham beat Plymouth Argyle 3–2 after extra time in the first round of the League Cup,[15] and his first league appearance of the season a few days later, as a second-half substitute in a home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.[16]

Loans

On 21 March 2014, Arthur became the third Birmingham youngster, after Charlee Adams and Nick Townsend, to join Conference Premier club Lincoln City on a youth loan until the end of the season.[17] He went straight into the starting eleven for the following day's match at Gateshead, but was replaced at half-time with his side two goals behind.[18]

Arthur joined League Two side Cheltenham Town on 25 July 2014 on a six-month youth loan.[19] On his second appearance, he scored his first senior goal: in the 84th minute, he latched on to a long goalkeeping clearance and "showed his strength to hold off Jordan Mustoe and bundle it past Simpson into the net" to put Cheltenham 2–1 up, which proved to be a winning lead after Accrington Stanley's Kal Naismith missed a late penalty.[20] He scored again a week later as Cheltenham came back from 2–0 down to win at Tranmere Rovers,[21] and further enhanced his "super-sub" reputation with a 90th-minute header in the next match to secure a 1–0 win against Hartlepool United that took Cheltenham top of the table.[22] Given his first start in the Football League Trophy, he scored Cheltenham's second goal, again with a header, to ensure their progress to the second round at Oxford United's expense.[23] He made his first league start on 13 September, in a 1–0 defeat away to Luton Town,[24] and was recalled by Birmingham the following day.[25]

Return to Birmingham

A hamstring injury prevented any immediate involvement with the team,[26] but after what assistant manager Steve Watson described as a breathtaking training session,[27] and with Demarai Gray unavailable through injury, Arthur made his full League debut for Birmingham on 30 September 2014 in a 3–1 win at Millwall, the club's first away win of the season.[28] He missed out on a debut goal in the next match, away to Charlton Athletic, when his attempt was disallowed for offside against Clayton Donaldson,[29]

Return to Cheltenham

Arthur returned to Cheltenham Town on 19 August 2016 on loan until 2 January 2017.[30]

Club statistics

As of match played 17 September 2016
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City 2012–13[13] Championship20———20
2013–14[16] Championship100010—20
2014–15[24] Championship901000—100
2015–16[31] Championship000020—20
2016–17[32] Championship000000—00
Total 120103000160
Lincoln City (loan) 2013–14[16] Conference Premier60———60
Cheltenham Town (loan) 2014–15[24] League Two7300001[lower-alpha 1]184
2016–17[32] League Two1000101[lower-alpha 2]030
Total 8300102194
Career total 263104021334
  1. ↑ Appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. ↑ Appearance in EFL Trophy

Honours

Birmingham City

References

  1. ↑ "Professional retain lists & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. May 2013. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Player profile: Koby Arthur". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Tattum, Colin (23 February 2013). "Birmingham City boss Lee Clark says Koby Arthur is like a 'pocket battleship'". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  4. 1 2 Walker, Andy (19 February 2013). "Squad number for Koby". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Reds see youth policy successes". Daventry Express. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Tattum, Colin (23 March 2013). "Blues hoping to get Koby Arthur signing on dotted line". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  7. ↑ Tattum, Colin (22 February 2013). "Lowdown on new Blues prospect Koby Arthur". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  8. ↑ Lewis, Peter (7 February 2013). "A bridge too far for the kids". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Leicester U21s 2 Blues U21s 1". Birmingham City F.C. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  10. ↑ Lewis, Darren (25 March 2013). "Boy wonder: Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City eye Birmingham starlet Koby 'King' Arthur". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  11. ↑ Walker, Andy (1 April 2013). "Pro deal for Koby". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  12. ↑ Tattum, Colin (2 April 2013). "Birmingham City 2 Wolves 3". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Games played by Koby Arthur in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  14. 1 2 Tattum, Colin (5 May 2013). "Curtis Davies named Birmingham City Player of the Season". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  15. ↑ "Match report: Birmingham 3–2 Plymouth". Birmingham City F.C. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  16. 1 2 3 "Games played by Koby Arthur in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  17. ↑ "Blues' teenager joins on youth loan". Lincoln City F.C. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
    "Koby Arthur joins the Imps". Birmingham City F.C. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  18. ↑ Pakey, John (22 March 2014). "Gateshead 3 Lincoln City 1: Match report". Lincolnshire Echo. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "Koby Arthur arrives on loan". Cheltenham Town F.C. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  20. ↑ Palmer, Jon (17 August 2014). "Cheltenham Town 2 Accrington Stanley 1". Gloucestershire Echo. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  21. ↑ "Cheltenham down Tranmere". Sky Sports. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  22. ↑ Palmer, Jon (29 August 2014). "Cheltenham Town v Hartlepool United: Match day LIVE and whistle report". Gloucestershire Echo. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  23. ↑ Palmer, Jon (2 September 2014). "Cheltenham Town v Hartlepool United: Match day LIVE and whistle report". Gloucestershire Echo. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  24. 1 2 3 "Games played by Koby Arthur in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  25. ↑ Tattum, Colin (14 September 2014). "Teenage attacker Koby Arthur recalled from loan". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  26. ↑ "Latest Blues injury update". Birmingham City F.C. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  27. ↑ Tattum, Colin (30 September 2014). "Koby Arthur poised for Birmingham City action after 'breathtaking' training session". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  28. ↑ Tattum, Colin (1 October 2014). "Birmingham City boss Lee Clark reflects on victory over Millwall". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  29. ↑ Tattum, Colin (4 October 2014). "Charlton 1 Birmingham City 1". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  30. ↑ "Official: Koby Arthur joins Cheltenham Town on loan". Birmingham City F.C. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  31. ↑ "Games played by Koby Arthur in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  32. 1 2 "Games played by Koby Arthur in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
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