There are various tales of gamers rising by means of the tiers of English soccer from the grassroots. However few rival the story of Richard Kone. In 5 years, the Ivorian has gone from residing on the streets of his hometown Abidjan to main the race for the Golden Boot in League One and on the cusp of promotion to the championship with Wycombe.
As a teen, Kone was a part of the Ivory Coast squad which travelled to the Homeless World Cup 2019 in Cardiff. At simply 16, he stated it was his “first time on a airplane and first time overseas.” When requested about his expertise being homeless, he stated, “In Ivory Coast, it isn’t straightforward in any respect being homeless. Some individuals gained’t speak with you if you attempt to ask for slightly little bit of assist or slightly bit of cash. They ignore you, some individuals get crushed up. It’s tough being homeless in my nation.”
The match is a long-running annual worldwide occasion that options gamers aged 16 and over who’ve met their respective nation’s definition of homelessness. 480 gamers representing 46 nations travelled to Cardiff to attend the week-long soccer competition. Though his nation did not impress, ending third of their respective tier, Kone placed on a powerful exhibiting within the Welsh Capital.
Kone elected to remain within the UK, enjoying for beginner membership Athletic Newham in east London. His time enjoying within the Essex Senior Leagues was astonishingly prolific. Within the 2021-22 marketing campaign, he scored 42 targets and was named participant of the season. The next 12 months, he went on to attain 40. Throughout this time, Kone caught the attention of soccer league scouts, however work allow points prevented him from signing with knowledgeable group.
Regardless of reported curiosity from West Ham and Fulham, Wycombe had been the fortunate recipient of Kone’s signature in January 2024. He had been coaching with the membership for a number of months earlier than he formally signed, and this endurance was rewarded in his debut. The 20-year-old scored the winner in opposition to West Ham’s youth facet to propel his new group to the final eight of the EFL trophy.
The rest of his first season within the EFL was barely underwhelming, beginning simply 6 league video games and scoring 3 targets. However this season has been nothing in need of distinctive. When writing, Kone scored 18 league targets and was tied with Jay Stansfield as the highest scorer, a person who price Birmingham a League file price of £15 million simply 8 months in the past. Different highlights from this season embrace a nine-minute excellent hat-trick in opposition to Peterborough in October.
Kone clearly left a long-lasting impression on his earlier supervisor, Matt Bloomfield, who tried to signal the Ivorian for a reported £6 million following his substitute of Rob Edwards as Luton’s supervisor in January. The bid was in the end rejected, doubtless partly as a result of Kone had simply signed a contract extension in November, and the bid got here too late for the Chairboys to discover a substitute.
Going from residing on the road to having presents of £6 million rejected to your providers is one in every of soccer’s nice success tales. At simply 21, who is aware of what the longer term holds for this gifted teenager? He might be taking the pitch within the Championship together with his present membership subsequent season if they will safe promotion. Nonetheless, TBR Chief Soccer Correspondent and switch professional Graeme Bailey stated in an interview with EFL Evaluation that Kone has been topic to curiosity from golf equipment in England and overseas. Included on this listing are Premier League golf equipment Brentford and Crystal Palace.
It’s unclear the place Richard Kone will play soccer subsequent season, however the potential for this success story to be informed for a few years is simple.
