Ghana international, Antoine Semenyo, has opened up about his breakthrough move to Bristol City, which set him up for his professional career.
The 25-year-old born in Chelsea had a difficult time landing a club after college and suffered several disappointments, forcing him to even contemplate giving up on the dream of becoming a professional footballer.
However, with the help of his youth coach David Hockaday, Antoine Semenyo made a breakthrough and landed a contract with Bristol City in 2017.
In an interview with Showmax, the forward narrated how it all happened.
“While we’re at Bristol in the summer, we would play against different academy teams. And that summer we played against Bristol, Oxford and a couple of teams from France. I can’t remember their names. And as a college, we were competing in all competitions, winning all the trophies and playing academies you don’t think you’re going to do too well in. We won all four games, I scored in every game. I think I scored two against Bristol, three against Oxford.
“I scored a brace in both the games against the French teams. And I remember after those games the manager saying, “Bristol, they’re going to scout you”. And I was just like, “ah, yeah, whatever”. That kind of thing. And literally, a week later they came in and said, “we want you to come in on trial”. I was nervous. I was so nervous. I remember calling my mum saying, “I’ve got a trial, finally, I’ve got a trial!”, and she was excited for me,” Semenyo shared.
The forward continued, “I was 17. And my mom just said to me, “Just give it your all, that’s all you can do. Give it your all”. So I went to Bristol, I was there for two weeks, played in two games, scored in both the games. And yeah, they called me, my agent, my mum and dad and that’s obviously the moment that I knew I was getting signed or not. And I remember looking at my mum as I was getting into the meeting, so nervous, just hot, clutching my knuckles, just hoping that it would be good news. And they started off the meeting saying what good a person I am. Quite humble, a good person to be around. And I was thinking, “Oh, where’s this going?”, and then they said that they’re going to give me a contract. And I remember just looking to the sky thinking, “Oh god, finally, finally. It’s been so long.” I remember my mum just hugging me.”
At Bristol City, Antoine Semenyo’s career took off as he impressed with his performances on loan at Bath City, Newport, and Sunderland.
In 2023, the forward secured a big move to English Premier League side AFC Bournemouth and has since become a star in the top-flight league.
