✭ 🇬🇭🍒⚽ ANTOINE SEMENYO – FROM REJECTION TO PREMIER LEAGUE STAR (BOURNEMOUTH & GHANA) 🇬🇭🍒⚽ ✭

Football For Kids

FOR KIDS IEM

Sports, Kids & Family, Stories For Kids, Soccer

4.8 • 756 Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

www.kelloggsfc.com AD FREE and Exclusive episodes: https://www.patreon.com/c/Footballforkids In this episode of the Football For Kids Podcast, Darren Rees tells the inspiring story of Antoine Semenyo – the Bournemouth goal-scoring machine and Ghana international. Born in Chelsea in the year 2000, Semenyo’s journey has been anything but easy. From kicking a ball in the park with his dad, facing rejection after rejection at clubs like Arsenal, Tottenham and Crystal Palace, and even nearly giving up football completely… to finally breaking through with Bristol City, battling through tough loan spells in non-league and the lower leagues, and then becoming a multi-million pound Premier League player with AFC Bournemouth. We’ll hear how Semenyo grew up watching the Africa Cup of Nations on TV with his family, dreaming of heroes like Didier Drogba and Asamoah Gyan – and how that dream came true when he went on to wear the Ghana shirt himself at international level. But this episode doesn’t stop at the goals and glory. We also talk about the serious issue of racism in football. On 15 August 2025, Semenyo was racially abused while playing at Anfield. We explain why this is so wrong, why racism has no place in football or anywhere, and how kids can learn to always choose kindness, bravery, and respect. 👉 Perfect for kids and families who love football, this episode is about never giving up, chasing your dreams, and standing up for what’s right. If you love football stories and want to be inspired, then you won’t want to miss this episode about Antoine Semenyo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Football for Kids podcast with me, Darren Reese.
0:26.3	In this episode, we're going to be speaking of as a player who almost called it today with football.
0:32.3	A player who faced rejection but made his way through and ended up playing for Bournemouth in the Premier League
0:39.6	and for Ghana on one of the biggest stages of them all.
0:43.9	Yes, of course, in this episode we're going to be speaking about the Bournemouth goal scoring machine,
0:50.6	Antoine Semenyo. Antoine Semenyo was born on the 7th of January in the year 2000
0:58.0	He was born in Chelsea England not a million miles away from Stamford Bridge a place where he scored a thunderous goal earlier this year
1:08.0	Semenyo was born into a family where football was important.
1:13.3	His Garnayan dad, Larry, was a professional footballer himself,
1:17.5	and it's reported that he played in the Garnayan top division for quite some time,
1:22.3	as a midfielder.
1:24.2	So football was running through Antoine Semenio's blood from the moment he was born.
1:30.3	As I mentioned earlier, Semenio was born in Chelsea, London, and it was in England and in London
1:35.9	where he grew up with his brother Jay, who is also a footballer. Anyway, rewind a bit, because
1:42.5	Semenio has said he wasn't always mad about football.
1:46.5	He's not always loved it like he loves it today.
1:49.5	He used to go to his local park of his dad and they would kick the ball about.
1:54.0	But as he said, initially he wasn't mad for it.
1:58.3	He was more attracted to sports like basketball.
2:01.6	But it said that as time went by, he became more and more interested and more and more
2:06.5	passionate about the beautiful game of football.
2:10.2	Cimeño has memories of watching tournaments on the television, like the Africa Cup of Nations,
	...

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