He may be 3,000 miles from his birthplace but, after six-and-a-half years with West Ham United, Joseph Anang is feeling at home in east London.
Anang was born in Teshie, a coastal settlement in the south east of the capital of Ghana, Accra, in June 2000. As a boy, he played initially as a defender before a family friend encouraged him to become a goalkeeper and he joined local club Danbort FC in nearby Nungua, a few miles east of Accra city centre.
From there, he moved to Ghana Premier League club Wa All Stars (now named Legon Cities) but, after a few months, he followed his mother Monica to London, where she had moved to work.
After a successful trial at the Academy of Football, Anang joined West Ham in the summer of 2017. After waiting patiently for a work permit and international clearance, he made his debut in Claret and Blue in March 2018, keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 U18 Premier League victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
Anang turned 18 that June and signed his first professional contract the following month. After alternating with Nathan Trott as the U21s’ starter in 2018/19, he made the position his own for the following two campaigns.
Having made over 50 appearances at development level, switched his international allegiance and made his debut for England at U20 level and signed a new contract, Anang was loaned out to EFL League Two club Stevenage in June 2021. Again, he kept a clean sheet on debut in a 1-0 win over Barrow.
The young gloveman returned to West Ham in January 2022, before being loaned out again, this time to League of Ireland Premier Division side St Patrick’s Athletic, following a recommendation from his Academy of Football teammate Alfie Lewis.
His debut for St Pat’s ended in a penalty shootout defeat by Shamrock Rovers in the President’s Cup – the Republic of Ireland’s equivalent of the Community Shield – but Anang’s second shootout for the Dublin club provided far more positive memories.
The stopper helped St Pat’s hold Slovenian side NŠ Mura to a 1-1 aggregate draw in the UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round, before saving a penalty in the shootout to send them through.
After starting both legs of a narrow third qualifying round defeat by CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria, Anang returned to east London in August 2022 before being loaned to EFL League One club Derby County later the same month. Unfortunately, a training ground collision left Anang nursing a broken arm and his loan was terminated in January 2023.
Having healed, Anang was back in action two months later and was named on the substitutes’ bench for seven Premier League fixtures and six UEFA Europa Conference League knockout ties in the second half of last season.
This term, he has been promoted to No3 goalkeeper by Xavi Valero, has trained daily with the first-team squad and featured in David Moyes’ matchday squad on ten occasions, while also keeping goal in the U23s’ Bristol Street Motors Trophy victories at Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town and Colchester United.
Anang has also fulfilled another invaluable role in helping Mohammed Kudus, who was also born in Accra, to settle into life in England, driving him to and from training and matches and recommending restaurants to enjoy a taste traditional Ghanaian food.
A popular figure around Rush Green, Anang’s ambition now is establishing himself as a senior player and continue pushing for further first-team opportinuties.
I am from Teshie and I grew up back home with my Mum and Dad before my parents both went abroad at different times to get a better life for our family.
My Dad was an electrician and went to the United States, but he has now retired, then my Mum moved to the UK to work first as a cleaner, then she did a nursing course and worked in a care home for people with dementia.
I lived with my grandparents and my one sister and two brothers, as we have a big family, and followed my Mum here a few years later.
It is normal back home that it is difficult, and people move abroad to get a better life.
Being here was a big thing as it’s so different to back home. My family were in the middle but that’s because they moved abroad and were able to send money back home.
I was a defender as a boy, but I was terrible and wasn’t fit enough!
One day a family friend who was a goalkeeper was going to training and he took me along. I was about ten or eleven, I did alright and since then I’ve played in goal and it’s history!
I was at this club for a year or two then I went to Danbort and I played for the Under-15s. From there, I went to Wa All Stars on the recommendation of one of my coaches at Danbort. I was there for three months, then I moved here to England.
My agent organised a team and we came to West Ham and played a trial game against a team of 16 to 18-year-olds and that’s how they spotted me.
I also had a trial at Peterborough United and they wanted to sign me, too, but I came to West Ham instead.
It was a great experience to play League football with Stevenage.
I started there as number one and played ten or 12 games, but for some reason my performance level just dropped and a new gaffer came in and just brought his own ‘keeper, so I came back to West Ham.
Being dropped wasn’t a good thing and it was very hard mentally, but I took it as a big motivation and didn’t let it get me down. I just kept going.
Coming from Stevenage, I got dropped, came back to West Ham and then, all of a sudden, a team in Ireland, St Pat’s, came in for me.
I didn’t even think twice. I just went because I thought I just had to play games and I went there and did well.
For me, it was normal, because being here in England I was already playing abroad. I went there and, to be fair, I played every minute and did well so I was happy. I was buzzing. It was a great move for me.
The European games were just different. We went to Bulgaria and the fans were just crazy. I did well there, but the best was when we played in Slovenia and went through on pens! I made some saves and saved a penalty, but I was just doing my job.
Before going to Derby, I knew it was a big club, but when I went to their training ground for the first time, I realised it was a massive club.
Unfortunately, I broke my arm in training and that was it for me. It’s part of the game it was just another learning curve.
I trained with Jason Knight and Haydon Roberts at Derby, both of whom now play for Bristol City, and they are brilliant players and brilliant people as well.
Even though I didn’t play there, I still felt part of the team and because of that I have big respect for Derby. They could have sent me back to West Ham, but I did my rehab there and they were very supportive.
It’s good to be part of the first-team squad here at West Ham, working hard and doing what I can to be ready if anything happens.
At the same time, I am young and want to play and I am really enjoying my games for the Under-23s in the EFL Trophy.
We have made it through to the round of 16 and we face Wycombe on Tuesday evening. The squad are flying in Premier League 2, too.
As a goalkeeper, I think my shot-stopping is good, but my distribution puts me on a different level, which is so important in football these days.
‘Starboy’ is my guy and as soon as I knew Mo was being signed, we found an instant connection, and he is so humble.
We both know how things are back home and if you are not humble, you must be crazy. He is a star, but he is still humble and that’s one of the things I really like about him.
We are two Ghanaian boys in London! We came from similar backgrounds, he gets me and I get him as well. I drive him around in my little Lamborghini! Actually, it’s a Volkswagen Polo, my banger!
We spend a lot of time together and love our food, especially Jollof. We either go to the restaurant or get a delivery to Mo’s place.
We watch games together and have lots of conversations about our journeys and him coming here and seeing him smashing the Premier League has been my highlight so far this season.
It gives me more motivation, 100 per cent, because we have had similar journeys and come from similar backgrounds as well.
