Continuing our alphabetical world tour, next up is Liberia. Home of the only African Ballon d’Or winner to date, the history of Liberia in the Premier League began in 1997.
First Player – Christopher Wreh (Arsenal; 1997-2000)
Reunited with his former manager Arsène Wenger, Christopher Wreh joined Arsenal in 1997 for £300,000 from Monaco. A young striker, Wreh battled with the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Ian Wright, Nicholas Anelka, Nwankwo Kanu and Davor Suker for game time during his stint in North London, winning the Premier League in his first season.
Wreh became the first Liberian to feature in the Premier League in the process, ultimately making 28 league appearances before leaving Arsenal in 2000. Featuring in Liberia’s first-ever Africa Cup Of Nations finals appearance in 1996, Wreh won 36 caps between 1995 and 2002, scoring 11 goals.
Records
- Most appearances – Christopher Wreh (28)
- First appearance – Christopher Wreh (Derby 3-0 ARSENAL, November 1st 1997)
- Most goals – George Weah (4)
- First goal – Christopher Wreh (Wimbledon 0-1 ARSENAL, March 11th 1998)
Other Players
Blink and you would’ve missed him, but 1995 Ballon d’Or winner George Weah had a brief spell in England with Chelsea and Manchester City. Arriving on loan from Milan in January 2000, Weah won the FA Cup in half a year with Chelsea, before signing a permanent deal with newly-promoted City in the summer.
He made just seven league appearances for the Citizens before agreeing to cancel his contract in October. Elsewhere, another former City striker – Alex Nimely (one appearance in 2010), was born in Liberia and called up to their senior squad in 2016, but did not make an appearance. Nimely had made three appearances for England’s under 20s back in 2009 and as such is listed as English on the Premier League website.
21-year-old Mohammed Sangare is currently on the books at Newcastle but will spend the upcoming season out on loan.
Trivia
- George Weah is the current President of Liberia, as well as their all-time leading goal scorer (18 goals).
- Liberia are one of seven African nations to have had a Premier League winner (also Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa).
- Christopher Wreh is currently the assistant manager of the Liberia national team.
