Frankie Chisenga Musonda (born 12 December 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Scottish Championship club Ayr United. Born in England, he plays for the Zambia national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Frankie Chisenga Musonda[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1997-12-12) 12 December 1997 (age 24)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Bedford, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Ayr United | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2015 | Luton Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2020 | Luton Town | 3 | (0) |
| 2017 | → Braintree Town (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2018 | → Oxford City (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2018 | → Oxford City (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 2019 | → Hemel Hempstead Town (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 2019–2020 | → St Albans City (loan) | 11 | (1) |
| 2020 | → St Albans City (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2020–2022 | Raith Rovers | 48 | (3) |
| 2022– | Ayr United | 18 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2022– | Zambia | 6 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:41, 22 June 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:31, 25 March 2022 (UTC) | |||
Born in Bedford, Bedfordshire,[2] Musonda joined Luton Town in 2006 aged eight and progressed through the club's youth system.[3] During his time in the club's academy he played in numerous positions, including as a striker, before settling on a central defensive role.[4] He was part of the under-11 team which defeated Bayern Munich 3–2 to win the Aarau Masters in 2009.[4][5] Musonda was promoted to Luton's under-18 team as a first year scholar in 2014 and was named captain.[3] He began 2015–16 playing for both the under-18 team and the development squad alongside senior professionals.[4] After leading the under-18's on a 16-match unbeaten run, during which the team conceded only seven goals, he signed a one-and-a-half-year professional contract with Luton on 4 November 2015.[4] Musonda continued to captain the under-18 team which went on to win the Youth Alliance South East title and the Youth Alliance Cup,[6][7][8] and also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup, in which they lost 1–0 to Blackburn Rovers.[7][9]
Musonda first became involved with the Luton first-team when he was named on the bench on his eighteenth birthday for a League Two match against Northampton Town, though he remained an unused substitute.[2][10] On 23 January 2016, Musonda was introduced as a 94th-minute substitute for Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu in a 2–0 win away to Mansfield Town to make his professional debut.[11] He made his second appearance of the season on 9 April, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Dan Potts in a 2–0 defeat at home to Accrington Stanley.[12] Musonda was introduced as an 89th-minute substitute for Jake Howells in Luton's final match of the season, a 4–1 win at home to Exeter City.[13]
Musonda scored his first professional goal on his first appearance of 2016–17 in a 2–1 win away to Gillingham in the EFL Trophy on 30 August 2016.[14] He made four further appearances in the EFL Trophy, before joining National League club Braintree Town on 3 March 2017 on an initial one-month loan.[15] Having made his debut a day later in a 2–1 home defeat to Wrexham, Musonda finished his loan spell at Braintree with three appearances.[16]
Shortly after the start of 2017–18, Musonda signed a new contract with Luton on 9 August 2017 to keep him at the club until the summer of 2019, with the option of a further year.[17] He joined National League South club Oxford City on 9 February 2018 on a one-month youth loan and made his debut after starting in a 4–1 home win over Hemel Hempstead Town a day later.[18][19] The loan was extended on 16 March until the end of the season.[20] Musonda made 13 appearances and scored one goal as Oxford finished 16th in the National League South.[21][22] His contract with Luton was extended by a further year at the end of the season after a promotion clause was triggered as a result of the club's promotion to League One.[23] He rejoined Oxford City on 26 October 2018 on loan for a month.[24] Musonda's second loan spell with Oxford ended having scored one goal from seven appearances.[25] He was loaned to another National League South club, Hemel Hempstead Town, on 9 January 2019 until the end of 2018–19.[26]
Musonda joined St Albans City of the National League South on 18 October 2019 on loan until January 2020.[27] His debut came a day later in a 1–0 home defeat to Bath City and made 12 further appearances, completing the loan with 13 appearances and one goal before returning to Luton.[28][29] He returned to St Albans on 6 March 2020 on loan until the end of the season.[30] Musonda was released by Luton when his contract expired in June 2020.[31]
Musonda signed for newly promoted Scottish Championship club Raith Rovers on 11 August 2020 on a one-year contract.[32]
On 22 June 2022, Musonda joined Scottish Championship side Ayr United on a two-year deal.[33]
Musonda was born in England to a Zambian father and English mother. He was called up to represent the Zambia national team in March 2022.[34] He debuted for Zambia in a friendly 3–1 win over the Congo on 25 March 2022, scoring his side's third goal on his debut.[35]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Luton Town | 2015–16[36] | League Two | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2016–17[37] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2017–18[38] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[39] | League One | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20[40] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 1 | ||
| Braintree Town (loan) | 2016–17[16] | National League | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Oxford City (loan) | 2017–18[21] | National League South | 12 | 1 | — | — | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 13 | 1 | ||
| 2018–19[16] | National League South | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| Total | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 23 | 2 | |||
| Hemel Hempstead Town (loan) | 2018–19[41] | National League South | 11 | 2 | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 13 | 2 | ||
| St Albans City (loan) | 2019–20[28] | National League South | 13 | 1 | — | — | 3[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 16 | 1 | ||
| Raith Rovers | 2020–21[16] | Scottish Championship | 22 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 26 | 3 | |
| 2021–22 | Scottish Championship | 18 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 3 | ||
| Ayr United | 2022−23 | Scottish Championship | 14 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 101 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 135 | 9 | ||
Raith Rovers
Ayr United F.C. – current squad | |
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