Keyendrah Qwamalik Tegan Simmonds (born 31 May 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL League Two club Grimsby Town on loan from EFL Championship club Birmingham City.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Keyendrah Qwamalik Tegan Simmonds[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2001-05-31) 31 May 2001 (age 21)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Manchester, England | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team |
Grimsby Town (on loan from Birmingham City) | ||
| Number | 21 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2021 | Manchester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021– | Birmingham City | 1 | (0) |
| 2022– | → Grimsby Town (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| England U15 | |||
| 2018 | England U18 | 5 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:00, 12 November 2022 (UTC) | |||
He was at Manchester City from the age of eight until February 2021, when he signed for Birmingham.
Simmonds was born in 2001 in Manchester, and joined Manchester City at the age of eight;[2] his older brother, Okera, was a member of Liverpool's academy.[3][4] He took up a scholarship with Manchester City in 2017,[5] and in his second year, played and scored regularly for City's under-18 team in the U18 Premier League 2 and appeared twice in the UEFA Youth League.[6] Interviewed in September 2019, he said that Ronaldinho was his childhood idol, that he looked up to and took advice from Raheem Sterling, that he had trained with City's first team,[7] and that his progress had been interrupted by spells of injury.[7][8]
Simmonds made his debut in open-age football for Manchester City U21 in December 2019 in the 2019–20 EFL Trophy away to Shrewsbury Town. He came on as a 68th-minute substitute (association football), missed chances to score the winning goal, and converted his penalty as City won the shootout 6–5.[9] With one year left on his City contract, there was interest from Premier League and Championship clubs in signing Simmonds,[10] but no move took place. He scored a late goal against Lincoln City to confirm City as winners of their group in the 2020–21 EFL Trophy,[11] but came no closer to first-team football.
Simmonds signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Championship club Birmingham City on 1 February 2021.[12] Manager Aitor Karanka said he would initially be a development squad player while training with the first team.[13] He did not appear in the senior matchday squad until 8 May, when new manager Lee Bowyer selected numerous fringe players for the final match of the season, away to Blackburn Rovers.[14] Birmingham lost 5–2, and Simmonds replaced Amari Miller after 78 minutes to make his Football League debut.[15] He scored three goals from nine appearances for the under-23s, helped them finish as runners-up in the Professional Development League Northern Section, and starred in the play-off final, as Birmingham beat Sheffield United U23 to win the overall title and gain promotion to Premier League 2 for 2021–22.[16]
On 1 September 2022, Simmonds joined Grimsby Town on loan until January 2023.[17] He made his debut two days later as a 71st-minute substitute in a 2–0 win away to Newport County; according to the Grimsby Telegraph, he "got about the pitch well when he came on, but did not have a huge involvement."[18]
Simmonds represented England at under-15 level,[2] and was called up for the under-18s in September 2018 for the Limoges Tournament.[19] He played in all three matches, and scored in the second, a 3–0 win against Russia.[20] He kept his place for two matches against Sweden and the Czech Republic in October.[20][21]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester City U21 | 2019–20[22] | — | — | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2020–21[23] | — | — | — | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Total | — | — | — | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Birmingham City | 2020–21[23] | Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 2021–22[24] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23[25] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Grimsby Town (loan) | 2022–23[25] | League Two | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| Career total | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 2 | ||
The clash marked a welcome return to action for Keke Simmonds, who had been sidelined with injury and was introduced from the bench in the second period.
Grimsby Town F.C. – current squad | |
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