Modou Barrow
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Modou Barrow[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 13 October 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Banjul, The Gambia | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Swansea City | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Real de Banjul FC | |||
| Östers IF | |||
| Mjölby AI | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010 | Mjölby AI | 15 | (6) |
| 2011 | Mjölby Södra IF | 19 | (23) |
| 2012 | IFK Norrköping | 7 | (0) |
| 2013 | Varbergs BoIS | 28 | (2) |
| 2014 | Östersunds FK | 19 | (10) |
| 2014– | Swansea City | 47 | (1) |
| 2015 | → Nottingham Forest (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2015 | → Blackburn Rovers (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2015– | Gambia | 5 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:21, 3 December 2016 (UTC). | |||
Modou Barrow (born 13 October 1992) is a Gambian professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Swansea City.
Club career
Early life and Sweden
Barrow was born in the Gambia. When he was 11, his mother died.[3] He and his four brothers joined their father in Sweden. He reflected that "Football obviously helped me get through that period of my life. I was very good at football and got a lot of friends at my new school, mainly because many of them really liked to play football with me. I was never bullied because I was from another country."[4][5]
He spent his youth career at Östers IF and Mjölby AI, before earning his first senior appearances with Mjölby AI. His best friend from Gambia had moved to the town of Mjölby. While visiting his friend, he was invited to train with the club, and quickly caught the eye of the senior squad. This in turn led to a deal with the nearby club IFK Norrköping. After spells at fellow Swedish sides Mjölby Södra IF, IFK Norrköping, and Varbergs BoIS, he joined Swedish second tier side Östersunds FK.
Swansea City
On 30 August 2014, he completed his transfer to Premier League side Swansea City for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £1.5 million.[6] He became the first Gambian footballer to play in the Premier League – Omar Koroma spent two seasons at Portsmouth starting in 2008, but failed to make an appearance.[7][8]
"I like the way Swansea play football, it reminds me of how I used to play back home. I've watched a lot of their games on TV and I was impressed with what I saw," he said on signing for Swansea. "They like to give young players a chance and hopefully I can progress here." Barrow went straight into the Under-21s squad. On 28 October 2014, Barrow was included on the bench for Swansea's League Cup match against Liverpool. He was assigned the squad number 58.[9]
On 9 November 2014, Barrow made his Swansea City and Premier League debut against Arsenal, coming on in place of Marvin Emnes for the last 23 minutes of a 2–1 home win.[10] He scored his first Swansea goal on 3 January 2015 in a 6–2 win at Tranmere Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup. Following an impressive start to his Swansea career, Barrow signed a new four-year contract until June 2018.[11][12]
Barrow was loaned to Nottingham Forest on 11 March 2015 until the end of the 2014-15 season.[13]
On 10 August 2015, Barrow was loaned to Blackburn Rovers on a three-month emergency loan.[14] He made his debut the next day in their 1–2 home defeat to Shrewsbury Town in the first round of the League Cup, as a 57th-minute replacement for John O'Sullivan.[15] On 8 September, he was recalled by Swansea. Barrow scored his first league goal for Swansea in a 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on 12 March 2016.[16]
International career
On 31 March 2015, Barrow was called up for the Sweden national under-21 football team, however he pulled out of the squad due to an injury he had sustained.
In May 2015, he was called up for the Gambia national football team, and on 22 May, he confirmed on his Twitter account that he had decided to play for his native Gambia.[17] Barrow made his debut for Gambia during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification in a goalless draw away to South Africa on 13 June 2015.[18]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Mjölby AI | 2010 | Östergötland Västra | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 6 |
| Mjölby Södra | 2011 | Östergötland Västra | 19 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 23 |
| Norrköping | 2012 | Allsvenskan | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Varbergs BoIS | 2013 | Superettan | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 2 |
| Östersunds | 2014 | Superettan | 19 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 10 |
| Swansea City | 2014–15 | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| 2015–16 | Premier League | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| 2016–17 | Premier League | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Total | 47 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 2 | ||
| Nottingham Forest (loan) | 2014–15 | Championship | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Blackburn Rovers (loan) | 2015–16 | Championship | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Career total | 133 | 42 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 138 | 43 | ||
Personal life
He lives with his fiancée and their daughter Anya, born in November 2014.[3]
References
- ↑ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ↑ "Premier League Player Profile Modou Barrow". Premier League. Barclays Premier League. 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
- 1 2 "Barrow: There's more to come from me". swanseacity.net.
- ↑ "Barrow: "Jag önskar att mamma hade fått uppleva det här"". op.se.
- ↑ Simon Gaskell (26 August 2014). "Who is expected Swansea City signing Modou Barrow? All you need to know about the young striking sensation". walesonline.
- ↑ "Barrow completes transfer". Twitter. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- ↑ "BARROW IS FIRST GAMBIAN TO PLAY IN EPL". Foroyaa Newspaper. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ↑ "Modou Barrow becomes first Gambian to play in Premier League". Gambia Sports. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014..
- ↑ "Liverpool 2 Swansea 1". BBC. 28 October 2014.
- ↑ Pritchard, Dafydd (9 November 2014). "Swansea 2-1 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- ↑ "Barrow pens new four-year deal at Swans". swanseacity.net. Swansea City A.F.C. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ↑ "BBC Sport - Gambian forward Modou Barrow signs long-term Swansea deal". BBC Sport.
- ↑ Richardson, Nick. "Nottingham Forest complete signing of Swansea City forward Modou Barrow on loan until the end of the season".
- ↑ rovers.co.uk. "Rovers have completed the loan signing of Swansea City's Modou Barrow.".
- ↑ "Blackburn 1-2 Shrewsbury". BBC Sport. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ↑ "Bournemouth 3-2 Swansea". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ↑ "Klart: Barrow väljer att spela för Gambia". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
- ↑ "South Africa 0 Gambia 0". cafonline.com. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
- ↑ "M. BARROW". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- ↑ "Modou Barrow". Soccerbase. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
