O is for Osman
Abdul Osman played a starring role during the Cobblers’ visit to Liverpool in the third round of the 2010/11 League Cup campaign and etched his name on one of the club’s greatest nights this century.
Born in Accra, the capital of Ghana, Osman signed for the Cobblers in the summer of 2008 when they were in League One, but relegation at the end of his first season saw the midfielder play two of his three years in claret and white in the fourth tier.
As a first-team regular under the club’s current academy manager Ian Sampson, Osman started against Liverpool in the League Cup. The match finished 2-2 after extra time, and at 23 years old, he kept his cool in front of the famous Kop end to score the winning penalty and send the Cobblers through at the expense of their Premier League opponents.
The midfielder started out in non-league football with Hampton & Richmond Borough and then Maidenhead United, prior to moving north of the border with Gretna. Unfortunately, the Anvils dissolved at the end of Osman’s first season following their relegation from the Scottish Premier League and he signed for Northampton Town.
After more than 100 appearances in three seasons for the Cobblers, Osman’s career saw him switch between clubs in England, Scotland and Greece. His first destination was AO Kerkyra in the Greek Super League, before featuring 83 times in all competitions for Crewe Alexandra in the English third tier.
In 2014, Osman joined Partick Thistle in the Scottish Premiership and recorded another century of appearances, but injury limited his game time towards the end of his stay and inspired him to start his own fashion brand while recovering. Since a short spell back in the Greek top flight with Lamia in 2018, the Ghanaian has run out for Falkirk, Queen of the South, and Kent-based Dartford.
