Biography
Lightning quick left-footed Norwegian international forward Josh King joined Hull City on loan from Manchester United in January 2012 and spent five months playing an important supporting role for Nick Barmby’s side, while also garnering experience at the early stages of his football career. While King’s velocity was not in question, his finishing skills were less well defined and he netted just once for the Tigers, an early April 2012 Championship match against Middlesbrough in which King made a rare start and scored the equaliser in a 2-1 victory.
Joshua Christian Kojo King was born in Norwegian capital Oslo, his father hailed from Gambia and his mother was Norwegian. Josh played junior football for Romsas IL and Valerenga before travelling to England and joining Premier League side Manchester United when he turned 16 years old in January 2008. He made good progress through the Red Devils’ youth ranks despite suffering two injuries at crucial periods in his development, and was handed a first team debut in September 2009 when coming on as substitute in a League Cup tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers. He returned to the Under-18 side for the remainder of the 2009/10 season before joining Championship side Preston North End on loan in August 2010 – King was the 1000th footballer to play a senior game for Preston North End. At Deepdale he scored his first senior goal in an August 2010 League Cup tie against Stockport County and compiled ten appearances, plus one goal, before returning to Manchester United in January 2011 and spending the rest of the 2010/11 season playing for the Reserves. In August 2011 Josh joined German Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach on a season long loan, but after his first team debut against VFL Wolfsburg in August 2011 he managed just one further senior appearance before returning early to Old Trafford in November 2011, ahead of his January 2012 move to Hull City.
At the start of the 2012/13 season King made his second and final first team appearance for Manchester United, playing the last five minutes of a November 2012 Champions League Group Stage match against Turkish side Galatasaray. Days later Josh joined Championship side Blackburn Rovers on loan, he made his debut days later against Millwall and scored his first goal for the club against Cardiff City in December 2012. His loan move was converted into a permanent signing once the transfer window reopened in January 2013 and though injuries hampered him, he completed the season having made 20 appearances for Rovers. With Blackburn challenging in the upper half of the Championship for the next two seasons, King was a handy support striker who was used as substitute as frequently as he started matches. In February 2015 Josh scored a hattrick in the FA Cup against Premier League side Stoke City and by the end of the 2014/15 season he had scored eight goals for Blackburn Rovers in 74 appearances.
In July 2015 Josh joined newly promoted Premier League side Bournemouth and was immediately handed a first team starting place by Cherries’ boss Eddie Howe. He maintained his place in the first team squad for the next five seasons, netting an impressive sixteen goals in the 2016/17 season that included a March 2017 hattrick against West Ham United. When Bournemouth were relegated to the Championship at the end of the COVID19-affected 2019/20 season King was used more sparingly by new manager Jason Tindall, when Josh left Bournemouth in February 2021 he had scored 53 goals in 184 appearances.
In February 2021 King transferred to Premier League side Everton and during the remainder of the 2020/21 season he made 11 appearances for the Toffees, all as substitute. In July 2021 he joined Premier League side Watford and in October 2021 he punished his former side Everton with his third career hattrick in a 5-2 thumping, going on to end the 2021/22 season with five goals in 33 appearances. However Watford were relegated at the end of the season and Josh moved on, joining Turkish Super Lig side Fenerbahce in July 2022. He made his debut for Fener in a July 2022 Champions League Qualifying Round tie against Dynamo Kyiv and played in several Europa League ties as well as domestic League and Cup competitions. Injuries meant he missed two substantial periods of the season but he still managed to score seven goals in 27 appearances including a late goal in the Turkish Cup semi-final victory over Sivasspor. Retained for the 2023/24 season, King was used primarily in European competitions and ended the season with four goals, taking his tally for Fenerbahce to twelve goals in 54 appearances. he left the Turkish side in June 2024 on expiry of his contract.
King was born in Norway to a Gambian father and Norwegian mother and chose from a young age to play international football for the country of his birth. After two goals in 4 appearances for the Norway Under-15 side he added one goal in 3 Under-16 appearances during the 2007/08 season. Elevated to the Under-18 squad during the 2009/10 season, Josh scored one goal in 2 appearances before playing twice for the Under-19 team in November 2009, scoring a brace against Belgium. In June 2011 Josh graduated to the Norway Under-21 side and debuted against Sweden, over a two year period he scored one goal, in September 2011 against Iceland, in 8 appearances.
Josh made his senior debut for Norway in September 2012 against Iceland and scored his first senior international goal a month later against Cyprus. After two years in and out of the squad, in May 2014 King started holding down a regular place in the Norway team and during 2019 he scored five goals in eight European Championships qualifiers. In March 2022 Josh scored his only international hattrick against Armenia, in June 2022 he made his last international appearance for Norway against Slovenia and took his tally to 20 goals in 62 senior caps.
Details
Nationality: Norway
Date/Place of Birth: 15 January 1992, Oslo (Norway)
Hull City First Game: 21 January 2012, Reading A (Championship), 20 years, 6 days old
Hull City Final Game: 28 April 2012, West Ham United A (Championship), 20 years, 104 days old
Clubs
Manchester United (2008-2013), Preston North End (2010, loan), Borussia Monchengladbach (2011, loan), Hull City (2012, loan), Blackburn Rovers (2012, loan), Blackburn Rovers (2013-2015), Bournemouth (2015-2021), Everton (2021), Watford (2021-2022), Fenerbahce (2022-2024)
Hull City Record
Career: 19 apps, 1 goals
Josh King| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011/12 | 8 (10) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |