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Andros Townsend has signed for Thai club Kanchanaburi Power in a surprise free transfer. The former Tottenham and Crystal Palace winger has left Turkish side Antalyaspor to head to Thailand. Townsend's latest move sees him join the 16th different club of his career, beginning a new adventure in Asia. Kanchanaburi Power were promoted to Thailand's top-flight last season and were only founded in 2017. But they have now pulled off the shock signing of a former England international and he will wear the no. 25. The 34-year-old began his football career as a youngster at Tottenham in 2000, remaining at the club until 2016. During his 16-year spell at Spurs, he was sent out on nine different loans to a variety of EFL outfits. He spent time at Yeovil Town, Leyton Orient, MK Dons, Ipswich, Watford, Millwall, Leeds, Birmingham and QPR. Townsend eventually left Tottenham for Newcastle nine years ago, but he only spent half a year at St. James' Park. A move to Crystal Palace followed in 2016 and he went on to make 185 appearances in all competitions for the Eagles. Of the 185, a total of 168 of those were in the Premier League and he established himself in the top-flight across the next five years. Towsend would eventually move on to Everton and then Luton Town, before he departed England for Turkey last year. Townsend's time in Turkey began in strange circumstances as he didn't know whether he had a contract with Antalyaspor. He signed a deal with the club last summer after leaving Luton, however, the transfer was left in doubt. Antalyaspor had tried to sign the forward before their transfer ban came into effect, but they missed the deadline. And that left the ex-Premier League star in limbo, training in Turkey and awaiting confirmation of his move - which eventually did go through as he went on to make 23 appearances for the club. At the time, Towsend said on BBC Radio 5 Live: "We missed the deadline by a couple of hours. So the contract is signed with Antalyaspor, they can't officially register me, they can't announce me because they have a transfer ban. "So I'm literally just stuck in Antalyaspor just training. I don't know who owns me. I don't know where my contract is. " Before Townsend left English football, he made a change to the name that he would be wearing on the back of his shirt. At Luton, he donned 'Townsend Sr. ' on his kit and he's expected to keep that at Kanchanaburi Power. He explained the reason for his switch to talk SPORT in 2024. "It's simple really, " he said. "My son is Andros Townsend Jr. I changed my name by deed poll to Andros Townsend Sr. when he was born. "I had a couple of years out of the game, so it was only natural that I come back and honour my son and I changed my name to suit my new name. "Hopefully, one day when my boy is in the Premier League running around on the wing, he can have Townsend Jr. on his shirt and it will all make sense. " © 2025 talk SPORT Limited
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