WINDSOR, Colo. – Nortei Nortey, a versatile English-Ghanaian midfielder who was a member of Chelsea FC’s academy from 2008 to 2014 and helped the Blues win the 2012 FA Youth Cup, has signed with Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, pending league and federation approval.

“Absolutely delighted to get Nortei on board,” said Hailstorm FC head coach Éamon Zayed. “At 27 years of age, he is coming to America at the peak of his career, and also bringing a wealth of experience. He’s had an excellent football upbringing and education, which started at the Chelsea academy. He is an aggressive, all action, technical box-to-box number eight. He’s also a highly ambitious individual who wants to make a name for himself in America, and I truly believe he will.”

Nortey, 27, spent the 2020–21 season with Queen of the South in the Scottish Championship, and started in four different positions—central midfield, defensive midfield, right back, and left back—for the Doonhamers over the course of the campaign. He scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle on February 21, and ultimately helped lead the club to a sixth-place finish, their best in three years.

Between 2015 and 2020, Nortey played for five clubs in England’s National League. He spent the 2019–20 season with Chorley, the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons with Dover Athletic, the 2016–17 season with Wrexham and Solihull Moors, and the 2015–16 season with Welling United.

Nortey scored eight goals in 160 appearances in the National League, with his best season coming in 2017–18 when he scored five and added two assists for Dover. The Whites came within a solitary point of making the playoffs, finishing tied with seventh-place AFC Fylde on 73 points but having a worse goal differential.

Born in West London, Nortey signed for local club Chelsea FC in 2008 as a 14-year-old. He spent five years in Chelsea’s academy, playing alongside the likes of Andreas Christensen, Nathan Ake, Nathaniel Chalobah, Bertrand Traore, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and in 2012 helped the Blues win the FA Youth Cup.

"This was an opportunity I couldn't turn down," said Nortey. "I'm excited to be going to Colorado to be a part of history. That's what sold it for me. With the abilities of the manager and the club, we could bring championships to Colorado."