Kwame Ampadu, father of Ethan, finished his Football League career at Exeter where he played over 160 league games. He is otherwise best-known for his time at Swansea City as well as working as a coach in England, France, Canada and the United States. 

Born in Bradford, and raised in Dublin, Kwame played school-age football in the Irish capital before joining Arsenal in 1988 aged seventeen. He worked his way through the youth and reserve teams to eventually make two first team outings for the Gunners, both as a substitute. Winning four Republic of Ireland under-21 caps, to add to his youth international honours, Kwame gained further league experience on loan at Plymouth Argyle in October 1990. Then, in time for the next season, a £50,000 fee took him to West Bromwich Albion where he netted four goals in 49 league matches.

Kwame switched to Swansea City in February 1994 for £15,000 and became a regular first team player making 146 league appearances (plus play-offs), scoring twelve times, over the following four years. Whilst at Swansea Kwame met Ethan’s mother explaining how their son was eligible to play for Wales. Kwame then moved back to London to link up with Leyton Orient in July 1998. After two seasons at Brisbane Road, he agreed terms with Exeter City in July 2000.

Kwame arrived at St James Park aged twenty-nine having made 335 league and cup appearances with five clubs. He made his debut for the Grecians on the opening day of the season in a 1-2 home defeat against Cardiff City and scored his first goal in the League Cup at Swindon on 22 August 2000. In September, with Ethan having been born on the Thursday, Kwame played on the Saturday at home to York before going to make 36 league appearances in his first season. All told Kwame was to have five seasons with Exeter making 162 league appearances either side of the club’s relegation from the Football League. He scored his only league goal for Exeter, against Dagenham & Redbridge in April 2005, in one of his final games in the Football League. By this stage Kwarme had played in excess of 500 league and cup games in his career.

Kwame then linked-up with former Exeter City manager John Cornforth at Newport County but left after a few months because of difficulties travelling to and from Exeter. Kwame next moved to Ladysmead and appeared over fifty times for Tiverton before joining the coaching staff at Exeter City and assisting with the club’s Centre of Excellence. He became under-14s coach Arsenal in 2012, and later under-18s head coach, before joining Thierry Henry’s coaching staff at AS Monaco in October 2018. Kwame was appointed first-team assistant coach at Montreal Impact in January 2020 and, as of 2023, was assistant coach at Columbus Crew in the Major Soccer League.