Cherno Samba
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 10 November 1985 | ||
Place of birth | Banjul, Gambia | ||
Height | Script error: No such module "person height". | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
2000–2002 | Millwall | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2002–2004 | Millwall | 0 | (0) |
2004–2006 | Cádiz | 0 | (0) |
2005–2006 | → Malaga B (loan) | 18 | (11) |
2006–2008 | Plymouth Argyle | 13 | (1) |
2007 | → Wrexham (loan) | 3 | (0) |
2008–2009 | Haka | 7 | (0) |
2010 | Panetolikos | 0 | (0) |
2012 | FK Tønsberg | 11 | (3) |
Total | 52 | (15) | |
International career | |||
2000–2001 | England U16 | 13 | (0) |
2002 | England U17 | 1 | (0) |
2002–2003 | England U18 | 4 | (0) |
2003 | England U19 | 3 | (0) |
2005 | England U20 | 1 | (0) |
2008–2010 | Gambia | 4 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Cherno Samba (born 10 November 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward.
He represented England at every youth level up to the under-20 team,[1] having moved to England at an early age.[2] He earned his first full cap for Gambia in 2008.
Samba began his career with Millwall before moving to Spain to join Cádiz. He spent time on loan with Malaga B before returning to England to play for Plymouth Argyle. He played on loan for Wrexham and then played Haka in Finland and Panetolikos in Greece before moving to FK Tønsberg in Norway.
Contents
Early life
His father was a goalkeeper for the Gambian national team and his family moved to Watford, England when he was six, and then to Peckham, South London and was educated at the St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath.
Career
He came to prominence when as a 13-year-old, he scored 132 goals in 32 games for the St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath football team.[3]
He started his career at Millwall. His prolific form continued, and he was allowed to talk to other clubs by Millwall – both Manchester United and Liverpool showed interest, however Millwall turned down a Liverpool offer of £2 million. In return, Millwall agreed a contract, whereby he was guaranteed three-years of football at senior team level, on him signing full school boy forms.[2]
In the summer of 2004 he joined Spanish club Cádiz CF,[4] and was then loaned out for season 2005–06 to Málaga CF B.[5]
He returned to English football after Ian Holloway signed him for free on 31 August 2006 for Championship club Plymouth Argyle, on a two-year contract.[6] Samba made his Football League debut on 30 September as a 74th-minute substitute for Reuben Reid at the Ricoh Arena against Coventry City, and within eight minutes he scored his first League goal in a 1–0 win for Argyle, heading in a cross from fellow replacement Hasney Aljofree.[7]
On 29 January 2007, he joined League Two club Wrexham on loan for a month, with the option to extend to the end of the season. [8] Samba returned to Plymouth on 26 February.[9]
On 8 August 2008, Samba signed an 18-month contract with Finnish side FC Haka.
In 2009 he returned to England and went on trial with various English clubs including Norwich City and Portsmouth.[10] He signed a two-year contract with Greek Second Division club Panetolikos in February 2010.[11]
On 26 July 2011, he joined English Conference National side Forest Green Rovers on trial for a game against Bristol City.[12] He however failed to earn himself a contract. He then joined another Conference club on trial, Alfreton Town.
In October 2011, he was on trial at Mansfield Town.[13]
On 23 March 2012, Samba joined FK Tønsberg in the Norwegian Second Division.[14]
On 20 July 2015, Samba announced his retirement from football, due to injury.[15]
International
He represented England at every youth level up to under-20[16] and later decided that he wanted to play for Gambia national team.
In August 2008, he was called up to the Gambia squad for the 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Liberia and on 6 September 2008, he made his first appearance for Gambia as he played the final minutes of the match.[17] He scored his first goal for the Scorpions in a friendly against Tunisia on 9 January 2010 when he headed in a Sanna Nyassi cross to open the scoring.[18] The goal was made all the more special for Samba as it came on the eve of his 25th birthday. His most recent international appearance was versus Mexico in June 2010. He was named in squad for the 2011 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
International goals
# | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 January 2010 | Tunis, Tunisia | ![]() |
1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
Background
The Gambia football school, "Cherno Samba Academy of Football", from the Academy was coupled out the professional team Samger FC, is named after him.[19]
In popular culture
Samba was well-known among players of computer game Championship Manager, due to the fact that he became an incredibly good player further down the line in the game, despite his relatively cheap price tag; this turned him into something of a cult hero amongst fans of the game. Although he confessed to never playing Championship Manager, he revealed that his mobile phone provider once cut the delivery time from 2-3 months to next-day delivery on learning that he was serving Samba.[15]
References
- ↑ "Cherno Samba". The Football Association. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
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- ↑ http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/frattonlatest/Fantastic-Freddie-fires-timely-reminder.5689373.jp
- ↑ "Cherno Samba signs in Greece". Gambia Sports. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.chad.co.uk/sport/football/mansfield-town-fc/stags_defender_thompson_on_the_comeback_trail_1_3892998
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- ↑ African he was fastt Football News – Football Academy To Boost Gambian Soccer from 29. October 2003
External links
- Cherno Samba career statistics at Soccerbase
- Cherno Samba profile at The Football Association
- Cherno Samba profile at FIFA
- Cherno Samba at National-Football-Teams.comLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- BDFutbol profile
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- Pages using infobox football biography with height issues
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1985 births
- Living people
- People from Banjul
- English people of Gambian descent
- English footballers
- Gambian footballers
- English expatriate footballers
- Association football forwards
- Millwall F.C. players
- Cádiz CF players
- Málaga CF B footballers
- Málaga CF players
- Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
- FC Haka players
- Panetolikos players
- FK Tønsberg players
- The Football League players
- Veikkausliiga players
- The Gambia international footballers
- Black British sportspeople
- People educated at St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath
- Expatriate footballers in Greece
- Expatriate footballers in Spain
- Expatriate footballers in Finland
- Expatriate footballers in Norway