André Gregory Bona (born 19 January 1990) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender.

Club career

Early career

Bona began playing football at age five with local club Afro–Antillais before switching to S.O. Caillolais. At age thirteen, he joined the academy of

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

but ultimately left to focus on

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

. After six years competing at the national level in the 60m, 100m and 200m, Bona returned to football at the senior amateur level. In 2014, he received offers from clubs in the

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a Association football, football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system be ...

and

Championnat National 3 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

, but opted to pursue an education overseas in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

instead. From 2014 to 2018 Bona attended the

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

, where he studied environmental science. In 2017, he signed with local PLSQ side

CS Longueuil Club Soccer Longueuil is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Longueuil, Quebec. Since 2014, the club has competed in Ligue1 Québec. History The club was originally founded in 1970. In 2014, the club joined the Première Ligue de ...

and made nine league appearances that season. The following year, he made another twelve league appearances for Longueuil, scoring three goals.

HFX Wanderers

On 12 November 2018, Bona was selected in the second round of the CPL–U Sports Draft, 10th overall, by the

HFX Wanderers Halifax Wanderers FC, also written as HFX Wanderers FC, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League (CPL) at the top of the Canadian soccer league system, and play their home ...

. On 29 March 2019, Bona officially signed with Wanderers and made his

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

debut on 28 April 2019 as a substitute in the club's inaugural match. André Bona scored his first goal for Halifax in the round Two in the Canadian Championship in Winnipeg against Valour FC on 12 June 2019. During injury time the defender countered Valour FC off a corner and demonstrated his pace by sprinting and scoring on an open net, sealing a 2-0 win at Investors Group Field stadium. On 14 December 2019, the club announced that Bona would not return for the 2020 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bona, Andre 1990 births Living people Men's association football defenders French men's footballers Footballers from Marseille Black French sportspeople French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada French expatriate sportspeople in Canada Université du Québec à Montréal alumni HFX Wanderers FC draft picks HFX Wanderers FC players Ligue1 Québec players Canadian Premier League players University and college men's soccer players in Canada CS Longueuil players 21st-century French sportsmen