Ben Ibrahim Camara (born 20 August 1984 in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

) is an English former 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 ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Biography

Camara was born in the West German city of

and grew up in Plymouth. He joined

's Centre of Excellence whilst at school in Tavistock and continued to play for Tavistock Town. He signed as a trainee on 1 July 2001 and made his league debut on 15 March 2003, coming on a substitute in a 1–1 draw at home to Scunthorpe United. He made a further substitute appearance on 3 May 2003, in a 1–1 away to Lincoln City and was awarded young player of the year and a professional contract that summer (along with fellow trainees Kain Bond, Lucas Burgess, Graham Killoughery and Steven Orchard). However, he was released by Torquay manager

Leroy Rosenior Leroy De Graft Rosenior (born 24 August 1964) is a football coach and pundit. He is a former footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (for whom he appeared as a substitute in the 1986 League Cup Final), Bristol City and Wes ...

in January 2004 without adding to his first team appearances and joined

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

. He made just one appearance, as a substitute, for Boro (on 14 February 2004 away to

Leigh RMI Leigh Genesis Football Club, formerly known as Horwich Railway Mechanics Institute F.C. (Horwich RMI) and Leigh Railway Mechanics Institute F.C. (Leigh RMI), is an English amateur association football club that currently plays in the South Lancas ...

). Camara joined

Taunton Town Taunton Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Taunton, Somerset. They compete in the , the sixth tier of English football and play their home matches at Wordsworth Drive, which they moved into during the 1953 season. ...

in the summer of 2004, moving to Clevedon Town in January 2005. He returned to Taunton in July 2005, but moved to Torrington in December 2005, playing under former Torquay defender Robbie Herrera and alongside former Torquay colleagues Dean Stevens and Nick Skinner. In August 2007 Camara signed with RRFC Montegnée and retired there in June 2008. Camara resumed his football career in 2010 with

Guildford City Guildford City Football Club (formerly Guildford United and AFC Guildford) is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was established in 1921, folded in 1974 and was reformed in 1996. Guildford City play in the . Histo ...

, who played at that time in the Combined Counties Premier League. He made his debut on 8 September 2010 in a 3–1 victory over Camberley Town and scored his first goal 6 days later in City's 5–1 defeat of

Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was ...

. Winning goal of the season two seasons running his goals contributed to Guildford City's successive first-place finishes in 2010/11 and 2011/12 and the club's subsequent promotion to

Southern League Division One Central The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

. Camara's final appearance for Guildford came in a 4–3 victory over Hayes on 4 September 2012. Since 2008 Camara has gone onto become a serial entrepreneur in London co-founding The No1 Fitness Group, AWOL Media and now sitting as a director for Edufit. No1 Fitness studio centres.No1 Fitness
/ref> He is also the youngest founding member of the newest City Guild, The Guild of Entrepreneurs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Camara, Ben 1984 births Living people Footballers from Plymouth, Devon English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Torquay United F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Taunton Town F.C. players Clevedon Town F.C. players Torrington F.C. players R.R.F.C. Montegnée players Tavistock A.F.C. players Guildford City F.C. players English Football League players English expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Bonn Black British sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium