Calvin Zola-Makongo (born 31 December 1984), often known simply as Calvin Zola, is a

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

lese 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 le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

, Zaire, he began his career as a youth player at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. Zola went on to have spells at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. His last club was

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

, who released him in May 2015 due to injury setbacks.

Career

Zola began his career

, and he spent a loan spell at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

before moving to

, where problems were discovered with his

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

and he was unable to work (i.e. play) until a solution was reached. In May 2005 he was granted a full permit and returned in time for

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or Physical fitness, fitness that relate to specific practicality, useful Competence (human resources), competencies. Training has specific goals of improving on ...

for the 2005–06 season. In June 2008, he signed with League One club

for a transfer fee of £200,000. On 18 January 2011, he signed on loan to

until the end of the season. In May 2011, Zola was released from his contract at Crewe Alexandra. and agreed to join Burton on a permanent basis the following month. On 18 June 2013, Zola signed a two-year deal with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side

. He scored his first goal for Aberdeen on 14 September 2013, in a 3–0 win against

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

. Zola had his contract cancelled by Aberdeen after the 2013–14 season, during which he had scored three goals. Zola joined

on 20 June 2014 following his release from Aberdeen. After an injury hit season, Zola was released by

on 20 May 2015, along with 12 other players.

Career statistics

References

External links

Calvin Zola player profile
at Burton Albion F.C.

at crewealex.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zola, Calvin 1984 births Living people Footballers from Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Men's association football forwards Newcastle United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players English sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent