Charles Kai Banya (born 18 September 1993) is an English footballer who plays for Sevenoaks Town as a defender.

Club career

Fulham

Banya began his career at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, joining the club at the age of 12, but he never made a first-team appearance, although he was an unused substitute for the Premier League match against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

at the Britannia Stadium in November 2012. On 2 November 2013, Banya joined Conference Premier side

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

on a one-month loan. On the same day, Banya made his professional debut in a 2–1 defeat to Grimsby Town, playing the full 90 minutes. Banya went on to make eight league and two

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

appearances before returning to Fulham. On 30 June 2014, Banya was released by Fulham at the end of his contract.

Crawley Town

On 7 August 2014, Banya joined Crawley Town on a short-term deal after his release from Fulham. On 9 August 2014, Banya made his Crawley Town debut in a 1–0 away victory over

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, in which he replaced

Lewis Young Lewis Jack Young (born 27 September 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right back. He is currently first-team coach at Dagenham & Redbridge. Club career For the 2008–09 season, Young was given the number 32 s ...

in the 56th minute. On 2 September 2014, Banya scored his first Crawley Town goal in a 2–0 victory over Cambridge United in a Football League Trophy tie. On 22 January 2015, Banya re-joined Woking on loan until the end of the 2014/15 campaign. On 24 January 2015, Banya made his Woking comeback in a 3–3 draw against Dover Athletic in the

. On 31 January 2015, Banya scored his first Woking goal in a 3–0 home victory against Alfreton Town, netting in the 63rd minute.

Non-league spells

On 23 November 2015, Banya joined

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

on a one-year deal. On 1 December 2015, Banya made his Maidstone United debut in a 2–1 home defeat to

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

, in which he replaced Alex Akrofi in the 66th minute. On 28 December 2015, Banya was given his first Maidstone United start in a 2–1 victory over Eastbourne Borough, in which he played 76 minutes before being replaced by Bobby-Joe Taylor. On 28 June 2016, it was announced that Banya would leave Maidstone United in search of a club closer to home. On 21 November 2016, Banya joined Margate after a short-term spell with Billericay Town. A day later, Banya made his Margate debut in a 2–1 defeat against Eastbourne Borough, playing the full 90 minutes. However, after only featuring eight times in the league, Banya left the club in January 2017. In March 2017, preceding his release from Margate, Banya joined Isthmian League Premier Division side

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

. On 11 March 2017, Banya made his Kingstonian debut in their 1–0 away defeat against

Lowestoft Town Lowestoft Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. They are currently members of the and play at Crown Meadow. History The club was established in 1887 as Lowestoft F.C. by a merger of East Suf ...

, replacing Joe Turner with two minutes remaining. On 6 July 2017, Banya joined fellow Isthmian League Premier Division side

Harrow Borough Harrow Borough Football Club is an English football club based in Harrow, London. They were founded in 1933 and compete in the . Harrow Borough's home ground is Earlsmead Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,070. Harrow Borough moved into Earlsme ...

. Banya signed for Whitehawk for the start of the 2019–20 season.

Personal life

Banya was born in the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...

to parents who hail from Sierra Leone, and was brought up in Tulse Hill,

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banya, Charles Living people English men's footballers English people of Sierra Leonean descent Sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth Men's association football midfielders Fulham F.C. players Woking F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Margate F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Harrow Borough F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Whitehawk F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Isthmian League players 1993 births