Cherno Samba (born 10 January 1985) is a 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 as a forward. He represented England at every youth level up to the under-20 team, having moved to England at an early age. He earned full

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for Gambia between 2008 and 2010. Samba began his career with

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

before moving to Spain to join

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. He spent time on loan with Malaga B before returning to England to play for Plymouth Argyle. He played on loan for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and then played

Haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

in Finland and

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

in Greece before moving to FK Tønsberg in Norway.

Early life

Samba was born in Banjul, Gambia. His father was a goalkeeper for the Gambian national team and his family moved to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, England when he was six, and then to Peckham, South London and was educated at the St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath.

Club career

Samba 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. He started his career at

. His prolific form continued, and he was allowed to talk to other clubs by Millwall – both Manchester United and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

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. In the summer of 2004, he joined Spanish club Cádiz CF, and was then loaned out for season 2005–06 to Málaga CF B, and Úbeda CF. He returned to English football after

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

signed him for free on 31 August 2006 for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club Plymouth Argyle, on a two-year contract. Samba made his Football League debut on 30 September as a 74th-minute substitute for Reuben Reid at the

Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currently home to footb ...

against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

, 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 Hasney Aljofree (born 11 July 1978) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. He began his career with Manchester United, during which time he earned one cap for the England U18 side. He joined Bolton Wanderers in 1996 and mad ...

. On 29 January 2007, he joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

on loan for a month, with the option to extend to the end of the season. Samba returned to Plymouth on 26 February. On 8 August 2008, Samba signed an 18-month contract with Finnish side

FC Haka FC Haka is a Finnish football club based in the industry town of Valkeakoski. It is currently competing in Finland's premier division of football, Veikkausliiga. It is one of the most successful clubs in Finland, with nine Finnish championshi ...

. In 2009, he returned to England and went on trial with various English clubs including

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. He signed a two-year contract with Greek

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

in February 2010. On 26 July 2011, he joined English Conference National side

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

on trial for a game against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. He however failed to earn himself a contract. He then joined another Conference club on trial,

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

. In October 2011, he was on trial at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

. On 23 March 2012, Samba joined

FK Tønsberg FK Tønsberg was a football club from Tønsberg, Norway, founded on 10 October 2001 as a cooperation project between 20 local clubs. The new team replaced Eik-Tønsberg in the Norwegian Second Division beginning in the 2002 season. The first ...

in the Norwegian Second Division. On 20 July 2015, Samba announced his retirement from football, due to injury.

International career

Samba represented England at every youth level up to under-20 and later decided that he wanted to play for Gambia. In August 2008, he was called up to the Gambia squad for the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

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. He scored his first goal for the Scorpions in a friendly against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

on 9 January 2010 when he headed in a

Sanna Nyassi Sanna Nyassi (born 31 January 1989) is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a forward. He played for the Gambia national team from 2010 to 2015, making fourteen appearances. Club career Gambia Ports Authority Nyassi began his ...

cross to open the scoring. The goal was made all the more special for Samba as it came on the eve of his 25th birthday. His last international appearance was against Mexico in June 2010. Samba was named in Gambia's squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, but chose not to participate.

International goal

Personal life

Samba released an autobiography, ''Cherno Samba – Still in the Game'', in 2018. In 2018 he spoke out about his mental health, disclosing that he had suffered as a young player from depression, and had attempted to take his own life whilst playing in Spain. The Gambia football school, "Cherno Samba Academy of Football", from the academy was coupled out the professional team

Samger FC Samger Football Club is a Gambian football club based in Kanifing near Serrekunda. They play in the top division in Gambian football, the Gambian Championnat National D1. Stadium Currently the team plays at the 5,000 capacity Serrekunda East ...

, is named after him.Football Academy To Boost Gambian Soccer
African Football News, 29 October 2003

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.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samba, Cherno 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Banjul Gambian men's footballers English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Millwall F.C. players Cádiz CF players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players FC Haka players Panetolikos F.C. players FK Tønsberg players English Football League players Veikkausliiga players Gambian emigrants to England Black British sportsmen People educated at St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath England men's youth international footballers The Gambia men's international footballers English expatriate men's footballers Gambian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Spain English expatriate sportspeople in Finland English expatriate sportspeople in Greece English expatriate sportspeople in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Spain Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Spain People from Watford Footballers from Peckham