Christian Mbulu (6 August 1996 – 26 May 2020) was an English 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 defender. During his career he played for

Brentwood Town Brentwood Town Football Club is a football club based in Brentwood, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Brentwood Centre Arena. History A Brentwood Football Club was established in the 19th century, and played ...

, Millwall (including loans to

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office ...

and

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, Crewe Alexandra and

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

Club career

Brentwood Town

Mbulu began his senior career at the age of 17 when he signed to non-League club

in the 2013–14 season, following spells at fellow

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

-based clubs Thurrock and East Thurrock United.

Millwall

After a successful 2015–16 pre-season trial, Mbulu signed his first professional contract for Millwall on his 19th birthday, 6 August 2015. Mbulu rejected a contract offer from Colchester United where he had also been on trial. During his time at the South London club he attracted interest from clubs such Chelsea,

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

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, a ...

, and Crystal Palace and a loan spell to

respectively. He spent three seasons at Millwall before they released him at the end of the 2017–18 season.

Loans

In January 2016, Mbulu joined

on a one-month loan. Mbulu made three appearances during his time at the club. In March 2017, Mbulu moved to

on a month-long loan deal.

Motherwell

On 10 August 2018, Mbulu signed a one-year contract with

after his release from Millwall at the end of the previous season. In October 2018, Mbulu was named as Player of the Round for the third round of the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,League of Ireland club

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

. Mbulu made his league debut for Motherwell on 11 November, when he came on as a second-half substitute in the 77th minute of a game against

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

at Ibrox. On 9 December, two Hearts supporters were arrested on suspicion of racially abusing Mbulu during a match at Tynecastle. On 21 May 2019, Motherwell confirmed that Mbulu would be released at the end of his contract on 31 May 2019.

Crewe Alexandra

On 30 October 2019, Mbulu signed a short-term contract with Crewe Alexandra until January 2020, making his debut in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

tie against Everton U21s at Gresty Road on 5 November 2019. He left Crewe Alexandra by mutual consent on 24 January 2020.

Morecambe

Following his release from Crewe, Mbulu joined

on a deal until the end of the season, making his Morecambe debut in a 2–0 win at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on 28 January 2020.

Personal life

Born to Jean Claude Mbulu and Vicky Nzeba, Mbulu of Congolese descent, grew up in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as the eldest of four brothers surrounded by family, love and football. This was evident from young and at the tender age of 6, he confidently chose his career path to become a professional footballer.

Death

Mbulu died on 26 May 2020, aged 23. Police were called to his home in

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

and did not treat the death as suspicious. His team placed a picture of him on the substitutes bench during a visit to Chelsea in the FA Cup in January 2021 and at the Wembley play-off final against Newport in May 2021. Following his death the Christian Mbulu Trust was subsequently setup in his memory to empower, guide and assist young people in their own journeys through life.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbulu, Christian 1996 births 2020 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Newham English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Braintree Town F.C. players Brentwood Town F.C. players Canvey Island F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Black British sportsmen English people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent