Gibril Sankoh (born 15 May 1983) is a Sierra Leone 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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Sankoh played in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

at Royal Stars and was selected for the

Sierra Leone national football team The Sierra Leone national football team represents Sierra Leone in men's international association football and it is governed by the Sierra Leone Football Association. The team's nickname is Leone Stars. The team is affiliated to the West Afr ...

at the age of 17, but would not make his debut. In 2000, he was forced to flee since he had the same surname as rebel leader

Foday Sankoh Foday Saybana Sankoh (17 October 1937 – 29 July 2003) was the founder of the Sierra Leone rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which was supported by Charles Taylor-led NPFL in the 11-year-long Sierra Leone Civil War, starting i ...

, even though he is not related to him. He arrived in The Netherlands by boat and ended up in an asylum seekers' centre in

Rijsbergen Rijsbergen a town in the municipality of Zundert in the southern Netherlands. In the town used to be an AC (Aanmeldcentrum, i.e. Asylum Request Center). Until 1997 Rijsbergen was an independent municipality, after which it was added to Zundert. ...

. After moving to

Heemskerk Heemskerk () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located in the Kennemerland region. Local government As of March 2022, the municipal council of Heemskerk consists of 25 seats, which are divide ...

, he went to play at De Kennemers in

Beverwijk Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...

. There he was scouted for

Stormvogels Telstar Sport Vereniging Argon is a Association football, football and basketball club from Mijdrecht, Netherlands. Its male first football squad plays in the Hoofdklasse. History 20th century The club was founded in 1971 as a merger of RKSV Stormvog ...

. In the 2004–05 season Sankoh made the transfer to

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

after having played seventeen games for Stormvogels Telstar. In the 05/06 season, Sankoh became a fixture of 'the Pride of the North' and contributed significantly to its success in the following season. In the playoffs of the 2006–07 season, Sankoh scored his first goal for Groningen in the home game against

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

, which was won 2–1. Partly because of this goal, Groningen reached the final of the playoffs. In May 2010, it was announced that Sankoh had to leave FC Groningen after six seasons. His expiring contract was not renewed. Sankoh was contracted by

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

from the 2010–11 season, where he signed for two years. This started in the 2. Bundesliga, but followed after a year of promotion to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. He played less and in his third year at the club even less. In February 2013 he switched to the Chinese Henan Jianye FC. Sankoh returned to the Netherlands in July 2015. He completed training courses with his old team FC Groningen and with

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

. In July, he signed a contract until mid-2016 with

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

Kerkrade, which had just been promoted to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

. He had included in his contract the possibility to exchange the club for another after half a season. After half a year, he left the club to return to China. He went to play football with second divisionist Meizhou Kejia F.C., where he signed a contract for two years. After six months without a club, he played for ACV in mid-2018 till the end of mid-2019. Sankoh is currently assistant coach for the under 17 team of FC Groningen.

International career

On 8 September 2012, at the age of 29, he made his debut for the West African nation in a qualification match against

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

for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

. The Leone Stars were just slightly eliminated and Sankoh got a red card in the second match against the same team on 13 October.

Honours

Henan Jianye Henan Songshan Longmen Football Club (), previously known as Henan Jianye Football Club (), is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team ...

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

* * * 1983 births Living people Sierra Leonean footballers SC Telstar players FC Groningen players FC Augsburg players Henan Songshan Longmen F.C. players Roda JC Kerkrade players Meizhou Hakka F.C. players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Chinese Super League players China League One players Sierra Leonean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in China Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Sierra Leone international footballers Association football defenders {{SierraLeone-footy-bio-stub