Kasonga Jonathan Ngandu (born 25 October 2001) is 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 plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. He came through

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

's academy and spent time on loan at Icelandic club

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavik merged with nearby Njarðv ...

before leaving Coventry in 2022 having made just one senior appearance, in the

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 ...

. He spent a season with

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

club

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

and

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

before returning to England with

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

clubs Stratford Town and Darlington.

Career

Coventry City

Ngandu was born in

Redbridge, London Redbridge is an area of Ilford in East London, England. It gives its name to the London Borough of Redbridge, a local government district of Greater London, with which it should not be confused. Etymology The name comes from a bridge over the ...

, and raised in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. He joined

's academy as a six-year-old, and played above his age-group throughout his development. While still 16, he was an unused substitute in the

, and soon after his 17th birthday in October 2018 he signed his first professional contract, of two-and-a-half years. Two weeks later he made his senior debut, starting in the EFL Trophy against

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

on 13 November to become the sixth-youngest Coventry player to start a first-team match. Ngandu's progress stalled somewhat in the 2019–20 season, and illness disrupted his pre-season training. He joined promotion-chasing Icelandic 1. deild karla (second-tier) club

on 2 September 2020 on loan. He played four matches, was named in the team of the week, and helped the team reach first place in the table before returning to his parent club when the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

brought a premature end to the Icelandic football season. Coventry City took up their option of another year on Ngandu's contract, and the ''

Coventry Telegraph The ''Coventry Telegraph'' is a local English tabloid newspaper. It was founded as ''The Midland Daily Telegraph'' in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, and was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet ne ...

'' speculated that, as one of "several players with a bit of a question mark over their heads", he might go out on loan again. He stayed, and as captain of Coventry under-23s, Ngandu scored two

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in the semi-final of the 2021–22

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the The Football Association, Footbal ...

as his team beat

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

5–4, and led them to a 3–2 victory over Bristol City U23 in the final, knowing that he had been released by the club, so would be leaving at the end of the season.

Hamilton Academical

In June 2022, he appeared as a trialist in a friendly for

side

. He signed for the club on 5 July. He made fourteen appearances in the early part of the season, the last of which was on 8 November in a 3–0 win against Rangers B in the League Challenge Cup. In February 2023, he joined

side

on loan until the end of the season. He played in nine league matches and scored his first senior goal, a strike from outside the

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. Wit ...

in a 1–0 win away to

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

on 21 March. He was released by Hamilton at the end of the season.

Non-League football in England

Ngandu returned to the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

and joined Southern League Premier Division Central club Stratford Town ahead of the 2023–24 season. He played in the first 11 matches of the season, before making the step up to

of the

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngandu, Jonny 2001 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Redbridge English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Coventry City F.C. players Knattspyrnudeild Keflavík players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Stranraer F.C. players Stratford Town F.C. players Darlington F.C. players 1. deild karla players Scottish Professional Football League players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players Black British sportsmen English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland