Malvin Ginah Kamara (born 17 November 1983) 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

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 ...

or full-back. Born in England, he was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

in 2007. Starting his professional career with Wimbledon F.C., Wimbledon in 2003, he remained as the club became the

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

, before he

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

red to Cardiff City in 2006. The following year he moved on to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

via

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. He spent a brief time on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

in 2008, before he entered

non-League football 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 ...

with Barrow in 2009. Over the next three years he spent brief periods at

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...

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 ...

, Stafford Rangers, Tamworth, Farnborough,

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

, and

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, before he signed for Hampton & Richmond Borough in August 2012.

Club career

Wimbledon and MK Dons

Kamara came through Wimbledon F.C., Wimbledon's youth setup, joining on a professional basis in January 2003. His debut came on 21 April 2003 at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

, in a 2–0 win over Preston North End. He was a 72nd minute substitute for Patrick Agyemang. He managed to establish himself as a semi-regular in the 2003–04 season, playing 27 First Division games. His first goal came in a 2–1 home defeat to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on 6 April. His second game eleven days later, in a 3–2 win at the

Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they c ...

, opening the scoring against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

after just five minutes. He stuck with the club through their transformation into the

, in the summer of 2004. He made 29 appearances in the MK Dons first ever season, scoring once in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

in a 3–0 at

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

and once in the league against

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 ...

. He was to play 30 games the following season, as the club suffered

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Cardiff City, Port Vale and Huddersfield Town

In July 2006, after finding out he would not be offered a new

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

at the club, Kamara moved on to Cardiff City. He made sixteen appearances 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 ...

side Cardiff, though made just four starts, scoring once against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. In January 2007, he

red to

Martin Foyle Martin John Foyle (born 2 May 1963) is an English former professional footballer and manager who is the Head of Recruitment at club St Mirren. In his 20-year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals. As a manager, he took ...

for a nominal fee, and made fourteen league starts before the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

's end. His stay at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

proved to be a short one. In June 2007 he signed with

. Regular first team football followed in the 2007–08 season as he played fifty games over all competitions for the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

based club. He scored five goals, including two against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

First Round tie at the

Crown Ground The Crown Ground is a multi-use stadium in Accrington, Lancashire, England. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Accrington Stanley. Opened in 1968, the stadium has a capacity of 5,450. The ground is curren ...

. These goals proved vital in what was a 3–2 win, helping the club to eventually reach the Fifth Round, where they were beaten 3–1 by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

at Stamford Bridge. 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 ...

side

in September 2008, making his debut for the club in a 1–0 defeat by

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

on 28 September. He returned to the

Galpharm Stadium Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to naming rights, sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Association football, football club ...

on 25 October, after playing just two matches at Grimsby. He was released by Huddersfield in May 2009, his three appearances for the club during the 2008–09 season a stark contrast to his virtual ever-presence the season previous.

Non-League

In August 2009, he joined old-club Port Vale on trial, hoping to impress mew

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...

. The trial ended quickly however, Adams instead opting to look at other options, and Kamara with an offer of a trial at an unnamed League One club. On 25 September 2009, it was announced that Kamara had signed for

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side Barrow. He made his debut the following day in Barrow's 3–0 away defeat at Salisbury City. Kamara scored on his home debut three days later in a 3–1 win over

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 ...

. Despite being a regular starter in the side, Kamara was released due to personal reasons at the start of December. He joined

of the

Conference 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 ...

in February 2010, but left at the end of the season seeking a professional contract. In the summer he went on trial at

, but did not sign. In October 2010 he signed a non-contract deal with Conference National side

. After making only a few league appearances he was released in December of that year. In January 2011, Kamara signed for Conference North side Stafford Rangers. Kamara did not play any games for Stafford however before moving back into the Conference. He then signed for Tamworth on 18 January 2011. He made his debut the same day, coming on as a substitute against

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. In March 2011, Karama had his contract cancelled, as did youth players Troy Wallen and Alando Lewis. A few days after his contract was cancelled with the "Lambs", Kamara joined Farnborough in the

Conference 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 ...

. However, he quickly changed his mind, and instead opted to join

in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Division One South. He grabbed a brace for Dulwich in a 5–2 defeat of Chatham Town on 16 April. He signed for

of the

Premier Division in August 2011. The 2011–12 season was turbulent for the "Rooks", with numerous management changes at

The Dripping Pan The Dripping Pan is a football stadium in Lewes, England. It has been home to Lewes F.C. since their foundation in 1885. It had previously been used by Lewes Priory Cricket Club, though the ground itself had been used by the people of Lewes a ...

; Lewes ended the season one place and two points outside the play-offs. He switched to league rivals Hampton & Richmond Borough in August 2012.

International career

On 3 June 2007, he picked up his first

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 ...

for

in a

2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification This page details the process of qualifying for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. Qualified teams The 16 qualified teams were: * as hosts. * as group 1 winner. * as group 2 winner. * as group 3 winner. * as group 4 winner. * as group 5 winner. * a ...

match against

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

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 ...

, which Sierra Leone lost 1–0.

Personal life

The son of Albert and Winifred Kamara, he has an elder

brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

and a half-sister, as well as a

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

-brother Michael, who is the

lead singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

Nexus. Kamara himself is something of a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer, having taken the mic at a charity concert in January 2005. He had an odd ritual of watching

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1971 American musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It is an adaptation of the 1964 novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' by Roald Dahl. The film ...

before every game in order to calm his

nerves A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system. A nerve transmits electrical impulses. It is the basic unit of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the e ...

. Kamara entered the energy industry after retiring as a player, and in 2016 co-launched recruitment, consultancy and coaching consultancy firm Vallum Associates.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamara, Malvin 1983 births Living people People with acquired Sierra Leonean citizenship Sierra Leonean men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers Cardiff City F.C. players Sierra Leone men's international footballers Sierra Leonean expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Plumstead English men's footballers Wimbledon F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players English expatriate men's footballers Black British sportsmen English sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent