Mohamed "Mo" Camara (born 25 June 1975) is a Guinean 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

left-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 ...

left 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 ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Conakry Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...

, Guinea, Camara spent the early years of his professional career in French football, with

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...

in 1993, and in 1996 went on loan to

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

, where he played 13 league games. He made a total of 79 league appearances for Beauvais, before signing for

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

in August 1997, where he was sent on loan to

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

Wolves

Camara moved to England in summer 2000 with

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 ...

of the First Division in a £100,000 deal. He became a cult figure amongst their fans, known for his commitment and pace despite sometimes exhibiting a lack of positional sense and ball control. A regular column from the spoof 'Mohammed Camara Appreciation Society' appeared in fanzine 'A Load of Bull' celebrating his eccentric but lovable playing style. He was a regular starter in his first two seasons with the side, but failed to make an appearance during their 2002–03 promotion success following the signing of

Denis Irwin Joseph Denis Irwin (born 31 October 1965) is an Irish former professional footballer and sports television presenter. As a player, he played as a full-back from 1983 to 2004. Irwin is best known for his long and successful stint at Manchester ...

and a knee ligament injury.

Burnley

Camara joined

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on a free transfer in June 2003, which gave Camara regular playing time once again. After

Steve Cotterill Stephen John Cotterill (born 20 July 1964) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the manager of side Shrewsbury Town. Cotterill had a nine-year career as a footballer playing for Burton Albion, Wimbledon, ...

replaced previous manager

Stan Ternent Francis Stanley Ternent (born 16 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He was a scout for Hull City until January 2017. As a manager, he won thre ...

, he made the left-back focus on his crossing ability, causing a dramatic up-turn in his form at the beginning of the 2004–05 season. He scored once for Burnley 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 ...

as they memorably knocked out Premier League side Aston Villa in October 2004.

Celtic

Camara's form attracted interest from

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, who he joined at the end of his two-year contract under the

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association ...

at the end of the season. After one-to-one sessions with manager

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

, Camara started to do well and established himself as a defender in Celtic's first eleven. However, after

Ross Wallace Ross Wallace (born 23 May 1985) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a winger. He has previously played for Celtic, Sunderland, Preston North End, Burnley, Sheffield Wednesday, Fleetwood Town, and once played in a full ...

was converted into a left-back, Camara was relegated to the bench and made only rare appearances. He fell further down the pecking order after the signing of right-back Mark Wilson, who was also converted to left back.

Derby County

Despite earlier pledging to fight for his place at Celtic, Camara ending up leaving to join Derby County on a free transfer in August 2006. He was a regular player during the first half of the season, however he found himself out of contention after Derby signed

Jay McEveley James Michael "Jay" McEveley (born 11 February 1985) is a footballer who plays as a defender for Warrington Town. Born in Liverpool, he represented Everton at junior level before signing for Blackburn Rovers where he made his professional de ...

in the January transfer window. The following season, with the club newly in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, saw Camara find appearances just as scarce. Despite scoring against Blackpool in the

at the start of the season, he made just one appearance in the top flight, a 6–0 thrashing at

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 popul ...

, before later being loaned to

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

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 ...

. This was subsequently extended to cover the whole of the 2007–08 campaign. On 5 August 2008, Camara moved to Derby's Championship rivals Blackpool on loan until 30 August. He made his debut for the Seasiders on 9 August in a 1–0 home defeat to

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 ...

. On 9 September the loan was extended for a further month, with manager

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru. As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in m ...

saying, "He has done very well for us in the first four league games. He has good energy and experience and he has been a good addition." The loan period was extended for a third and final time on 17 October, keeping him with ''the Seasiders'' until 22 November. Upon his return to Derby Camara featured in a FA Cup victory at

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 ...

but was deemed surplus to requirements by new Derby manager

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was c ...

and his contract was cancelled on 2 February 2009.

St Mirren

After the January 2009 transfer window shut, free agent Camara moved back to Scotland to sign for

side St Mirren.

Torquay United

Soon after being released from St Mirren, Camara joined English League Two side

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. Having made his debut in a 2–1 home defeat to

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 ...

on 13 February, Camara made his second and final appearance for the Gulls six days later in a match at

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

in which he was substituted at half time. It was finally confirmed by manager

Paul Buckle Paul John Buckle (born 16 December 1970) is an English football manager. He is currently a technical advisor at Hartford Athletic of the USL and technical advisor to Landon Donovan at San Diego Loyal. Prior to this, he coached the U23s for South ...

on 24 April that Camara was no longer at the club. He was released by Torquay on 15 May 2010, along with six other players.

International career

Camara made 20 appearances at full international level for

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

from 1995 to 2000, and played in two of his country's group stage matches at the

1998 African Cup of Nations The 1998 African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso was the 21st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (ACN), the national football championship of Africa, administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Just like in 1996, the field of ...

held in

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

After football

Camara was made head of European scouting at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in February 2014 and opened a wine bar in Tettenhall, an affluent area of Wolverhampton in 2017.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Camara, Mo 1975 births Living people Guinean footballers Guinea international footballers Association football fullbacks 1998 African Cup of Nations players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players AS Beauvais Oise players ES Troyes AC players Le Havre AC players Lille OSC players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff Guinean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in England