Trésor Osmar Kandol (born 30 August 1981) is a Congolese international

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 plays as a striker for Crawley Wanderers FC. He previously played for Isthmian League Premier Division side Hampton & Richmond Borough, as well as for Barnet, Chesham United, Darlington, Dagenham & Redbridge,

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The ...

, AFC Bournemouth,

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in England, and

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the ...

in Spain. He usually celebrates his goals with a

somersault A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatic exercise in which a person's body rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the head. A somersault can be performed forwards, backwards ...

, like his cousin Lomana Tresor LuaLua. Kandol became known as Kandola in Spain.

Club career

Early career

Kandol started his career at

where he was voted young player of the year twice, broke the record of the youngest player to play in the first team and then went to AFC Bournemouth, where he scored once in the Football League Trophy against future club Barnet. He then dropped to non-league football and became a highly prolific goalscorer at Thurrock, his tally of 79 goals in 110 games got him noticed back at a higher level of football and he joined Dagenham & Redbridge in the conference where he scored 9 goals in 13 games and subsequently had a successful loan spell back in league football at Darlington.

Barnet

On 18 November 2006, Kandol scored an injury time winner against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

at Underhill to complete his

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

that also saw Barnet win their third consecutive league game. Kandol's impact for Barnet saw him topping up the chart as the top scorer in

F.A. 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 competiti ...

with 6 goals to his name, he highlighted himself by scoring by lobbing the goalkeeper from the halfway line against Cardiff City and a header to take them out of the cup, followed by another two 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 sy ...

but his best performance came from Elland Road where he scored a powerful header. A string of good performances attracted the attention of several

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 ...

clubs such as

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, Cardiff City,

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, and ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

and

. Whilst at Barnet in 2006, Kandol was sent to prison for 13 weeks for a series of driving offences.

Leeds United

After scoring 18 goals from 21 games for Barnet at the start of the 2006–07 season, Kandol joined

club

in a two-month loan deal on 23 November 2006. He made his debut two days later as a substitute replacing Robbie Blake in the 2–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle. His full home debut came with a debut goal in front of his new fans against Barnsley. When the January 2007 transfer window opened, his move to Elland Road was made permanent by Dennis Wise for an initial fee of £320,000. After Leeds were relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history, Kandol scored a last-minute winner against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

in the opening game of the 2007–08

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 ...

season. He formed a successful strike partnership with

Jermaine Beckford Jermaine Paul Alexander Beckford (born 9 December 1983) is an English Football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career as a trainee at Chelsea, and played for Wealdstone, Uxbridge, Leeds United, ...

in the first half of the season, winning him player of the August and September month award but loss of form and the arrival of Dougie Freedman meant Kandol lost his place in the starting eleven despite scoring 15 goals, as Leeds went on to reach the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

. He was a second-half substitute as Leeds lost 1–0 in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. Leeds signed forwards

Luciano Becchio Luciano Héctor Becchio (born 28 December 1983) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the assistant manager of Segunda División B – Group 3 side CD Atlético Baleares.Enoch Showunmi during the 2008 close season, and Kandol was allowed to join

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

on loan until January 2009. He opened the scoring just 13 seconds into his "Lions" debut, but his new club lost 4–3 at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

. In September, he was sent off in the last few seconds for a bad tackle on

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

's Michael Morrison, then marked his return from the resultant three-match ban by scoring twice in the first 12 minutes against Tranmere Rovers. Following that, Kandol then went on to score another two against Bristol Rovers, one at Carlisle, and one against Huddersfield winning him several man of the match awards, becoming top scorer at the club and helping Millwall to rise to 2nd in the League. After his loan expired, he went straight back out on loan again, joining Championship side

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

on 30 January 2009 until the end of the season. His first and only goals for the club came in a losing cause against

after a successful loan spell in a struggling club, Charlton made an offer of £400,000 for Kandol's services the next season but were turned down due to his transformation in form gathering the attention of Leeds manager Simon Grayson who now wanted to include him in his club's plans. Before the 2009–10 season, Kandol was told he had no future at Leeds, but after playing well for the reserve team – he scored a

in a 6–1 defeat of Scunthorpe United's reserves – and when given an opportunity in the

Football League 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 returned to the league team in place of the injured Becchio against

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 ...

on 19 October. Two weeks later, he came on as a late substitute to score the last of Leeds' four goals against

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

but was charged with violent conduct in an incident after the final whistle and received a three-match ban. He scored against Bristol Rovers, Kettering and Darlington, all by coming off the bench, but still didn't seem enough for the manager. His season was interrupted by injury, and he made infrequent appearances from the bench until what proved his last game for the club, a 1–0 defeat at Norwich City. Only 20 seconds after entering the game as a late substitute, he took hold of opponent Darel Russell by the throat, was sent off and received a four-match ban. Kandol was initially made available on a free transfer after several meetings with Leeds boardroom staff he decided the time was right for him to look for new challenge. On 4 August 2010 the decision was made by Kandol and his representatives to leave the club by mutual consent.

Albacete

After becoming a free agent and able to sign for a club outside the transfer window on 5 September Kandol signed for Spanish

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side

. However, his spell in Spain was short lived because of injuries and he left the club by mutual consent in November 2010 after the club President described him as great lad with superb sense of humour. In August 2011, Kandol held talks with League 2 side Plymouth Argyle about joining the club. However, after seemingly agreeing terms on a one-year contract he failed to turn up to training as arranged on 4 August and a scheduled press conference. As of 5 August 2011, Plymouth Argyle manager

Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...

are unsure of Kandol's whereabouts and whether the deal will be signed. In interview, Reid was understandably frustrated and stated that the club had sent a car to the railway station to collect Kandol, but he was "a no show".

Hampton & Richmond

In October 2012, Kandol signed for Isthmian League Premier Division side Hampton & Richmond Borough. Kandol was released on 30 November when Hampton & Richmond Borough said they could no longer afford Kandol's wages.

International career

Kandol won his first and only

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 the Congo DR national team in 2008 against

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in a friendly. The Congo DR national team won the match 1-0.

Personal life

Kandol was born in Banga. His cousins,

Lomana LuaLua Trésor Lomana LuaLua (; born 28 December 1980) is a Congolese professional footballer who last played as a striker. He is currently the attacking coach for Spalding United. LuaLua was born in Kinshasa, but moved to England at a young age. ...

and

Kazenga LuaLua Kazenga LuaLua (born 10 December 1990) is an English– Congolese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Greek Super League club Levadiakos. Career Newcastle United and loan spells Born in Kinshasa, LuaLua moved to England shortly ...

have also played professional football. He celebrates scoring a goal by performing a backflip.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kandol, Tresor 1981 births Living people Democratic Republic of the Congo footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo international footballers Association football forwards Luton Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Thurrock F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Albacete Balompié players English Football League players National League (English football) players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players