Trésor Osmar Kandol (born 30 August 1981) is a Congolese former 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 lea ...

who played as a striker. He retired from full-time professional football in 2011, and over his career variously previously played for clubs including

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Premier Division side Hampton & Richmond Borough, as well as for Barnet, Chesham United,

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

, Dagenham & Redbridge,

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River ...

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in England, and

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) 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 area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

in Spain. He usually celebrated his goals with a

somersault A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatics, acrobatic exercise in which a person's body Rotation#Sports, rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the Human head, head. A somersau ...

, 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

, 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 nine 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 town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

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 Wick ...

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

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

with six 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. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

but his best performance came from

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

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 sys ...

clubs such as Crystal Palace, Cardiff City,

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, Hull City 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 Robert James Blake (born 4 March 1976) is an English former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of Bognor Regis Town. He began his career as a striker but was increasingly used as midfielder in the latter part of his car ...

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

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 in the opening game of the 2007–08 League One season. He formed a successful strike partnership with Jermaine Beckford 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 eithe ...

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

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

. 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 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 association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

. In September, he was sent off in the last few seconds for a bad tackle on Leicester City'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 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, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

, he returned to the league team in place of the injured Becchio against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

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

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. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the Congo DR national team in 2008 against

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

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

Personal life

Kandol was born in Banga. His cousins, Lomana LuaLua and Kazenga LuaLua have also played professional football. He was known to often celebrate scoring a goal by performing a backflip.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kandol, Tresor 1981 births Living people Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers Men's 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 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England