Alhaji Momodo Njie (30 March 1948 – 19 July 2020), also known as Biri Biri, was a Gambian

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

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He most notably played for

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

in Spain and

Herfølge Herfølge is a suburb of the town of Køge, Denmark, located about 5 kilometers south of central Køge, and is a part of Køge Municipality. The suburb is connected to Køge and Næstved by the Lille Syd railway line. Herfølge Church Herføl ...

in Denmark. He was also a Gambian international footballer, and is regarded by several as the best Gambian footballer of all time.

Club career

Before his time in Europe, Biri Biri played for Black Stars, Black Diamonds, White Phantoms and

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

in Gambia as well as

Mighty Blackpool Mighty Blackpool is a Sierra Leonean Association football, football club based in the capital Freetown. They play in the Sierra Leone National Premier League, the top football league in the country. Blackpool represents the West End of Freetown ...

of Sierra Leone. Biri Biri was spotted by Danish club B.1901 during a training camp in Gambia in 1972. He left them in 1973 for Spanish team

. He was the first black player to play for Sevilla, and was considered one of their best players. Biri Biri returned to Denmark to play for

in 1980, and in 1981 he signed for Wallidan back in Gambia, for whom he played until retirement in 1987.

International career

Biri Biri played on multiple occasions for The Gambia's national men's football team, starting as a youth in 1963.

Retirement

Biri Biri was appointed as Deputy Mayor of Banjul after

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former soldier, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017. He was the Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 1994 ...

came to power in 1994, a post he had relinquished by 2005. He also worked as the manager of Royal Albert market in the city. In 2000, Jammeh awarded him the Order of Merit, and he was described as The Gambia's "greatest footballer of the last millennium and of all time." Biri Biri died on 19 July 2020, aged 72, in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, Senegal.

References

External links

* * 1948 births 2020 deaths Footballers from Banjul Gambian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Augustinians FC players Derby County F.C. players Wallidan FC players Sevilla FC players Herfølge Boldklub players La Liga players The Gambia men's international footballers Gambian expatriate men's footballers Gambian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark {{Gambia-footy-bio-stub