Brice Ntambwe (born 29 April 1993) is a Belgian

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He began his football career in the youth system of

FC Brussels Racing White Daring Molenbeek Brussels Football Club, often simply referred to as RWDM Brussels, F.C. Brussels or simply Brussels, was a Belgian professional association football club based in the municipality of Molenbeek, in the Brussels, Bru ...

before moving to England to join

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. He turned professional with Birmingham, but never made a first-team appearance, and returned to Belgium to join

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

in January 2013. He went on to play for Lierse and in Scotland for

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

before returning to England with

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

in January 2019 and

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 ...

for the 2020–21 season. He has represented Belgium in international football at levels up to under-21.

Club career

Early life and club career

Ntambwe was born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, and played football for Ritterklub vsv Jette before joining the youth system at

. As a 16-year-old, he moved to England to start a two-year scholarship programme in Birmingham City's Youth Academy in 2009. He played in the under-18 and

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

s, and was rewarded with a two-year professional contract in July 2011. Academy manager Kristjaan Speakman described him as a central midfielder who "can play in either a two or a three and I think he's most suited to playing deep. He's got some real assets in terms of his physical presence and his ability to get round the pitch, but is also neat and tidy on the ball." The ''

Birmingham Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country and ''Birmingham Live'' online) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England, but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts ...

s correspondent assessed him as "a powerful player with endurance hois good in the air". Ntambwe was given a first-team

squad number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to id ...

prior to the

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fifth-round tie against Chelsea. but was not included in the matchday squad. Following injuries to central midfielders Guirane N'Daw,

Keith Fahey Keith Declan Fahey (born 15 January 1983) is an Irish former footballer, who played most of his career with League of Ireland side St Patrick's Athletic, as well as English club Birmingham City. He played predominantly as a central midfielder, ...

and

Jordon Mutch Jordon James Edward Sydney Mutch (born 2 December 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Gold Coast Knights. Mutch joined Birmingham City in 2007 from Derby County's youth system. He made his competiti ...

, Ntambwe was included in the travelling party for the visit to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

in the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

on 17 April, but again failed to make the matchday squad. Although numerous youngsters were given first-team squad numbers in the 2012–13 season, Ntambwe was not.

RAEC Mons

He returned to Belgium in January 2013 to join Pro League club

. He signed an 18-month contract with the option of a further year. After playing 90 minutes for the club's under-21 side in midweek, Ntambwe was included in

Enzo Scifo Vincenzo "Enzo" Daniele Scifo (; born 19 February 1966) is a retired Belgian football midfielder. He has also managed the Belgium national under-21 football team and several Belgian club sides. He played for clubs in Belgium, France and Italy, w ...

's starting eleven to strengthen the midfield for the visit to

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

on 10 February. Ntambwe played 68 minutes as Mons won 1–0 to achieve their first ever victory against Standard away from home. Ntambwe was sent off after 73 minutes of his third match, against

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

, for a reckless tackle, having already been yellow-carded earlier in the game; Scifo attributed it to youthful enthusiasm which he needed to learn to control.

Partick Thistle

Ntambwe signed for

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

Club

on a one-year deal in August 2018. Ntambwe scored his first goal for Thistle scoring a header from a corner to put Thistle 1-0 up in an eventual 5–1 defeat to

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

. Ntambwe left Partick Thistle in January 2019 by mutual consent, making 6 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal.

Macclesfield Town

After leaving Partick Thistle Ntambwe returned to England to join League Two club

until the end of the season. Ntambwe signed a one-year contract extension after helping Macclesfield secure safety in league two. Ntambwe left Macclesfield in January 2020 to return to Belgium for personal reasons.

Oldham Athletic

He joined another League Two club,

, on 17 October 2020 on a contract to run until the end of the season. He made 28 appearances in all competitions, mainly as a starter, and was released when his contract expired.

International career

Ntwambe was born in Belgium and is of Congolese descent. Ntambwe represented Belgium at all levels from under-15 to under-20. He captained and played regularly for the Belgium under-17 team in the 2009–10 season. He received the award for outstanding defender of the 2010 Minsk international under-17 tournament, at which Belgium lost to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in the final. He made his under-19 debut in the starting eleven for a friendly against Serbia under-19 in February 2012, and later that year, he was a member of the under-20 team that played

England C The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) are the football teams that represent England at non-League level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

in the

International Challenge Trophy The International Challenge Trophy, originally known as the European Challenge Trophy, was an international association football competition. It is open to national teams featuring semi-professional U-23 footballers who have not yet won senior inte ...

. Ntambwe received his first call-up to the under-21 team for the 2015 European Championship qualifier against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in March 2013. He remained an unused substitute as Belgium won 2–0. He played three times for the under-21s at the

2013 Toulon Tournament The 2013 Toulon Tournament was the 41st edition of the Toulon Tournament. México were the defending champions but failed to secure a spot in the finals. Participants * (hosts) * * * * * * * * * Squads Venues Results ''All times are local ...

, before making his competitive debut as a second-half substitute as Belgium beat

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

3–1 in their first qualifying match for the 2015 European championships.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ntambwe, Brice 1993 births Living people Footballers from Brussels Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders R.W.D.M. Brussels F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players R.A.E.C. Mons (1910) players Lierse S.K. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Belgian sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland 21st-century Belgian sportsmen