Calvin Zola-Makongo (born 31 December 1984), often known simply as Calvin Zola, is a Congolese 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 lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. Born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

, Zaire, he began his career as a youth player at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. Zola went on to have spells at

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

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. His last club was

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

, who released him in May 2015 due to injury setbacks.

Career

Zola began his career

, and he spent a loan spell 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 ...

before moving to

, where problems were discovered with his

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

and he was unable to work (i.e. play) until a solution was reached. In May 2005 he was granted a full permit and returned in time for

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

for the 2005–06 season. In June 2008, he signed with League One club

for a transfer fee of £200,000. On 18 January 2011, he signed on loan to

until the end of the season. In May 2011, Zola was released from his contract at Crewe Alexandra. and agreed to join Burton on a permanent basis the following month. On 18 June 2013, Zola signed a two-year deal with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

. He scored his first goal for Aberdeen on 14 September 2013, in a 3–0 win against

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 ...

. Zola had his contract cancelled by Aberdeen after the 2013–14 season, during which he had scored three goals. Zola joined

on 20 June 2014 following his release from Aberdeen. After an injury hit season, Zola was released by

on 20 May 2015, along with 12 other players.

Career statistics

References

External links

Calvin Zola player profile
at Burton Albion F.C.

at crewealex.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zola, Calvin 1984 births Living people Footballers from Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Men's association football forwards Newcastle United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players English people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo sportsmen