Cherno Samba (born 10 January 1985) is a 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 ...

. He represented England at every youth level up to the under-20 team, having moved to England at an early age. He earned full

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 ...

s for

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

between 2008 and 2010. Samba began his career with

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 Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

before moving to Spain to join

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

. He spent time on loan with Malaga B before returning to England to play for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. He played on loan for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

and then played

Haka Haka (, ; singular ''haka'', in both Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, hakas are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the f ...

in Finland and

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club (), or with its full name officially romanized as Panaitolikós Gymnastikós Filekpaideftikós Sýllogos (''; Pan- Aetolian Gymnastic and Educational Club''), is a Greek professional football club. It is based in Agrini ...

in Greece before moving to FK Tønsberg in Norway.

Early life

Samba was born in

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

, Gambia. His father was a goalkeeper for the Gambian national team and his family moved to

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 ...

, England when he was six, and then to

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

, South London and was educated at the

St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath St Josephs Academy was an all-boys Roman Catholic Academy (English school), academy located in Blackheath, London, England. Saint Joseph's Academy began life in 1860 as an extension of the work of the De La Salle Brothers in Saint Joseph's Colle ...

Club career

Samba came to prominence when as a 13-year-old, he scored 132 goals in 32 games for the

football team. He started his career at

. His prolific form continued, and he was allowed to talk to other clubs by Millwall – both

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

showed interest, however Millwall turned down a Liverpool offer of £2 million. In return, Millwall agreed a contract, whereby he was guaranteed three-years of football at senior team level, on him signing full school boy forms. In the summer of 2004, he joined Spanish club

, and was then loaned out for season 2005–06 to Málaga B and

Úbeda Úbeda () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the Province of Jaén (Spain), province of Jaén, Andalusia. The town lies on the southern ridge of the so-called Loma de Úbeda, a Table (landform), table sandwiched in bet ...

. He returned to English football after

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who is the manager of club Swindon Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League with ...

signed him for free on 31 August 2006 for

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 ...

club

, on a two-year contract. Samba made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 30 September as a 74th-minute substitute for

Reuben Reid Reuben James Reid (born 26 July 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Southern Football League club Weymouth. Born in Bristol, he has played in the Football League for Plymouth Argyle, Rochdale, Torquay Unite ...

at the

Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, West Midlands, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currentl ...

against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

, and within eight minutes he scored his first League goal in a 1–0 win for Argyle, heading in a cross from fellow replacement

Hasney Aljofree Hasney Aljofree (born 11 July 1978) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. He is currently Head of Coach Education & Development of Football Association of Singapore (FAS). Aljofree began his career with Manchester United, d ...

. On 29 January 2007, he joined League Two club

on loan for a month, with the option to extend to the end of the season. Samba returned to Plymouth on 26 February. On 8 August 2008, Samba signed an 18-month contract with Finnish side

. In 2009, he returned to England and went on trial with various English clubs including

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 ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. He signed a two-year contract with Greek

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 ...

club

in February 2010. On 26 July 2011, he joined English

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

side

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

on trial for a game against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. He however failed to earn himself a contract. He then joined another Conference club on trial,

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

. In October 2011, he was on trial at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. On 23 March 2012, Samba joined

FK Tønsberg FK Tønsberg was a football club from the city of Tønsberg in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway, founded on 10 October 2001 as a cooperation project between 20 local clubs. The new team replaced Eik-Tønsberg in the Norwegian ...

in the

Norwegian Second Division The Norwegian Second Division, also called 2. divisjon and often referred to as PostNord-ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the third-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. There are 28 teams divided into two groups, and at the ...

. On 20 July 2015, Samba announced his retirement from football, due to injury.

International career

Samba represented England at every youth level up to under-20 and later decided that he wanted to play for

. In August 2008, he was called up to the Gambia squad for the

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualifying match against

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

and on 6 September 2008, he made his first appearance for Gambia as he played the final minutes of the match. He scored his first goal for the Scorpions in a friendly against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

on 9 January 2010 when he headed in a Sanna Nyassi cross to open the scoring. The goal was made all the more special for Samba as it came on the eve of his 25th birthday. His last international appearance was against Mexico in June 2010. Samba was named in Gambia's squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, but chose not to participate.

International goal

Personal life

Samba released an autobiography, ''Cherno Samba – Still in the Game'', in 2018. In 2018 he spoke out about his mental health, disclosing that he had suffered as a young player from depression, and had attempted to take his own life whilst playing in Spain. The Gambia football school, "Cherno Samba Academy of Football", from the academy was coupled out the professional team Samger FC, is named after him.

In popular culture

Samba was well known among players of the video game '' Championship Manager'', due to the fact that he became an incredibly good player further down the line in the game, despite his relatively cheap price tag; this turned him into something of a cult hero amongst fans of the game. In a 2025 interview with

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

, he revealed that with his character at striker, he managed

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, ...

from League Two to the Champions League in the game. He has also explained that his mobile phone provider once cut the delivery time from 2–3 months to next-day delivery on learning that he was serving Samba.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samba, Cherno 1985 births Living people Footballers from Banjul Gambian men's footballers English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Millwall F.C. players Cádiz CF players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players FC Haka players Panetolikos F.C. players FK Tønsberg players English Football League players Veikkausliiga players Gambian emigrants to England Black British sportsmen People educated at St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath England men's youth international footballers The Gambia men's international footballers English expatriate men's footballers Gambian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Spain English expatriate sportspeople in Finland English expatriate sportspeople in Greece English expatriate sportspeople in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Spain Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Footballers from Watford Footballers from the London Borough of Southwark People from Peckham 21st-century English sportsmen Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Finland