Nicke Kabamba (born 1 February 1993) is an English

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 plays as a striker for club

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

. Born in Brent, London, Kabamba started his career in

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

football. He started his career with Hayes & Yeading before subsequently moving to

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

, A.F.C. Hayes, Burnham, Hemel Hempstead Town and Hampton & Richmond Borough. His form at Hampton & Richmond earned him a move to League Two club

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 ...

. At Portsmouth, Kabamba made six appearances and had loan spells with

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

and

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

. He left Portsmouth in 2018, signing for

Havant & Waterlooville Havant & Waterlooville Football Club is a professional association football club based in Havant, Hampshire, England. The club participates in the Southern League Premier Division South, the seventh level of English football, after relegation fr ...

of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

. Later that season, Kabamba had a successful loan spell with

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

and signed permanently for them in 2019. In January 2020, he signed for Scottish side

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

. After two seasons in Scotland, he signed for League Two club

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. After a loan move to

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

, he signed for

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

in 2022.

Club career

Early career

Kabamba was a sprinter when young, but opted to play football instead. He joined

in 2011 after scoring 13 goals for

Hayes & Yeading United Hayes & Yeading United Football Club is an association football club based in Hayes, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. The club was formed in 2007 from a merger of Hayes Football Club (founded in 1909) and Yeading Football Club (f ...

's under-18 team. He impressed enough with the reserve squad to grant a debut on 22 November in a Southern League Cup 3–1 defeat at Northwood. Kabamba left Uxbridge in October 2013 and signed for A.F.C. Hayes. After a goalscoring debut against

North Greenford United North Greenford United Football Club is a association football, football club based in Greenford in the London Borough of Ealing, England. They play in the . The club is affiliated to the Middlesex County Football Association. History Establis ...

, he only scored one further goal for the club, in a 2–1 away loss against Potters Bar Town, before leaving in November. He subsequently moved to Burnham before the window break, and started to score in a regular basis. On 30 September 2014 Kabamba scored five goals in a game including a

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 ...

in the opening 10 minutes as Burnham beat

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England. It is the main town of the Torridge District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bi ...

5–1 in the Southern League. On 5 December 2014, he was loaned to Hemel Hempstead Town until the end of the season.

Hampton & Richmond Borough

In August 2015, Kabamba signed for Hampton & Richmond Borough on loan, later making the move permanent in January 2016. He became the club's top scorer in the 2015–16 season with 18 goals, as it achieved promotion to

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

Portsmouth

On 18 January 2017, Kabamba signed an 18-month contract with League Two club

with the option of a 12-month extension. He made his debut for the club on 18 March, replacing

Noel Hunt Noel Hunt (born 26 December 1982) is an Irish football manager and former professional footballer who is the head coach at Reading. A striker, he began his career in Ireland with Shamrock Rovers, also playing for Waterford United on loan. He mo ...

in a 3–0 away defeat to

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 ...

. On 31 August 2017, Kabamba signed for

until January 2018, becoming the fifth player to enter Colchester on deadline day. He made his Colchester debut on 9 September in their 3–1 win against

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

. After failing to score in ten appearances for Colchester, he returned to his parent club on 14 December. On 5 January 2018, Kabamba joined

side

on loan for the remainder of the campaign. On 9 May, Portsmouth announced that his contract, which would expire on 30 June, would not be renewed.

Havant and Waterlooville

On 14 June 2018, Kabamba signed for

newcomers

Havant and Waterlooville Havant & Waterlooville Football Club is a professional association football club based in Havant, Hampshire, England. The club participates in the Southern League Premier Division South, the seventh level of English football, after relegation fr ...

and has made 32 appearances and scored 6 goals across all competitions.

Hartlepool United

On 18 January 2019, in a return to full-time professional football, Kabamba signed on loan for fellow national league side

, scoring 5 goals in his first 4 starts. He finished his loan spell with 7 goals in 17

appearances, including a goal in a 3–2 win over

Salford City F.C. Salford City Football Club is a professional association football club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. The club was founded as Salford Central ...

on the final game of the season which ended their opponents' title run. Kabamba signed a permanent deal on 13 May 2019.

Kilmarnock

Kabamba signed for

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 ...

club

on a one-and-a-half-year contract on 17 January 2020. He scored on his debut, coming off the bench in a 6–0 win against Queen's Park in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

of League Two on a two-year deal. On 21 January 2022, Kabamba joined

on loan for the remainder of the campaign. Kabamba had his contract terminated in June 2022.

Barnet

On 21 June 2022, the same day in which he had his Northampton Town contract terminated, Kabamba joined National League club

Bromley

On 10 January 2025, Kabamba signed for League Two side

for an undisclosed fee.

International career

On 22 September 2020, Kabamba was called-up by the

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. In April 2024, Kabamba was named in the

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 ...

squad for their upcoming friendly against

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, scoring the first goal in a 2–0 victory.

Career statistics

Honours

Barnet *

: 2024–25

References

External links

Portsmouth FC profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kabamba, Nicke 1993 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Brent English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Uxbridge F.C. players Brook House F.C. players Burnham F.C. players Hemel Hempstead Town F.C. players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Woking F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Bromley F.C. players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people English people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent 21st-century English sportsmen