Samuel Tshiayima Nombe (born 22 October 1998) is an English 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 plays as a forward for club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

Club career

Milton Keynes Dons

Nombe joined Milton Keynes Dons academy at under-11 level, and on 12 May 2017 signed professional terms with the club, alongside fellow academy graduate Hugo Logan. On 8 August 2017, Nombe made his competitive professional debut for the club, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute for Ryan Seager during an EFL Cup first round away win over

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 ...

. Nombe made his league debut four days later on 12 August 2017, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Robbie Muirhead in a 1–0 away defeat to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. On 18 May 2018, following a productive first season as a professional, Nombe signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until summer 2019, which was later extended until June 2020 on 31 May 2018.

Oxford City (loans)

On 9 February 2018, Nombe joined

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 ...

club Oxford City on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season. During his brief loan spell, Nombe scored six goals in nine appearances for the club before being recalled to Milton Keynes Dons on 23 April 2018. On 30 October 2018 Nombe re-joined Oxford City on a short-term loan until 1 January 2019.

Maidenhead United (loan)

On 11 January 2019, Nombe joined

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 ...

club

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks FA, they are currently members of the . The club were established in October 1870 and have played at ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Luton Town (loan)

On 16 October 2020, Nombe joined

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

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

for the remainder of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season with an "intent and option" for a permanent transfer. At the conclusion of the season, Luton Town opted not to make Nombe's transfer permanent following limited first team opportunities in which he made only 11 league appearances.

Exeter City

On 5 July 2021, Nombe joined League Two club

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for City on 18 September in a 2–0 home win over

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

, his effort minutes prior being chalked down as a Sutton own goal. Exeter secured promotion back to League One that season, with Nombe scoring eight goals despite being injured for a large part of the season.

Rotherham United

On 31 August 2023, Nombe departed Exeter after weeks of speculation, reuniting with former manager Matt Taylor, joining

club

for a club-record undisclosed fee on a four-year deal.

Career statistics

Honours

Exeter City *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

second-place promotion: 2021–22 Individual *

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

Young Player of the Year: 2019–20

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nombe, Sam Living people 1998 births English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Oxford City F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Black British sportsmen Footballers from the London Borough of Croydon People from Croydon 21st-century English sportsmen