![]() Kamara at a charity event in 2011 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Christopher Kamara[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 25 December 1957||
Place of birth | Middlesbrough, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
1974–1975 | Portsmouth | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1975–1977 | Portsmouth | 63 | (7) |
1977–1981 | Swindon Town | 147 | (21) |
1981 | Portsmouth | 11 | (0) |
1981–1985 | Brentford | 152 | (28) |
1985–1988 | Swindon Town | 86 | (6) |
1988–1990 | Stoke City | 60 | (5) |
1990–1991 | Leeds United | 20 | (1) |
1991–1993 | Luton Town | 49 | (0) |
1992–1993 | → Sheffield United (loan) | 8 | (0) |
1993 | → Middlesbrough (loan) | 5 | (0) |
1993–1994 | Sheffield United | 16 | (0) |
1994–1995 | Bradford City | 23 | (3) |
2012–2013 | Welshpool Town | 2 | (0) |
Total | 643 | (71) | |
Managerial career | |||
1995–1998 | Bradford City | ||
1998 | Stoke City | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Christopher Kamara MBE (born 25 December 1957) is an English former professional footballer and manager who worked as a presenter and football analyst at Sky Sports from 1992 to 2022.
As a player, he was known as a tough-tackling midfielder. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16, before being signed by Portsmouth in November 1974. He spent three years at the club before being sold on to Swindon Town for £14,000. He returned to Portsmouth in 1981 for a £50,000 fee but was transferred to Brentford in October 1981. He spent four years with the "Bees" before leaving the club after picking up a runners-up medal in the Football League Trophy in 1985.
He re-signed with Swindon Town in August 1985 and helped the club to two successive promotions into the Second Division. He moved on to Stoke City in 1988, and a successful spell with the club won him a move to Leeds United in 1990. He helped the club to the Second Division title in 1989–90 but was injured for eight months before being sold to Luton Town for £150,000 in 1991. He had loan spells with Premier League clubs Sheffield United and Middlesbrough, before joining Sheffield United on a permanent basis in 1993. The following year he joined Bradford City as a player-coach.
He was appointed Bradford City manager in November 1995 and took the club from a relegation scrap to promotion out of the Second Division via the play-offs in 1996. He left the club in January 1998 and quickly took the reins at Stoke City, before he left the "Potters" in April 1998. From there he became a broadcaster with Sky Sports and has since appeared as a presenter on numerous other television programmes.