John Kamara

John Kamara
	Kamara with Sierra Leone in 2022
Personal information
Full name	John Bankolé Kamara
Date of birth	5 December 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Freetown, Sierra Leone
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Maharlika Manila
Senior career*
Years	Team
2008–2012	Tadamon Sour
2012–2014	Apollon Smyrnis
2014–2015	Lamia
2015–2016	Aris Thessaloniki
2016	Riga
2017–2018	Kaisar
2019–2021	Keşla
2022	Politehnica Iași
2023–2024	Egaleo
2024	United City
2024–	Maharlika Manila
International career‡
2013–	Sierra Leone
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:50, 26 January 2025 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:21, 4 January 2022 (UTC)

John Bankolé Kamara (born 5 December 1988) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Maharlika Manila.

Club career

Born in Freetown, Kamara has played in Lebanon and Greece for Tadamon Sour, Apollon Smyrni and Lamia.^[1]^[2] In October 2014 he was told not to train with Lamia, on advice from the Greek health ministry, following fears over the ongoing Ebola virus epidemic.^[3] In response he wore a T-shirt saying "we are west Africans not a virus", and as a result faced sanctions.^[4]

In August 2015 he signed a two-year contract with Aris Thessaloniki.^[5] He signed for Latvian club Riga for the 2016 season.^[1]^[2]

Kamara joined Kazakh club Kaisar on 1 January 2017.^[6]

On 8 January 2019, Kamara joined Azerbaijan Premier League club Keşla FK.^[7] On 25 June 2020, Kamara signed a new contract with Keşla for the 2020–21 season.^[8]

On 27 December 2021, Kamara left Keşla by mutual consent.^[9]

In January 2023, he signed for Greek team Egaleo.^[10]

In March 2024, Kamara joined Philippines Football League club United City.^[11] He then moved to Maharlika Manila later that year.^[12]

International career

He made his senior international debut for Sierra Leone in 2013,^[1] and has appeared in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.^[13] He was a squad member at the 2021 AFCON.^[14]

Career statistics

International

As of match played 13 November 2021^[1]

Sierra Leone national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2013	2	0
2014	4	1
2015	2	0
2016	1	0
2017	1	0
2018	1	0
2019	4	0
2020	2	0
2021	4	0
Total	21	1

International goals

As of 9 November 2016^[1]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1.	19 November 2014	Stade Tata Raphaël, Kinshasa, DR Congo	DR Congo	1–0	1–3	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "John Kamara". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b John Kamara at Soccerway. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^ Nick Cavell (17 October 2014). "Sierra Leone's John Kamara banished by Greek club over Ebola". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
^ Maeve Shearlaw (7 November 2014). "Ebola for beginners: Twitter map outlines some elementary geography". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
^ "Kamara seals Aris deal". Concord Times. 21 August 2015. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
^ ФК «Кайсар» подписал ряд игроков‚ fckaysar.kz, 31 January 2016
^ "Keşlə FK-da yeni futbolçular". keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 8 January 2019. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
^ "Con Kamara ilə müqavilə yeniləndi". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 25 June 2020. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
^ "Keşlə FK-nın məlumatı". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 27 December 2021. Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
^ "John Kamara signs for Greek League 2 side Egaleo". F. S. L. News. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
^ "UNITED CITY FC SECURES KEY MIDFIELD ADDITION: WELCOMING JOHN BANKOLÉ KAMARA". www.unitedcityfootballclub.com. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
^ "Maharlika FC Midfielder John Kamara Happy With His Form". 24 November 2024.
^ John Kamara – FIFA competition record (archived)
^ "Africa Cup of Nations 2021 squads" – via www.bbc.co.uk.

[NFT-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "John Kamara". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 31 March 2016.

[SW-2] John Kamara at Soccerway. Retrieved 31 March 2016.

[3] Nick Cavell (17 October 2014). "Sierra Leone's John Kamara banished by Greek club over Ebola". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 October 2014.

[4] Maeve Shearlaw (7 November 2014). "Ebola for beginners: Twitter map outlines some elementary geography". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2014.

[5] "Kamara seals Aris deal". Concord Times. 21 August 2015. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.

[6] ФК «Кайсар» подписал ряд игроков‚ fckaysar.kz, 31 January 2016

[Two_sign-7] "Keşlə FK-da yeni futbolçular". keshlafc.az (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 8 January 2019. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.

[8] "Con Kamara ilə müqavilə yeniləndi". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 25 June 2020. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.

[9] "Keşlə FK-nın məlumatı". keshlafc.az/ (in Azerbaijani). Keşla FK. 27 December 2021. Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.

[10] "John Kamara signs for Greek League 2 side Egaleo". F. S. L. News. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2024.

[11] "UNITED CITY FC SECURES KEY MIDFIELD ADDITION: WELCOMING JOHN BANKOLÉ KAMARA". www.unitedcityfootballclub.com. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.

[12] "Maharlika FC Midfielder John Kamara Happy With His Form". 24 November 2024.

[13] John Kamara – FIFA competition record (archived)

[14] "Africa Cup of Nations 2021 squads" – via www.bbc.co.uk.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]