Mohamed Bangura (footballer)

Mohamed Bangura
Personal information
Date of birth 27 July 1989 (1989-07-27) (age 22)
Place of birth Kambia, Sierra Leone
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Celtic
Number 14
Youth career
–2005 Kallon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2005–2010 Kallon 58 (39)
2010 → Värnamo (loan) 13 (12)
2010–2011 AIK 32 (13)
2011– Celtic 9 (0)
National team‡
2010– Sierra Leone 6 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 December 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 3 September 2011

Mohamed Bangura (born 27 July 1989) is a professional football player from Sierra Leone who currently plays for Scottish Premier League club Celtic. His natural position is striker, he can also play on either wing.[1]

Contents

Club career

Kallon FC

Bangura started his youth career at Kallon FC where he became an important player for the team. In the beginning of 2010 he earned his first international cap in a 1-0 loss to Senegal in Dakar. He represented Kallon FC at the World Youth Tournament Viareggio Cup 2010 and scored a goal against Napoli SC where Kallon FC lost by 2-3, he also took part in a match against Chivas Guadalarja of Mexico. In the final game he scored a brace against AC Parma but Kallon FC lost 2-3.

IFK Värnamo

On 19 March 2010, Swedish third tier side IFK Värnamo (coached by the former Sweden midfielder Jonas Thern) announced they had signed Bangura on loan for the forthcoming season.[2] At the Småland club Bangura made an immediate impact; when half of the season was played, Bangura had scored 12 goals in 13 league games, turning Värnamo into one of the division's top sides.[3] Experts professed the club had signed a gem and that it would only be an amount of time before Bangura would be swooped by top clubs.

AIK

On 19 July 2010, AIK announced that they had signed Bangura on a 3.5-year contract tying him to the club until the end of 2013.[4] It was made clear that AIK was not the only major Swedish side to have shown interest in signing Bangura. Örebro SK, at the time one of the top Allsvenskan teams, were also interested but decided to pass due to Bangura being injured.[5] AIK, on the other hand, had scouted Bangura thoroughly for a long time and wanted to make a quick deal. On 24 July 2010, Bangura made his Allsvenskan debut for AIK against Malmö FF away by coming in as a substitute in the 74th minute.[6] On 28 July, Bangura was in the starting eleven in AIK's next fixture, the UEFA Champions League qualifier at home against Rosenborg BK. The game ended with a 0-1 defeat for AIK but Bangura received lots of praise for his performance in the game.[7] On 8 August 2010, Bangura scored his first two goals in AIK's 2-1 victory over Brommapojkarna.

Celtic

On 30 August 2011, Bangura signed a four year deal with Celtic for a fee of around £2.2million. He is the first Sierra Leonean to play for Celtic.[8] He was recommended to Celtic by former striker and fan favourite Henrik Larsson.[9] Bangura made his Celtic debut for Celtic on 10 September. Coming on as a 68th minute substitute for Anthony Stokes in a 4-0 victory against Motherwell at Celtic Park.[10] Bangura then made his next appearance against Atletico Madrid in the Europa League group stage, coming on as a 75th minute substitute.[11] His first start for the club came on 29 September in a 1-1 draw with Italian side Udinese.[12]

Personal

Bangura has stated that Värnamo manager Jonas Thern has had an enormous importance for his development as a football player, and looks upon Thern as an extra father.

In the fall of 2010 Bangura was to become a father for the first time. However tragedy struck and the child died during birth. [13]

Mohamed and Teteh Bangura are not relatives as some might think. Although he also started his career in Kallon F.C.

Career statistics

As of 24 December 2011
Club League Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Kallon Premier League 2007-08 28 15 - — — — 28 15 -
2008-09 30 24 - — — — 30 24 -
Total 58 39 - — — — 58 39 -
Värnamo Superettan 2010 13 12 4 0 0 0 — — 13 12 4
Total 13 12 4 0 0 0 — — 13 12 4
AIK Allsvenskan 2010 13 6 6 0 0 0 — — 13 6 6
2011 19 7 6 1 0 0 — — 20 7 6
Total 32 13 12 1 0 0 — — 33 13 12
Celtic SPL 2011-12 9 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 14 0 0
Total 9 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 14 0 0
Career Total 112 64 16 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 118 64 16

Honours

Kallon F.C.

References

  1. ^ http://www.matchplus.se/?p=21917
  2. ^ http://www2.idrottonline.se/templates/NewsPage.aspx?id=453762
  3. ^ http://www2.idrottonline.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=109519&epslanguage=sv
  4. ^ http://www.aikfotboll.se/Article.aspx?contentID=3047
  5. ^ http://na.se/sporten/fotboll/inspark/1.898202-bangura-valde-aik-fore-osk
  6. ^ http://svenskfotboll.se/allsvenskan/match/?scr=result&fmid=1380898
  7. ^ http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/sverige/allsvenskan/aik/article7541086.ab
  8. ^ "Old Firm facts". The Scotsman. 18 September 2011. http://sport.scotsman.com/football/Old-Firm-facts.6838257.jp. Retrieved 23 September 2011. 
  9. ^ "Delight as Mohamed Bangura signs for Celtic". Celtic FC. 30 August 2011. http://www.celticfc.net/newsstory?item=1482. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 
  10. ^ "Celtic 4-0 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 10 September 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14773073.stm. Retrieved 23 September 2011. 
  11. ^ "Atletico Madrid 2-0 Celtic". BBC Sport. 15 September 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/14941534.stm. Retrieved 19 September 2011. 
  12. ^ "Celtic 1-1 Udinese". BBC Sport. 29 September 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15014638.stm. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  13. ^ http://fotboll.expressen.se/allsvenskan/1.2159737/bangura-i-sorg-spelade-inte-derbyt
Celtic F.C. – current squad