Christopher Kamara was born on 25 December 1957 and is an English former professional football player and manager who worked as a presenter and football analyst at Sky Sports from 1992 to 2022.
43 Facts About Chris Kamara
2.
Chris Kamara joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16, before being signed by Portsmouth in November 1974.
3.
Chris Kamara spent four years with the "Bees" before leaving the club after picking up a runners-up medal in the Football League Trophy in 1985.
4.
Chris Kamara re-signed with Swindon Town in August 1985 and helped the club to two successive promotions into the Second Division.
5.
Chris Kamara moved on to Stoke City in 1988, and a successful spell with the club won him a move to Leeds United in 1990.
6.
Chris Kamara had loan spells with Premier League clubs Sheffield United and Middlesbrough, before joining Sheffield United on a permanent basis in 1993.
7.
Chris Kamara 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.
8.
Chris Kamara left the club in January 1998 and quickly took the reins at Stoke City, before he left the "Potters" in April 1998.
9.
Chris Kamara's father was a heavy gambler, leaving his mother Irene to occasionally plead for money from neighbours in order to provide food for Kamara and his brother George and sister Maria.
10.
Chris Kamara remains a close friend of Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson, with whom he grew up on the Park End council estate.
11.
Chris Kamara joined the Royal Navy at age 16, at the insistence of his father, himself a former naval mariner.
12.
Chris Kamara was trained at HMS Raleigh at Torpoint and later transferred to HMS Vernon.
13.
Youth team coach Ray Crawford told the Portsmouth News that Chris Kamara was "weak in the air, his marking is wayward and he hasn't got much positional sense", but privately told Chris Kamara that he had the potential to become a first team player.
14.
Chris Kamara was re-signed to Portsmouth by Frank Burrows, who had previously coached Kamara at Swindon.
15.
Chris Kamara was paired with Terry Hurlock in a highly committed central midfield partnership at Griffin Park.
16.
Chris Kamara took the decision to leave the club in summer 1985 after he rejected manager Frank McLintock's offer of a new one-year contract on the same terms.
17.
Chris Kamara moved on again in the summer of 1988 after choosing to reject Swindon's offer of a one-year contract.
18.
Chris Kamara was paired with Peter Beagrie in central midfield at the Victoria Ground.
19.
At Elland Road were David Batty, Vinnie Jones, Gordon Strachan and Gary Speed; the presence of these highly skilled midfielders meant that Chris Kamara was frequently left on the bench by manager Howard Wilkinson.
20.
Chris Kamara left Leeds in November 1991 and they went on to win the First Division title.
21.
In October 1992, Chris Kamara returned to the top-flight, now called the Premier League, after joining Dave Bassett's Sheffield United on loan.
22.
Chris Kamara's spell at Ayresome Park lasted just five games as manager Lennie Lawrence could not afford to offer him a permanent contract.
23.
Chris Kamara signed with Bradford City in summer 1994 after being offered a playing-coaching role by manager Lennie Lawrence.
24.
Chris Kamara signed Brazilian striker Edinho and former England international Chris Waddle on free transfers.
25.
Chris Kamara remained at Valley Parade until he left the club in January 1998.
26.
Chris Kamara recommended his assistant Paul Jewell to be his successor, who went on to have his own highly successful spell as Bradford's manager.
27.
Chris Kamara fell out with Chief Executive Jez Moxey over how to spend the proceeds of the sale; Moxey wanted Marco Gabbiadini but Kamara vetoed the deal.
28.
Chris Kamara gave up on management after his time at Stoke City and instead worked as a pundit for a number of television and radio stations.
29.
Chris Kamara won a regular slot on Soccer Extra with Brian Woolnough in 1999, and from there was asked by Rob McCaffrey to contribute to Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports.
30.
Chris Kamara quickly became well known on the programme for his highly excitable nature, propensity for comical gaffes and tendency to come out with unusual sayings that baffled host Jeff Stelling and the other studio pundits, such as his observation that the Tottenham players were "fighting like beavers" in their match against Arsenal.
31.
Chris Kamara has presented the weekly Sky Sports show Goals on Sunday since August 2000 and provides additional commentary on some of Sky's televised matches.
32.
Chris Kamara is a regular guest on Soccer AM, interviewing players and managers at grounds around the country.
33.
In 2015, Chris Kamara took part in ITV's Give a Pet a Home series which worked alongside the RSPCA in Birmingham.
34.
In February 2016, Chris Kamara appeared in an episode of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off and in June 2016, he provided the commentary for Soccer Aid 2016 alongside Clive Tyldesley.
35.
In 2021, Chris Kamara played himself on Ted Lasso, as a pundit on a fictional version of Soccer Saturday, along with presenter Jeff Stelling.
36.
Chris Kamara was a commentator for 2005's This Is Football, alongside Peter Drury.
37.
Chris Kamara was inducted into the Show Racism the Red Card Hall of Fame in 2004.
38.
Chris Kamara became an Ambassador of the Special Olympics Great Britain Organisation in April 2011 after taking part in the Special Olympics Unity Cup as a celebrity partner before the Germany v Argentina quarter-final match in Cape Town, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
39.
Chris Kamara released a charity single entitled Sing 4 England in 2012 as England's officially sanctioned tournament song for Euro 2012.
40.
Chris Kamara released a second Christmas album, And a Happy New Year, on 27 November 2020.
41.
Chris Kamara was the first contestant to be unmasked and eliminated.
42.
Chris Kamara married Anne on 29 May 1982; the couple have two sons.
43.
Chris Kamara was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to association football, anti-racism and charity.