Kamara, Diomansy

Biog

Born in Paris, Kamara began his career with local club Red Star 93. After a spell in Italy he joined the foreign legion in the English Premiership when he signed for Portsmouth in 2004 and a year later moved onto West Bromwich Albion.

During Tony Mowbray’s first in charge at the Hawthorns (2006/07) Kamara was in lethal form for the Championship club netting 23 goals as the Baggies reached the Championship play-offs. That form earned a £6 million move to Fulham but Kamara’s switch to London was hampered by injuries.

The powerful forward was also an established international winning over 40 caps for Senegal up to the point of his signing on at Celtic.

Joe Kamara joined Celtic on loan from Fulham on 1st February 2010. The deadline day deal saw the Bhoys sign up the forward until the end of the season, with Celtic having an option to buy the player who had previously played under Hoops boss Tony Mowbray at West Brom.

Following his signing the 29-year-old Senegal international told the official Celtic website:

“I’m delighted to sign for Celtic and I am very much looking forward to joining up with the manager and my new team-mates. Celtic is a magnificent football club. I will be looking to do my very best to contribute and bring the supporters success and hopefully enjoy a long future with the club.”

Kamara would make his debut for Celtic the day after his move but would suffer disappointment as the Hoops went down 1-0 at Kilmarnock. Despite the scoreline Kamara had impressed with his performance on the wing and just five days later he bagged his first goal for the Bhoys when he opened the scoring in a 4-2 Scottish Cup win at Dunfermline. He later also scored a goal v Aberdeen (4-4) & Dundee Utd (2-0 win) in the league. He had a man of the match performance in the Dundee Utd match with reports stating he was unfortunate not to grab more that just the one goal, but it was his opening goal that ultimately won the points for Celtic.

His spell was to be brief, and at the end of the season the cost to bring him in on a permanent basis was too high taking in our more limited finances. The over inflated wages & transfer fees in London were just too far beyond Celtic’s budget. He clearly wanted to remain with Celtic (according to various quotes and sources) but it wasn’t to be.

The fans appreciated him, and if it wasn’t for injuries that plagued him in March & April then the supporters could have seen so much more of him. A good player with talent, he joined Celtic at a poor time when the first team were under a poor manager and squandered the league and the Scottish Cup. He wasn’t solely at fault for either, and most saw he had ability that could have done well under Neil Lennon (who succeeded Tony Mowbray as manager). After just making ten appearances due to the injuries, it was too much of a gamble to convert him to permanent.

The general support was sorry to see him not be kept on, however with the later emergence of players like Forrest and a reinvigorated Samaras, he was thankfully not missed in a playing sense.

His last game was in a 2-1 victory over Rangers, so at least he was leaving on a good note, albeit he received a yellow card for his efforts in the game. Personally, he had a fair record in another transition phase for Celtic.

His own career nose-dived following some poor tenures elsewhere (at Leicester and Fulham), but took a turn for the better at Eskiehirspor in Turkey where he went on to have a good spell. He then moved on to run down his career in Italy (in the third tier (Serie C)) and then in India, hanging up his boots in 2015.

KDS Honours

KDS Honours
MOTM Winners 2009-10
25-Apr-10	Dundee Utd 0-2 Celtic	SPL

Playing Career

2009/10 Statistics
TEAM	Competition	GS	SB	G	A	SH	SG	FC	FS	YC	RC
Celtic	Scottish Cup	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Celtic	SPL	8	1	2	3	10	3	12	11	1	0

GS: Games Started, SB: Used as Substitute,
G: Goals, A: Assists, SH: Shots, SG: Shots on goal,
YC: Yellow Cards, RC: Red Cards,
FC: Fouls Committed, FS: Fouls Suffered, SV: Saves, OF: Offsides,
W: Wins, D: Draws, L: Losses

Honours With Celtic

None

Pictures

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