Kama Dumbuya

Organized Football or Soccer, as some would call it, was first played by Sierra Leone as a nation under colonial rule in 1949 against Nigeria, with Sierra Leone losing that encounter. But after Independence in 1961, there arose a name so legendary that it is still talked about with reverence and love, and that is none other than the talismanic Kama Dumbuya, a forward for the ages.

Football was just taking hold across Africa as a wave of independence being achieved by a slew of African nations from their European colonizers spread across the continent. In 1960, Sierra Leone was accepted as a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA, and with that, Football fever swept across the nation with Kama Dumbuya at the vanguard leading the Leone Stars into battles against fellow African Nations, notably our immediate West African Neighbours.

His prowess and dazzling display of ball control and ability to slice through opponents and defenders like hot knife through butter became legendary across the continent. He was so efficient at scoring that he was dubbed 'Kama the Hunter' amongst a myriad of other nicknames he was known by. Matches were packed full when he played, and legend has it that in one particular encounter against Liberia, he took a shot so spectacular that spectators following the shot's trajectory leaned so hard to one side that the stadium stand actually bent against the force exerted by the mesmerized fans.

Kama Dumbuya, who eventually passed away in 2017 in very unfortunate circumstances, was a revered and celebrated soccer star whose ability most can say has only been matched or equaled by his successor Ishmael Dyfan in the late 1970s and '80s. Kama played for the East End Lions and later in his career, the Mighty Blackpool, Sierra Leone’s age-old rivals and most successful clubs in its soccer history.