Most young boys dream of becoming a footballer, but for one lad from South-East London, it became an obsession.

Cherno Samba is a household name here in The Gambia, UK and Europe, known for being one of the top 10 ‘legends’ of the Football Manager video games.

However, from the age of 6 his only dream was to become a real-life footballer. From there he started his journey and was passionate about it. He played for England at various youth levels and was on the edge of becoming a mega-star with Liverpool at the age of 15, and touted as being the player who would win the 2006 World Cup for the England national team.

Still now, he holds the record of most goals scored at youth level in the England youth team where he took the record from Micheal Owen and is yet to have a successor.

Cherno also played for his Country of Birth The Gambia in 2008. He also played for other clubs like Malaga, and Cadiz in Spain.
He retired from the sports in 2015.

He published his autobiography in 2018 “Still in The Game” which is an eye-opener and a great read for anyone, especially the youths.

Cherno started a football club in 2004 in The Gambia called SAMGER FC, solely towards motivating the youths passionate about football and also help them build their football careers.

SAMGER FC currently plays in the GFA First Division league. He is the only former player ever in The Gambia to own a football club in which all staff members and players are paid monthly salaries by him and his partner Harry Gerber, and also provided with all the necessary football facilities.

SAMGER FC players are also available with the opportunity to travel to Europe for trials and some do eventually join the teams or sign contracts with other teams.

Cherno, is also a qualified UEFA LICENSED Coach and also a top football agent or representative with his partner consulting company called SPOCS Global Sports. He has signed good players to top clubs around the world but his main aim is to use his connections and link more Gambian players to international clubs.

Cherno Samba does a lot of charity work in The Gambia by helping not only the needy but every other individual by paying school fees, house rents, monthly allowances, etc, and the beauty about the guy is he does it with so much passion and never wants any soul to know about it.

He has recently set up ‘ The Cherno Samba Foundation’ in The Gambia. The objective will be to help and empower various sectors in the country, i.e health sector, woman empowerment, sports, religion and the youths.

Regardless of his status, he is the most humble and down-to-earth person you can ever come across. Always smiling and happy.