Al Bangura
Al Bangura playing for Forest Green Rovers in 2012/13.
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alhassan Bangura | ||
| Date of birth | 24 January 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Freetown, Sierra Leone | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
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Current team
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Nuneaton Town | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2004–2005 | Watford | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2009 | Watford | 62 | (1) |
| 2009 | → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Blackpool | 9 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Mersin İdmanyurdu | 7 | (0) |
| 2011 | Gabala | 5 | (0) |
| 2011–2014 | Forest Green Rovers | 83 | (0) |
| 2015 | Coventry City | 0 | (0) |
| 2016 | St Albans City | 5 | (0) |
| 2017– | Nuneaton Town | 3 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2008 | Sierra Leone | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:29, 28 February 2017 (UTC). |
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Alhassan "Al" Bangura (born 24 January 1988) is a Sierra Leonean footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League North side Nuneaton Town.
Bangura played for the Sierra Leone national team and is notable for having been the victim of human trafficking when he was a teenager and also the subject of a deportation case in the United Kingdom in 2007.
Bangura was born and brought up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and his father was the head of the Poro Secret Society, however he died when Alhassan was a young child. As he was the oldest in his family, custom dictated that he took over his father's place in Poro, when he grew up. He refused to do so, and instead fled to Guinea aged just 15 years-old, saying later, "I didn't like it at all so I fled to Guinea". However, in Guinea he met a Frenchman, who he did not realise was involved in human trafficking and who took Bangura to France intending to make him a male prostitute. When the man took Bangura to the UK, he intended again to use him as a prostitute, however Bangura sought asylum.
"I come from a strange background and from a country where there is not that much opportunity to get into the game of football professionally. It was hard when I was back home because no-one is there for you, no-one is encouraging you.... I also had problems away from football that made it hard."
Discovered by a Watford scout playing for Chertsey Town Youth in 2004, Bangura joined the Hornets youth set-up, and made his debut in a 1–0 win over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium in April 2005, coming on for the injured Gavin Mahon after 30 minutes. Bangura started the following game against West Ham United, on the final day of the 2004–05 season. In the 2005–06 season he was a regular in the Watford side, making 40 appearances in all competitions. His first goal for the Hornets, was a 90th-minute equaliser in a 2–2 draw against Derby County at Vicarage Road in March 2006. At the end of the season he won the club's Young Player of the year award.
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