Christopher Samba

Former professional footballer, Christopher Samba played heavily as a defender yet showed great potential as a striker also. Making appearances for the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Congo national team, Aston Villa and Russian team Anzhi Makhachkala. Samba was described by Harry Redknapp as a strong leader, who's quick, great in the air and fantastic in both boxes.

Following many successful seasons, in November 2009 Samba signed a new five-year contract with Blackburn Rovers where he made many appearances and played as a crucial member of the team as both defence and a striker. Later on in his career with Blackburn Rovers, he was picked to captain a game despite both club captain and vice-captain were starting. 

After many successful years at Blackburn Rovers, Samba decided to pursue new challenges and transferred to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in 2012 for a four-year deal. He was brought for a fee thought to be In the region of £12.3 million. The following year, to Harry Redknapp's delight, he joined Queens Park Rangers, signing a four-and-a-half-year deal for a reported fee of £12.5 million.

Samba joined Aston Villa for a one year contract in 2017, he went on to score his first goal in a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. On the side of football, Samba is also known for a racial incident that occurred after a game while he was playing for Russian club, Anzhi Makhachkala. This incident involved a member of the crowd allegedly throwing a banana at Samba after the match. This spurred a whole debate and actions were put in place to tackle the issues of discrimination within football.

An excellent football player and speaker, Samba is a passionate talker when it comes to discussing racism within football and his own personal experiences of this. Making for an excellent event host he can share his first-hand experiences of life as a professional footballer, covering dealing with pressure, to maximising success and teamwork.