Pa Modou Kah (born 30 July 1980) is a Norwegian football coach and former footballer who is currently the head coach for Phoenix Rising FC in the USL Championship.
 Kah with FC Cincinnati in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pa Modou Kah | ||
| Date of birth | 30 July 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Banjul, The Gambia | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Phoenix Rising (head coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2003 | Vålerenga | 94 | (9) |
| 2003–2004 | AIK | 29 | (3) |
| 2004–2011 | Roda JC | 189 | (12) |
| 2011–2013 | Al Khor | 12 | (1) |
| 2012 | → Qatar SC (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2013 | Al-Wehda | 10 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Portland Timbers | 40 | (1) |
| 2015–2016 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 30 | (3) |
| 2016 | Whitecaps FC 2 | 3 | (0) |
| Total | 414 | (29) | |
| International career | |||
| 2001–2008 | Norway | 10 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2016–2017 | Whitecaps FC 2 (assistant) | ||
| 2017–2018 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC (staff) | ||
| 2018 | FC Cincinnati (scout) | ||
| 2019 | FC Cincinnati (assistant) | ||
| 2020–2021 | Pacific FC | ||
| 2022 | North Texas SC | ||
| 2023–2024 | Charlotte FC (assistant) | ||
| 2024– | Phoenix Rising | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editVålerenga
editBorn in Banjul, The Gambia, Kah and his family emigrated to Norway in 1988, when he was eight years old. He began his football career with Vålerenga in 1998. At Vålerenga, Kah appeared in 94 league matches and scored 9 goals. In the 2001 season, his side won promotion and won the Norwegian Cup the year after.
AIK
editIn the mid-2003, he moved to Swedish club AIK as a part of the club's efforts for winning the championship. Kah was appreciated for his fighting spirit and ability to win the ball. Although his natural position was as a central midfielder, he had to play in various positions; he played several games at right-back. After the club was relegated the following season, Kah transferred to Dutch club Roda JC, making nearly 200 league appearances. In the Netherlands Kah mainly played as central defender.
Al-Khor
edit
In 2011, after seven years in the Netherlands, Kah moved to Qatari club Al Khor.
Portland Timbers
editAfter a brief period in Saudi Arabia with Al-Wehda, Kah moved to the United States on 3 May 2013 when he signed with Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers.[1] On 8 December 2014, the Portland Timbers declined contract options on Kah.[2]
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
editHe was unsigned in the waivers draft and later claimed by Vancouver Whitecaps FC on 21 January 2015.[3]
In August 2016, he agreed to mutually terminate his contract with Vancouver Whitecaps' first team in favour of joining their USL team as a player-coach.[4] On 21 February 2017 Kah announced his retirement and it was also confirmed, that he would continue working at the club as a Whitecaps FC staff coach.[5]
Coaching career
editFC Cincinnati added Kah to its technical staff as a member of the scouting staff in August 2018.[6] In January 2019, the club announced that Kah's role would be changing, and he would now serve as an assistant coach.[7]
On 14 January 2020, Kah signed with Canadian Premier League side Pacific FC as the club's new head coach.[8] During the 2020 CPL season, Kah guided Pacific to their first play-off appearance, when they reached the second group stage of the Island Games before being eliminated.[9] During the 2021 season, Kah guided Pacific to the 2021 Canadian Championship semi-finals, defeating Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Cavalry FC before falling to Toronto FC.[10] In the 2021 Canadian Premier League Final, Pacific defeated Forge FC 1-0 at Tim Hortons Field.[11] For his efforts, Kah would be named the 2021 CPL Coach of the Year.[12]
On 21 January 2022, Kah was announced as the new head coach of North Texas SC.[13]
In January 2023, he joined Major League Soccer club Charlotte FC as an assistant coach.[14]
Kah was named head coach for USL Championship club Phoenix Rising FC on 18 November 2024.[15]
Managerial statistics
edit- As of matches played 30 September 2022
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Pacific FC | 14 January 2020 | 21 January 2022 | 43 | 21 | 8 | 14 | 72 | 53 | +19 | 48.84 | [16] |
| North Texas SC[note 1] | 21 January 2022 | 30 September 2022 | 25 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 48 | 33 | +15 | 52.00 | |
| Career totals | 68 | 34 | 13 | 21 | 120 | 86 | +34 | 50.00 | |||
- ^ MLS Next Pro teams played shootouts to earn an extra point after ties. Of the five ties in 2022, North Texas SC had two Shootout wins and three Shootout losses for a total record of 13-2-3-7
Personal life
editIn 2005, he was involved in a car accident in Peer, Belgium. He was accompanied by his girlfriend, his cousin, and a friend. His car was rear-ended while stopped at a routine road check, immediately killing his girlfriend but only inflicting minor injuries to Kah. In Roda JC's next match, referee Bjorn Kuipers held a minute of silence to in honour of Kah's girlfriend. During the game, Arouna Koné took his shirt off to reveal an undershirt which bore the inscription "For Kah". The referee showed Koné a yellow card, a decision the commentators criticized. Kuipers said afterwards that he had not seen the text on Koné's shirt.[17]
Kah speaks seven languages, including English, Norwegian, and some Spanish.[18]
Kah possesses a US green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[19]
Kah is the nephew of Djimon Hounsou.[20]
Honours
editManager
editPacific FC
References
edit- ^ "Timbers acquire defender Pa Modou Kah". Portland Timbers. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013.
- ^ "Portland Timbers exercise options on seven players". Portland Timbers. 8 December 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ "Vancouver Whitecaps sign former Portland Timbers center back Pa Modou Kah". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "Pa-Modou Kah joins WFC2 as player/coach". 25 August 2016. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- ^ Pa-Modou Kah announces his retirement Archived 20 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine‚ whitecapsfc.com, 21 February 2017
- ^ Communications, FCC (8 August 2018). "FC Cincinnati Brings Pa-Modou Kah onto Technical Staff". FC Cincinnati. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ^ Bogert, Tom (4 January 2019). "FC Cincinnati expand operations staff, add Pa-Modou Kah as assistant". MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ "Pacific FC announces new head coach Pa-Modou Kah". Pacific FC. 14 January 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ "Pacific FC eliminated from CPL finals contention with loss to Forge". CBC. 12 September 2021. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ Romphf, Jake (3 November 2021). "Toronto FC ends Pacific FC's Canadian Championship run in tight 2-1 win". Saanich News. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ Mitchell, Don (5 December 2021). "Pacific FC beat Forge FC 1-0 to become 2021 CPL champions". Global News. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ Thompson, MArty (14 December 2021). "Pacific FC's Pa-Modou Kah named 2021 CPL Coach of the Year". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ Jacques, John (21 January 2022). "Pa-Modou Kah Departs For MLS Next Pro Opportunity". Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- ^ Jacques, John (6 January 2023). "Kah Joins Charlotte FC Coaching Staff". Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ Hill, T. "Phoenix Rising Names Pa-Modou Kah Head Coach". PHX. Phoenix Rising. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ "Pa-Modou Kah Managerial Profile". www.footballdatabase.eu. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ "FOK.nl / Columns / Over Van Swieten, Kah en Kuipers / FOK!frontpage". FOK!. 9 May 2005. Archived from the original on 30 November 2005. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- ^ Weber, Marc (26 January 2015). "Whitecaps' new players appear to have the right stuff". Postmedia Network Inc. The Province. Retrieved 26 January 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Vancouver Whitecaps FC (21 January 2015). "Whitecaps FC sign centre back Pa-Modou Kah". WhitecapsFC.com. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- ^ "10 questions with Pa-Modou Kah". Vancouver Whitecaps FC. 6 August 2015. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
External links
edit
- Pa-Modou Kah at Major League Soccer
- Pa-Modou Kah at National-Football-Teams.com