Remembering Sol Bamba: No bitterness, no resentment, just strength, bravery and that glorious smile

I cherished Sol Bamba’s accent. He was a Parisian of African descent who performed in France, Turkey and Italy, however the very first thing you heard every time he spoke was a contact of Edinburgh. Three years at Hibernian noticed to that, as did two earlier seasons throughout the Firth of Forth with Dunfermline. Soccer left its mark on him, and he did the identical.

Bamba was all the time up for the subsequent journey, wherever it was. The final time we spoke, he was getting concerned with the Ivory Coast’s teaching workforce en path to them successful the Africa Cup of Nations again in February. The time earlier than that, he was organising his diary to create time to pursue his UEFA Professional teaching licence. Any time you requested about his well being, you heard: “I’m good, mate. I’m good.” He’d keep on with that line even when he wasn’t, as a result of he didn’t discover solace in bringing folks down.

His dying at 39, introduced on Saturday night time, will deliver so many individuals down.

Bamba was straightforward to like — a veritable diamond, with essentially the most infectious smile this facet of anyplace — and social media immediately is a barometer of his fame. I began writing about him when he joined Leeds United in 2015 and one of the simplest ways I can outline him is as father determine, cult hero and strong spine rolled into one. He wasn’t Leeds’ biggest participant. He wasn’t even shut. However his persona in that exact time frame (when it was safer to cover than stick your neck out) earned him his stripes.

That’s to not say Bamba wasn’t an completed centre-back. He had peak, he had energy, he had coronary heart and he was devoted, an Ivory Coast worldwide with nearly 50 caps to his title. On occasion, he’d give all people at Leeds the heebie-jeebies with bomb-scare runs out of defence (there was his adventurous facet) however you already know what? Soccer wants a little bit of cavalier spirit. Soccer wants Sol Bambas.

When time ran out for him at Elland Street early within the 2016-17 season, he severed his contract shortly and left. He was a membership captain who couldn’t get a recreation any longer, and he frightened his presence within the dressing room can be a hindrance. “They didn’t want that,” he mentioned later. “It was higher for them that I obtained out of the best way.”

Bamba received buddies at Leeds as a result of he fought for the membership, metaphorically in addition to bodily.

It’s onerous to completely clarify the state of the membership round 2015 however take it from me: the atmosphere was unstable, unfavourable and infrequently toxic.

Leeds have been a Premier League entity trapped within the Championship, appearing like they might be caught within the second tier of English soccer eternally. Massimo Cellino, the proprietor then, ran the present — and ran it just like the Wild West. You encountered ludicrous unpredictability within the boardroom. There have been cliques and divisions within the dressing room. Managers/head coaches had a shelf life much like bottles of milk as a result of Cellino couldn’t get sufficient of sacking them. And within the thick of all of it, you had Bamba.

Twice, Bamba spoke out publicly, criticising the membership’s senior administration and demanding higher. His first dig was particularly dangerous as a result of he was solely on mortgage from Italian membership Palermo, with no assure of a everlasting contract with Leeds. He had additionally risen to the place of captain, although, and you discover out about gamers in fractious circumstances. It’s simpler to face again and to say nothing, to bottle out. Bamba most well-liked to say what wanted to be mentioned, and rattling the results.

It was telling that, regardless of his feedback, Leeds signed him completely from Palermo, nearly as if Cellino admired the dimensions of his cojones.

I usually puzzled if the very best route to creating Cellino hear was to entrance him up, and Bamba’s willingness to hold the flag has not been forgotten. At Elland Street, you see, numerous folks have failed the group over the previous 20 years. Those that didn’t are perennially appreciated. To place it one other manner: Bamba may have gone ingesting in Leeds for every week with out having to purchase a pint.

Bamba throughout his time at Hibernian (Craig Williamson/SNS Group through Getty Photographs)

In 2020, he was identified with a type of most cancers on Christmas Eve.

We’d grow to be buddies through the years after he left Elland Street and some days on from his final hit of chemotherapy, I interviewed him for The Athletic. One of many first issues he requested the physician who identified him was, “When’s my subsequent recreation?” He was a Cardiff Metropolis participant by then and he spoke about his sickness as if it was a minor interlude in his life and profession, one thing he would energy via. “I can’t end like this,” he mentioned. “This isn’t it.” And it wasn’t.

Not lengthy after, he tweeted to say he was cancer-free, however a submit on Instagram from his spouse Chloe final night time revealed that the sickness had returned. “It was by no means a good combat,” she wrote. “Simply when issues have been wanting up, he took a downturn.” Bamba had accepted it as “God’s will”, she mentioned, which appears like him.

He’ll have gone with out resentment or bitterness, the embodiment of his superb smile.

(High picture: Alex Pantling/Getty Photographs)