Star profile: Yankuba Ceesay (Mal)

Particulars

Name: Yankuba Ceesay (Mal)

D.O.B: 26th Sept 1984

Place of birth: Serrekunda

Playing position: Central midfielder

Previous club: Flaminins, Real de Banjul,  Wallidan, Larnaca, Alianza Atlatic

Present club: Degerfors (Sweden)

Yankuba Ceesay, commonly known as Mal,  was born on the 26th September, 1984, in Serrekunda. He started football in the streets of Serrekunda before rising to the Serrekunda nawettan league, where he starred for Jan Jang FC.

Upon his brilliant display at the nawettan, the defunct division one side, Flaminins counted themselves lucky when they lured the central midfield maestro to the senior level in 1998.

Mal  later made a move to Real de Banjul where he had a successful stint before making a move to Wallidan amidst a fierce high-profile transfer battle in 2004.

Mal claimed to be a free player when he was switching to Wallidan, but Real de Banjul insisted he still had a contract with them. And the matter turned more complicated when former club, Flaminins, claimed ownership of the player, who was later allowed to join the Blue Boys.

In 2006, Mal left Wallidan to sign a professional contract with Cyprus giants, Larnaca, a former to club to his brother and one of Gambia’s most successful professionals, Jatto Ceesay.  

He had a memorable season with Larnaca before moving to Peru, where he signed for Alianza Atlatic. In the early 2007, Mal travelled to England where he had a brief and successful trial with the English division one side, Walsall. However, his failure to land a work permit dented his dream of playing in England.

Mal then settled for Scandinavia, and in mid 2007, the midfielder signed a two-year deal with Degerfors, a second division side in the Swedish league.

Mal, who earned his first national cap in 2000, made a come back to the Scorpions line-up during Gambia’s 0-1 defeat to Algeria in the combined qualifier for 2010 World and Nation Cup finals.