Bobby Samaria

Bobby Samaria

Personal information
Date of birth	(1970-02-21) 21 February 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth	Grootfontein, South West Africa
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Chief Santos
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Eleven Arrows
	Black Africa
International career
1994–1999	Namibia	11	(1)
Managerial career
0000–2006	Black Africa
	Namibia U20
2008–2012	African Stars
2012–2015	United Africa Tigers
2015–2018	African Stars
2018–2019	African Stars
2019–2021	Namibia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bobby Samaria (born 21 February 1970) is a Namibian football manager and former player.

Playing career

Born in Grootfontein, Samaria began his career in the youth ranks of Chief Santos. At the age of 17, Samaria made his senior footballing debut for Eleven Arrows. After four years at Eleven Arrows, Samaria joined Windhoek-based side Black Africa, winning the Player of the Year award in 1993.[1]

Internationally, Samaria made eleven appearances for Namibia, scoring once in a 2–1 win against Malawi on 1 August 1998.[2]

Managerial career

Following his retirement from football, Samaria took up the managerial role at former club Black Africa. On 27 February 2006, Samaria resigned from the club, whilst still managing the Namibia under-20 side.[3] In 2008, Samaria was appointed manager of African Stars. Samaria helped African Stars to win the 2008–09 and 2009–10 editions of the Namibia Premier League, as well as the 2010 Namibia FA Cup. In 2012, Samaria joined United Africa Tigers, winning the Namibia Super Cup, before returning to African Stars in 2015. In 2018, African Stars achieved the double of the Namibia Premier League and Namibia Super Cup. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Samaria left the club, with former Namibian international Robert Nauseb replacing him. In December 2018, following Nauseb's sacking, Samaria was re-appointed by African Stars. In 2019, Samaria was appointed by Namibia to manage the country during the 2020 African Nations Championship qualification.[4][5]

Career statistics

Score and result list Namibia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Samaria goal.

International goal scored by Bobby Samaria

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	1 August 1998	Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek, Namibia	Malawi	1–0	2–1	2000 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

References

1. "A day in the life of "Man of the Moment" Richard "Bobby" Samaria". New Era Live. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
2. "Bobby Richard Samaria". 11v11. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
3. "Samaria quits Black Africa". The Namibian. 28 February 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
4. "Samaria's future still up in the air". Namibian Sun. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
5. "Bobby Samaria". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 30 April 2020.