Pa-Modou Kah
Pa Modou Kah (born 30 July 1980) is a Norwegian football coach and former footballer who is the current head coach of MLS Next Pro club North Texas SC.
![]() 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 | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | North Texas SC (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) | |
National team | |||
2001–2008 | Norway | 10 | (1) |
Teams managed | |||
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 | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Club career
Vålerenga
Born 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
In 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

In 2011, after seven years in the Netherlands, Kah moved to Qatari club Al Khor.
Portland Timbers
After 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
He 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
FC Cincinnati
FC 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]
Pacific FC
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, being eliminated in the second group stage of the Island Games.[9]
During the 2021 season, Kah would lead Pacific to the 2021 Canadian Championship semi-finals, defeating Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Cavalry FC, before falling to Toronto FC.[10] He would also be victorious in the 2021 Canadian Premier League Final, defeating Forge FC 1-0 at Tim Hortons Field.[11] For his efforts, Kah would be named the 2021 CPL Coach of the Year.[12]
North Texas SC
On 21 January 2022, Kah was announced as the new head coach of North Texas SC.[13]
Managerial statistics
- As of matches played 5 December 2021
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 | [14] |
Career totals | 43 | 21 | 8 | 14 | 72 | 53 | +19 | 48.84 |
Personal life
In 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 a shirt which had the inscription "For Kah" and was yellow carded, which was condemned by the commentators. Kuipers said afterwards that he had not seen the text on Koné's shirt.[15]
Kah speaks seven languages, including English, Norwegian, and some Spanish.[16]
Kah possesses a US green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[17]
Kah is the nephew of Djimon Hounsou.[18]
Honours
References
- "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.
- "Vancouver Whitecaps sign former Portland Timbers center back Pa Modou Kah". MLSsoccer.com.
- "Pa-Modou Kah joins WFC2 as player/coach". 25 August 2016.
- Pa-Modou Kah announces his retirement‚ whitecapsfc.com, 21 February 2017
- Communications, FCC (8 August 2018). "FC Cincinnati Brings Pa-Modou Kah onto Technical Staff". FC Cincinnati. 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. 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.
- Romphf, Jake (3 November 2021). "Toronto FC ends Pacific FC's Canadian Championship run in tight 2-1 win". Saanich News.
- Mitchell, Don (5 December 2021). "Pacific FC beat Forge FC 1-0 to become 2021 CPL champions". Global News.
- Thompson, MArty (14 December 2021). "Pacific FC's Pa-Modou Kah named 2021 CPL Coach of the Year". Canadian Premier League.
- Jacques, John (21 January 2022). "Pa-Modou Kah Departs For MLS Next Pro Opportunity". Northern Tribune. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- "Pa-Modou Kah Managerial Profile". www.footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "FOK.nl / Columns / Over Van Swieten, Kah en Kuipers / FOK!frontpage". FOK!.
- Weber, Marc (26 January 2015). "Whitecaps' new players appear to have the right stuff". Postmedia Network Inc. The Province. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC (21 January 2015). "Whitecaps FC sign centre back Pa-Modou Kah". WhitecapsFC.com. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- "10 questions with Pa-Modou Kah". Vancouver Whitecaps FC. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
External links
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pa-Modou Kah. |
- Pa-Modou Kah at Major League Soccer
- Pa-Modou Kah at National-Football-Teams.com