Kamara's football career started when he was spotted playing for the Navy by
Portsmouth manager
Ian St John, who signed him on apprentice wages in November 1974 after agreeing to pay the Navy a £200 buy-out fee. He made his first team debut in August 1975 in a 2–0 defeat by
Luton Town, winning his chance after
Mick Mellows was struck down with a knee injury. The next match he scored his first senior goal in a 4–1 loss to
Bolton Wanderers after being set up by
Bobby McGuinness. He went on to play regular football at
Fratton Park in the
1975–76 season as "Pompey" were relegated out of the
Second Division in last place. The club avoided relegation out of the
Third Division by a single point in
1976–77, after which new manager
Jimmy Dickinson sold Kamara to Third Division rivals
Swindon Town for £14,000. Upon joining Swindon he was sent death threats by Portsmouth supporters, and was given police escorts to the
County Ground. He scored on his debut against
Sheffield Wednesday at
Hillsborough, but was frequently left out of the starting eleven by manager
Danny Williams during the
1977–78 campaign. New boss
Bobby Smith took the "Robins" to within three points of promotion in
1978–79, and then the semi-finals of the
League Cup in
1979–80.
John Trollope replaced Smith as manager following a dismal start to the
1980–81 campaign, and he sold Kamara back to Portsmouth for £50,000. He was re-signed to Portsmouth by
Frank Burrows, who had previously coached Kamara at Swindon. Kamara was paired with
Terry Hurlock in a highly committed central midfield partnership at
Griffin Park. He settled in well during the
1981–82 campaign and scored a career best of eleven goals in the
1982–83 season as Brentford posted two top ten finishes. The club then struggled to just one place above the Third Division relegation zone in
1983–84 before rising to 13th place in
1984–85. He won a
Football League Trophy runners-up medal in
1985, playing at
Wembley in a 3–1 defeat to
Wigan Athletic. Kamara re-joined Swindon Town in August 1985 for a fee of £12,500 despite suffering from a ruptured hamstring tendon. Under the guidance of
Lou Macari the "Robins" won promotion out of the
Fourth Division as champions in
1985–86, though Kamara missed the first half of the campaign and only played 23 games. However, Kamara became the first English player to be convicted of
grievous bodily harm for an on-pitch incident, after breaking
Shrewsbury Town player
Jim Melrose's cheekbone with a punch straight after the final whistle of a game in the
1987–88 season; he was fined £1,200. Kamara moved on again in the summer of 1988 after choosing to reject Swindon's offer of a one-year contract. He instead joined
Mick Mills at
Stoke City. He had a good
1988–89 season, scoring five goals in 44 appearances and he won the
player of the year award. Midway through the
1989–90 season Mills was dismissed and replaced by
Alan Ball, who promptly sold Kamara to
Leeds United. At
Elland Road were
David Batty,
Vinnie Jones,
Gordon Strachan and
Gary Speed; the presence of these highly skilled midfielders meant that Kamara was frequently left on the bench by manager
Howard Wilkinson. Kamara helped Leeds win the Second Division title in
1989–90 but appeared sparingly for the "Whites" in the
First Division after finding himself injured with an Achilles tendon problem during the
1990–91 campaign. He left Leeds in November 1991 and they went on to win the First Division title. Kamara remained in the top flight by joining
David Pleat's Luton Town for a £150,000 fee after returning to full fitness. The "Hatters" were relegated on the last day of the
1991–92 season after letting slip a 1–0 lead over
Notts County to lose the game 2–1. In October 1992, Kamara returned to the top flight, now called the
Premier League, after joining
Dave Bassett's
Sheffield United on loan. During this time he had the opportunity to play for Sierra Leone, the country of his father, but declined to focus on getting back into the first team Despite failing to nail down a regular first team place in the
1992–93 season he made the move from
Kenilworth Road to
Bramall Lane permanent. His spell at
Ayresome Park lasted just five games as manager
Lennie Lawrence could not afford to offer him a permanent contract. Kamara signed with
Bradford City in summer 1994 after being offered a playing-coaching role by manager Lennie Lawrence. The "Bantams" struggled in the
1994–95 season, though Kamara was promoted to assistant manager in April 1995. ==Managerial career==