Mustapha Carayol

Carayol made his Torquay United debut, in the opening game of the season, where he came on as a substitute for Danny Stevens in the 68th minute, in a 1–1 draw against Histon.

In his first season at Torquay United, Carayol made thirty appearances for the club and helped the club reach promotion back to League Two.

Mustapha Soon Carayol (born 4 September 1988) is a Gambian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Burton Albion and the Gambia national team.

He has notably played in the EFL Championship for Middlesbrough, Brighton & Hove Albion, Huddersfield Town, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town.

He also played in Cyprus and Turkey for Apollon Limassol and Adana Demirspor and in the Football League for Milton Keynes Dons, Torquay United, Lincoln City, Bristol Rovers and Gillingham, as well as several spells with non-league clubs Crawley Town and Kettering Town.

Born in Banjul, Carayol began his career as a youth player with Swindon Town and when Paul Ince moved from Swindon to become manager of Macclesfield Town in 2006 he took Carayol with him as a trainee.

At the time he was quoted as saying "I'm happy to clean the whole first team's boots all season for this opportunity".

When Ince became manager of Milton Keynes Dons in 2007, he signed Carayol again, offering him his first professional contract.

He made his first team debut for MK Dons against Sheffield United in the League Cup on 28 August 2007 and went on to appear in one further cup game.

In October 2007, Carayol joined Crawley Town on loan to gain further first team experience.

It came after Carayol played against them at the Crawley training ground the week before.

Carayol made his Crawley Town debut, which he scored, in a 1–1 draw against Aldershot Town.

Soon after, Carayol's loan spell with Crawley Town was soon extended for another month and again until the end of the season.

Carayol then scored two more goals against Grays Athletic and Stafford Rangers.

On 13 July 2008, he was signed by Torquay United on a two–year contract.

The following season saw Carayol making his first appearance of the season on 15 August 2009, coming on as a substitute for Scott Rendell in the 68th minute, and scored in a 5–3 loss against Dagenham & Redbridge.

Carayol's last appearance for the club before joining Kettering Town came on 12 September 2009, where he set up a goal for the club, in a 2–1 loss against Rochdale.

Carayol later finished the 2009–10 season, making 30 appearances and scoring six times.

On 17 September 2009 he joined Kettering Town on a three-month emergency loan deal.

Carayol made his Kettering Town debut the next day, in a 2–1 loss against Crawley Town.

Carayol only made five appearances, due to suffering from a hamstring injury that kept him out for a month.

With his contract expiring at the end of the 2009–10 season, Carayol turned down a new contract at Torquay United, but turned it down and as a result, he was dropped from the first team in the last game of the season against Notts County, as well as, a strained relationship with Manager Paul Buckle.

After returning from a loan spell at Kettering Town, Carayol made his first appearance on 6 February 2010, where he played 45 minutes in the match, in a 1–0 loss against Hereford United.

Carayol then scored his first goal for the club for the first time in five months, in a 1–1 draw against Cheltenham Town on 23 February 2010.

Carayol went on to score four more goals against Darlington, Rochdale, Grimsby Town and Bury.

In May 2010, it was announced that Lincoln City had agreed terms with the player although a fee would have to be set to determine how much compensation Lincoln City must pay Torquay due to Carayol being under the age of 24.

In August it was announced that a deal had been struck between the two clubs with Lincoln paying £35,000 over staged payments plus other clauses.

Upon joining Lincoln City, Carayol stated the move does not have nothing to do with money or moving closer to his hometown, London, but for first team football.

Carayol scored on his debut, in the opening game of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Rotherham United.

Carayol played in the next game against his former club, Torquay United, for the first time, where he received a warm reception from Torquay United supporters, which they lost 2–1.

After being sidelined for two matches throughout August, due to ankle injury, Carayol returned to the first team and then scored again on 30 October 2010, in a 2–2 draw against Wycombe Wanderers and scored three weeks later on 20 November 2010, as well as, setting up two of the three goals, in a 3–1 win over Hereford United.

Seven days later, on 27 November 2010, Carayol scored again in the second round of FA Cup, in a 2–2 draw against Hereford United.

However, as the 2010–11 season progressed, Carayol began to have injuries plagued, which saw him restricted to 37 appearances in all competitions and Lincoln City relegated from the Football League.

Because of this, Carayol's future at Lincoln City was doubt after a clause was activated that gives him a freedom to quit the club and in May 2011 he was made available for transfer by the club after a mass clear out of players following relegation from the Football League.

Upon leaving the club, Carayol thanked Lincoln City supporters and credited the club for helping him improve as a player.

On 17 June 2011, Bristol Rovers signed Carayol for an undisclosed fee, on a two-year deal.

Carayol made his Bristol Rovers debut, in the opening game of the season, coming on as a substitute for Joe Anyinsah, in a 3–2 win over Wimbledon.

After struggling to regain his starting line-up, Carayol was sent to play in the reserve and scored a hat–trick, in a 4–4 draw against Brentford Reserve on 28 September 2011.

Carayol then scored his first Bristol Rovers goal in the first round of the FA Cup, in a 3–1 win over Corby Town and then scored in the second round of the FA Cup, in a 6–1 win over Totton.

Two weeks later, on 16 December 2011, he scored his first league goal for the club, in a 4–1 loss against Gillingham.