Pa-Modou Kah

Pa Modou Kah (; born 30 July 1980) is a football coach and former player who is the head coach for Phoenix Rising FC in the USL Championship. Born in the Gambia, he represented the Norway national team.

Early life Kah was born in Banjul, a city of roughly 30,000 people situated where the Gambia River meets the Atlantic Ocean. He has described his childhood there as largely unsupervised, recalling that he and other neighbourhood children would take fruit from nearby trees and slip away to the beach without permission before returning home after school to play games in the street, including relay races and gymnastics. On 8 December 2014, the Portland Timbers declined contract options on Kah. While playing for Portland, Kah has said he was involved in a heated on-field altercation with Vancouver Whitecaps FC manager Carl Robinson during a 2013 Cascadia Cup fixture, after which he called a Whitecaps assistant coach to apologise; Kah has said Robinson was reportedly not offended by the incident. Kah has said Robinson later signed him to Vancouver in 2015 in part because of the impression left by that earlier confrontation. Kah has said Robinson's decision to give him that role, at age 35 and near the end of his playing career, gave him "a new, different life," for which he has said he remains grateful.

Coaching career FC Cincinnati added Kah to its technical staff as a member of the scouting staff in August 2018. In January 2019, the club announced that Kah's role would be changing, and he would now serve as an assistant coach.

On 14 January 2020, Kah signed with Canadian Premier League side Pacific FC as the club's new head coach, becoming the first CPL club to change managers following a disappointing debut season. During the 2021 season, Kah guided Pacific to the 2021 Canadian Championship semi-finals, defeating Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Cavalry FC before falling to Toronto FC. In the 2021 Canadian Premier League Final, Pacific defeated Forge FC 1–0 at Tim Hortons Field. For his efforts, Kah was named the 2021 CPL Coach of the Year. Reflecting on his approach to squad culture at Pacific, Kah has said he emphasised discipline and standards away from matches, including having players clean up after team meals, and has said he personally cooked for the squad on occasion.

In January 2023, he joined Major League Soccer club Charlotte FC as an assistant coach.

Kah was named head coach for USL Championship club Phoenix Rising FC on 18 November 2024.

Personal life In 2005, Kah 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 an undershirt which bore the inscription "For Kah". The referee showed Koné a yellow card, a decision the commentators criticised. Kuipers said afterwards that he had not seen the text on Koné's shirt.

Kah speaks seven languages, including English, Norwegian, and some Spanish.

Kah possesses a US green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Kah is the nephew of Djimon Hounsou.

Kah has trained with Manchester United, including in 2002 under manager Sir Alex Ferguson, though injuries prevented a permanent signing with the club. National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals

Scores and results list Austria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kah goal.

Managerial statistics

+Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecord Pacific FC 14 January 2020 21 January 2022 North Texas SC 21 January 2022 30 September 2022Career totals

Honours Manager Pacific FC Canadian Premier League: 2021