Shoot! would like to wish Chris Kamara a very Merry Christmas and many happy returns as the Sky Sports legend celebrates his 60th birthday today!

The presenter and football analyst, renowned for his cheeky and comical antics on Soccer Saturday with Jeff Stelling, has become something of a national treasure with his famous phrase “Unbelievable Jeff!”, and will be forever remembered after THAT Anthony Vanden Borre gaffe, which you can watch below!

Following his football career, where he played professionally before trying his hand at management, ‘Kammy’ began working as a pundit for numerous television and radio stations after hanging up his boots, before earning a regular slot on ‘Soccer Extra’ in 1999.

As well as weekly presenting Sky Sports’ ‘Goals on Sunday’, the former midfielder also hosts ITV’s Ninja Warrior UK.

So as a Christmas gift from us and to celebrate his latest milestone, here is Shoot!‘s five facts you may not know about ‘Kammy’…

‘Chris Cabanga’

To reflect ‘Kammy’s’ amusing personality, the pundit comically changed his name by deed poll to ‘Chris Cabanga’ in support for England’s bid to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

‘Cabanga’ is Zulu for ‘imagine’. He pledged to keep the name for the duration of the finals if 20,000 people joined the Cabanga Facebook group.

Royal Navy to Premier League

Aged 16, Kamara joined the Royal Navy, with his father himself being a former naval mariner.

After impressing for the navy, Portsmouth signed him up on apprentice wages and kick started his professional career back in November 1974.

He went onto play for Swindon Town, Brentford, Stoke City, Leeds United, Luton Town, Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and Bradford City, playing over 650 games, including spells in the Premier League and achieved promotions with Swindon (2) and Leeds.

‘Kammy’s’ cameo appearance

Having not played professionally since 1995, ‘Kammy’ made his comeback at the age of 55, playing for Welshpool Town back in 2012.

The midfielder featured for the Mid Wales Football League side after presenter Jeff Stelling mocked the club on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday after losing 10-1 to local rivals Waterloo Rovers.

Manager David Jones emailed the show explaining how the club nearly folded, and Sky arranged for pundit Kamara to play for them in return.

Sadly, Welshpool lost 6-1 to Rhayader, though Kamara played the full 90 minutes in front of around 500 fans.

Street Soccer

In September 2000, Chris Kamara’s Street Soccer was released on Playstation. Remember that console?

The ex-midfielder provided commentary and motion capture for player animation within the game.

Gamers could choose from 25 teams to compete in five-a-side street soccer, including female players, in multiple venues such as London, Paris and Prague.

‘Kammy’ the Coach

Chris Kamara as Bradford boss.

Kamara was appointed Bradford City manager in November 1995, following Lennie Lawrence’s sacking, where he was already assistant manager.

His objective was to save the Bantams from relegation, but just three defeats in their final 13 games saw Bradford impressively secure a place in the Second Division play-offs, before they defeated Notts County 2-0 in the final to secure promotion to the First Division.

The following 1996-97 campaign, ‘Kammy’s’ side narrowly fought off relegation thanks to a final day victory over Queens Park Rangers.

However, he left Valley Parade in January 1998 after falling out with chairman Geoffrey Richmond. Kamara quickly then took over at one of his other former clubs, Stoke City, from January 22, 1998.

But just one win in his 14 games in charge saw the former midfielder sacked come early-April, with the Potters suffering relegation from Division One come the end of the season.