In this series at Everything Orient, we take a look back at ex-Orient players and see were their careers have taken them since their departure from Brisbane Road.
Tamika Mkandawire has a total of 480 appearances and still counting, scoring 40 goals. He has played most of his career in England but for last 4 years has been plying his trade in USA, playing 85 times and scoring 5 times. He was born in Malawi on 28 May 1983.
He moved to England when he was three and started his career at West Brom in 1999 as a trainee, he spent five seasons with them but was unfortunately not able to break into the first team. In his last season at the club he went on loan to Hereford United and had two spells there playing 14 times and scoring once. In the summer of 2004 West Brom were promoted to the Premier League and he was released.
That summer he signed for Hereford United, the same summer he had a trial for New England Revolution in the USA. In his first full season at Hereford he played the most of any centre backs and scored six goals. The following season his form continued only missing four games all season, scoring nine goals. Also in the absence of club captain, he would take the captain’s armband. That season he led them to the Conference playoffs, scoring in the semi-final and then helping them beat Halifax in the final. He was named player of year for the second successive season.
For 2006/2007 season he was instilled as the permanent team captain in their first year back in the football league. In December 2006, the club started discussions with extending his contract, as bigger teams had started to scout him. They offered him a contract that would see him the highest paid player at the club. However, he turned it down as he felt his career needed to move on.
In the summer of 2007 he signed for Leyton Orient for a three year deal. At the time, this is what I thought we needed, with John Mackie just been released we needed a strong, physical leader at the back. At the time, Mkandawire was dubbed to be one of the best young centre backs in the lower leagues and we had got him for free. I thought he was one of our best signings of the summer and would help steer clear of the dreaded relegation battle.
I was a little upset when he left us in the summer of 2010 on a free transfer. But to be fair he moved to Millwall who had just got promoted to the Championship on a two year contract. That season he switched to play a defensive midfielder role and was voted their player of season with 40% of the vote. He continued to play in this position the following season and signed a new one year contract.
Unfortunately he fell out of favour and spent most of 2012/13 season on loan to Southend United and played 20 times and scored one goal. At the end of the season he was released. In the summer of 2013 he signed for Shrewsbury Town, the boss was Graham Turner and Mkandwire said in an interview, ‘the pull of his former boss was enough to lure him away from London and hoped they could be as successful as they were at Hereford United.’
The season of 2013/14 was an unsuccessful season for Shrewsbury as the club was relegated to League 2, Mkandwire had been given the captain’s armband but was unfortunately not able to help them stay up. In the summer of 2014 the club had a new a manager and Mkandwire fell out of favour and had his contract mutually terminated.
In July 2014 he made the bold move to leave English football. He made a move with his family to go to the USA and sign for Tampa Bay Rowdies who play their football in the second tier of American soccer. Since signing for them he has been the captain for one season in 2016, helping them win the Coastal Cup. He recently signed a new contract in January 2018 and hopes to break the 100 appearances mark which has only been done a few times for the club.
I wish him well in his endeavours in the USA with Tampa Bay Rowdies, he is currently playing with likes of English international Joe Cole. He was a very good player for us at the back and helped us to three respectable mid table finishes.