Sol Bamba left everyone fighting back the tears as he paid tribute to his team-mates at Middlesbrough's end-of-season awards over the weekend.
Bamba was picking up the night's award for 'Moment of the Season' on behalf of the team, which honoured Boro's shock FA Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur. Cardiff City legend Bamba was visibly emotional as he thanked his team-mates, as well as fans on Teesside, for making him feel so welcome at the club.
Accepting the award, the 37-year-old was reminded of how much he's loved by his colleagues at the club. He replied: "I love them too.
"To be fair. I've said it before. Since I walked into this club... I'm emotional now.
"Honestly, every single one of them. Fans, team-mates...". It's at that point Bamba appears on the verge of tears, but he just about manages to get out a few words of thanks.
"Honestly, since I came here, everyone's been very, very good to me and my family," he said. "I just want to say thank you on behalf of me and my family."
You can view the video below.
As he did at Cardiff, Bamba has established himself as a firm fans' favourite on Teesside, having made 24 appearances for the club so far this season, having signed shortly after receiving the all-clear from cancer. Bamba himself recently spoke to Athletic about his cancer journey, and the moment he was given his diagnosis.
Casting his mind back to the call from the club doctor, Bamba recalled: “I said to him, ‘Why are you quiet, is that because it’s cancer?’. And he started crying,” recalls the centre-back. “Even to give me the news was too much for him and he couldn’t say it. That’s telling you how much in football, you never think about cancer at all.
“I do think we need to look further to make sure things like this never happen again or we pick it up before. I’ve got a very good relationship with the doc and even he couldn’t tell me it was cancer. We need to break all those barriers and all that taboo. We don’t want to talk about it. And we have to. We have to make sure that it never happens again.”
The Ivorian's next move remains unclear. Bamba is out of contract this summer, and it remains to be seen whether Boro will keep him on board. Certainly, it seems that tying him down would be a popular move with many.
