Tranmere Rovers
Striker Joins League One Rivals Crewe
By Matthew Jones
June 27 2008
Tranmere Rovers have today sold tall striker Calvin Zola to League One rivals Crewe Alexandra for a fee of £200,000. The striker switches Prenton Park for Gresty Road after a four year stay on Merseyside which saw his career hampered by injury and work permit problems.
Tranmere Rovers striker Calvin Zola has today completed a £200,000 switch to League One club Crewe Alexandra, ending a four year stint with the club.
To many clubs, £200,000 may not be a lot of money, but to Rovers, this is crucial cash that will hopefully go towards securing the signings of some more players.
There has been speculation surrounding the future of Zola for weeks, and although a deal between Rovers and Crewe was struck up some time ago, the transfer could only go through today after a hearing regarding Zola's work permit.
The 23-year old Tranmere on a free-transfer from Newcastle United in 2004 after spending the previous season out on loan with Oldham, where he was spotted by then Rovers manager Brian Little.
However, the striker's time at Rovers has been severely hampered, firstly by work-permit problems, forcing him to miss six months of the 2004-05 season and sparking a Petition here on Total Tranmere to help his cause which ended up with over 2,000 signatures. After that, a whole host of injuries have limited his appearances over the next three seasons.
Farewell to a Player who Total Tranmere Helped to Save with a Petition
In all, Zola made 107 appearances for the Super Whites, scoring 18 goals, a record in front of goal which most see as poor for a striker. Despite notable improvement over the last twelve months, this is the kind of offer Rovers couldn't afford to reject.
With Zola leaving the club, Ronnie Moore has already confirmed that he is already on the look out for a new striker to bring to Prenton Park.
Total Tranmere would like to thank Calvin for the time he spent at the club and wish a player who was always hard working and never lacking in effort all the best for the future.
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Good Luck to Calvin at Crewe (except against us!)
sad to see him go but it was for the best.
