While the Premier League is awash with a foreign legion of international players, the National League is not usually associated with players from foreign shores.
However, some foreign forwards have been shined in the English fifth tier. Here are the National League’s most prolific non-British players:
Nicke Kabamba (64 goals scored in 180 appearances for five clubs)
Although born in Brent, London, the striker was previously called up to the DR Congo squad. His decent form in front of goal earned him the international call-up.
Kabamba’s has a record of 64 goals in 180 National League appearances for Aldershot Town, Havant and Waterlooville, Hartlepool United, Woking and Barnet in the fifth tier.
His most prolific spells have come at Barnet. He scored 19 goals in the 2022/23. However, in the 2023/24 season, he has scored 23 goals in 37 appearances for the Bees at the time of writing.
Angelo Balanta (61 goals scored in 254 appearances for three clubs)
The Cali-born forward came through the QPR youth ranks before dropping into non-League football. Balanta has thrived in the fifth tier of the English game with Bristol Rovers, Boreham Wood and Dagenham and Redbridge.
Balanta’s most prolific season in the National League came in 2020/21 when he scored 11 goals in 34 appearances for Dagenham and Redbridge.
The Colombian helped Bristol Rovers win promotion to the EFL in 2015 via the play-offs.
Magno Vieira (58 goals in 147 appearances for five clubs)
The Brazilian forward first arrived on English shores at Wigan Athletic in 2003. However, he never appeared for the Latics and only established himself in English football’s fifth tier.
He played for Carlisle United, Ebbsfleet United, Fleetwood Town, Forest Green and Nuneaton Borough. His goals helped Carlisle to win promotion to the EFL via the play-offs in 2005, as he scored ten goals during a loan spell with the Cumbrian outfit.
In 2012, his nine goals helped Fleetwood Town win promotion to the EFL. However, the most prolific campaign of his career had come the season before when he had scored 22 goals for the club from the north west of England.
Andre Gray (52 goals in 97 appearances for Luton Town)
The well-travelled Wolverhampton-born forward enjoyed the most prolific spell of his career during two seasons with Luton Town in the fifth tier.
His 30 goals in 44 appearances in season 2013/14 earned him a big move to then-championship outfit Brentford after helping the Hatters to promotion back to the EFL.
The forward also played in the Premier League with Burnley and Watford for four seasons.
Gray accepted an international call-up from Jamaica in 2021 and has since played 13 times for the Reggae Boyz, scoring three goals.
Joe Quigley (52 goals in 249 appearances for ten clubs)
Quigley is another English-born player who decided to represent another international country. However, the forward only reached the Republic of Ireland under-21s at the international level, having never quite made it into the senior team.
The forward came through the Bournemouth system before making a name for himself in the fifth tier, representing ten clubs in the National League.
Quigley has never really been a prolific striker. He is currently enjoying the joint-most prolific campaign in his career, as he has scored ten times for Chesterfield in season 2023/24 in 31 National League games.
His previous personal best for goals in the fifth tier came in season 2020/21 when he also scored ten goals.
Ruben Rodrigues (48 goals in 120 appearances for Notts County)
The Portuguese forward, who also played in the Netherlands at youth level, played for Notts County in the National League for three seasons, helping the Magpies to promotion to the EFL via the play-offs in 2023.
Rodrigues’s goal tallies of 11, 19 and 16 in his three seasons in the National League were highly respectable. His 11 goals in season 2020/21 won him the Notts County Player of the Year award.
Before he could play for County in the English fourth tier, the former Den Bosch striker joined League One Oxford United as a free agent in the summer of 2023.
Padraig Amond (47 goals in 116 appearances for three clubs)
The Irish striker began his career in his homeland with Shamrock Rovers. Amond has enjoyed something of a nomadic career. His long list of clubs includes National League outfits Grimsby Town, Hartlepool United and Woking.
Amond’s most significant contribution to a National League campaign came in season 2015/16 with Grimsby Town. He scored 30 goals in 40 appearances to help the Mariners win promotion via the play-offs.
His performances and goals were enough to earn Amond the National League Player of the Year award in the same campaign.
At international level, Amond made just four appearances for the Republic of Ireland under-21s.
Rhys Murphy (47 goals in 121 appearances for five clubs)
Murphy came through the youth ranks at Premier League Arsenal. However, he didn’t quite make it in north London and spent most of his career in the lower league of English football.
Murphy first played in the National League in 2016 when joined Forest Green Rovers. He has since played fifth-tier football with York City, Torquay United, Yeovil Town and Southend United.
The former Republic of Ireland under-21 has never been prolific at many points in his career. His most prolific spell in the National League came at Yeovil Town, where he scored a career-high 17 goals in the 2019/20 season.
Macauley Bonne (46 goals in 105 appearances for three clubs)
Although born in Ipswich, in East Anglia, Bonne has represented Zimbabwe on five occasions at international level, scoring twice.
Bonne started his career with his hometown club, Ipswich, at youth level before moving to Norwich and Colchester United. The forward made his professional debut with the latter.
His first two spells in the National League were on loan at Lincoln City and Woking, where he played a combined total of 14 goals and scored just once.
However, Bonne made a far more significant impact in the fifth tier when he moved permanently to Leyton Orient. He was prolific with the O’s, scoring 22 and 23 goals respectably in his two seasons at the club.
His goals in his second season with Orient helped the club from the English capital win promotion back to the EFL.
Bonne left Orient in 2019 for London rivals Charlton Athletic and has since played in the Championship, League One and League Two.