Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye (born 26 February 1978), known as Abdoulaye Faye, is a Senegalese former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a defender. Faye began his career playing for ASEC Ndiambour and

Jeanne d'Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

in his native Senegal before moving to French side

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

in 2002. After spending time out on loan at

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location ...

he attracted the attentions of

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

who signed him for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in July 2005. After two seasons at Bolton he followed Allardyce to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

where he spent one season before joining Stoke City in August 2008 for £2.25 million. Faye became a popular player at the

Britannia Stadium The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as ''bet365 Stadium'') is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was ...

in 2008–2009 as he won the

player of the year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

and was named captain by

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him on ...

for the 2009–2010 season. He lost the capacity to

Ryan Shawcross Ryan James Shawcross (born 4 October 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is currently an assistant coach with MLS Next Pro club Inter Miami II. Shawcross began his career with Manchester United ...

for 2010–2011 and then had a third spell working with Allardyce at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. Faye helped the Hammers gain promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in 2011–12 before joining

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

where he was again involved in a promotion winning season in 2012–13 before being released at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Career

Early career

Faye was born in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

and began his career at ASEC Ndiambour, before leaving the then top-three team to go to

. He then went on to join

in July 2002, integrating into a squad which at that time included fellow Senegalese

Papa Bouba Diop Papa Bouba Diop (28 January 197829 November 2020) was a Senegalese professional footballer. His preferred position was defensive midfield but he could also play as a centre back, where he previously played at Lens. Diop was considered a strong ...

Bolton Wanderers

Faye signed for English side

in July 2005 on loan. Faye made his debut for Bolton against Newcastle United where he enjoyed a memorable debut in a 2–0 home win in which, he aerially out-muscled

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...

. He came on as a substitute for the injured

Radhi Jaïdi Radhi Ben Abdelmajid Jaïdi ( ar, راضي بن عبد المجيد الجعايدي; born 30 August 1975) is a Tunisian former footballer who played as a centre back. He was previously head coach of the under-23 team at Southampton, head coach ...

and never looked back after a dominant display. Wanderers manager

praised the form of Faye early into his Bolton career. In December 2005 Faye signed a permanent contract with Bolton. Following this Faye expressed his delight at staying in England. In the 2006–07 season Faye operated almost exclusively as a central defender following the departures of

Bruno Ngotty Bruno Ngotty (born 10 June 1971) is a French former professional footballer. He played as a centre-back from 1988 until 2008, however he came out of retirement briefly in 2011. As well as his native country he has played in the top flight divi ...

and Jaïdi to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. Over the course of the season he developed a formidable partnership with Ivorian

Abdoulaye Méïté Abdoulaye Méïté (born 6 October 1980) is an Ivory Coast, Ivorian former professional Association football, footballer. He represented Ivory Coast national football team, Ivory Coast internationally and was awarded a total of 48 cap (football) ...

, ensuring that Bolton had a strong home defensive record before the new year. Soon after they fell away in the second half of the season only just qualifying for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

with sides finding a way through Faye and Meite's dominance. Faye managed to score two goals against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in successive seasons helping Bolton to 2–0 and 3–1 victories due to his definite aerial prowess which the Arsenal defenders had no answer to. He was known for his dominant displays at central defence throughout the season and became a favourite amongst Bolton fans.

Newcastle United

On 15 August 2007, there were stories in several newspapers stating that Faye would be moving to Newcastle United for around £2m to join up with former Manager

. On 31 August 2007, Faye signed a three-year contract at Newcastle United. Faye was presented to the Newcastle fans at half-time during the home game against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on 1 September. On 24 February 2008, Faye scored his only goal for Newcastle United during the 5–1 defeat at home to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Stoke City

On 15 August 2008, Faye joined newly promoted

side Stoke City from

for £2.25 million on a three-year contract. He made his debut for Stoke in a 3–2 win over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in August 2008. He scored his first goal for the club against his old club Newcastle, which came in the 90th minute of the match to earn Stoke a point in a 2–2 draw. He scored against Newcastle again later in the season in another draw between the two sides. Faye's impressive first season did not go unnoticed with fellow Stoke players and fans as he won both Players and Fans Player of the Season Award for Stoke City. He was also voted player of the year by all of the club's supporters groups. Following his first season at Stoke he was awarded the captain's armband on a permanent basis for the 2009–10 season. Faye had another good season for City but was also hampered by injuries and had to leave the field before 30 minutes on a number of occasions. Manager

gave the captaincy to

for the 2010–11 season. He struggled to make much of an impact during the season and was released at the end of it after he was not offered a new contract. Stoke manager

and '' The Sentinel'' paid tribute to Faye following his released in May 2011.

West Ham United

In June 2011, following his release from Stoke City, Faye signed for Championship side

on a free transfer linking up with manager

for a third time and he said: "I am very happy to be here at West Ham – this is a great club, a big club and I cannot wait to get started here," Faye told the club website. Faye made his debut for West Ham on 16 August 2011 in a 4–0 away win against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. At the end of the season Faye left West Ham after helping them to gain an instant return to the

Hull City

Faye joined

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

side

on 20 July 2012 on a one-year deal. He made his debut for the club on 11 August 2012 in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match at the

KC Stadium The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...

against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

. On 1 September 2012, against former club Bolton at the

, Quinn delivered a high, hanging corner into the middle of Bolton's six-yard box where Faye out-jumped the away defence and goalkeeper

Ádám Bogdán Ádám Bogdán (; born 27 September 1987) is a Hungarian professional footballer, who plays as a goalkeeper for Hungarian club Ferencváros. Bogdán began his career in Hungary at Vasas before spending time on loan at Vecsés. In 2007, he mo ...

to head into the net for his first goal for the club. On 15 September 2012 against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

at the KC Stadium,

James Chester James Grant Chester (born 23 January 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and is a free agent. Chester began his career with Manchester United but made only one appearance for the club. He had spells on loan at Peter ...

and Faye stayed up following a corner and when the ball was worked to Chester on the edge of the Millwall box, he went past Scott Malone down the outside and crossed for Faye to head home past

Maik Taylor Maik Stefan Taylor (born 4 September 1971) is a former Northern Ireland international football goalkeeper and, since July 2022, goalkeeping coach at Birmingham City. At club level, Taylor played non-League football for Petersfield Town, Basingst ...

Two days later, Faye scored his third goal in as many games with a header against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

to make it 2–1 to Hull in a 3–2 win. He played 33 times for Hull in 2012–13 helping the Tigers gain promotion to the Premier League on the final day of the season. He signed a new one-year contract with Hull on 16 May 2013. Faye made limited appearances during the 2013–14 season, making only 3 Premier League appearances after falling behind

Curtis Davies Curtis Eugene Davies (born 15 March 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Derby County. Davies began his career at Luton Town, for whom he made his professional debut in 2003. Davies moved to Premie ...

, Alex Bruce and Paul McShane in the pecking order for the centre-back positions. Faye did make 3 appearances in the FA cup as Hull City reached the FA cup final for the first time in their history, however Faye was an unused substitute for the Wembley semi-final, and did not make the bench for the FA cup final. Thirty-six-year-old Faye was released by Hull City at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Later career

In December 2014 Faye joined

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional Association football, football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The ...

side

Sabah FA Sabah Football Club ( ms, Kelab Bolasepak Sabah) is a football club with ownership by Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The football club competes in Malaysia's football league representing the state of Sabah in Borneo. They currently compete in M ...

Career statistics

Club

Source:

International

Source:

Honours

Club

Stoke City *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

runner-up: 2010–11 West Ham United *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...

: 2011–12 Hull City *

runner-up: 2012–13

International

Senegal *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

four place:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Individual

* Stoke City Player of the Year: 2008–09

References

External links

*
Senegal's invasion of Stoke City
Article on ''BBC Sport''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faye, Abdoulaye 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Dakar Association football defenders Association football midfielders Association football utility players Senegalese footballers Serer sportspeople Senegal international footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Senegalese expatriate footballers Senegalese Muslims Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in England Abdoulaye Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England RC Lens players FC Istres players ASC Jeanne d'Arc players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Ligue 1 players Premier League players West Ham United F.C. players English Football League players ASEC Ndiambour players