Aristote Nsiala (born 25 March 1992) is a Congolese professional

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 le ...

who last played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

. He has also represented

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

at international level. After graduating from the youth academy of Everton in 2009, Nsiala spent time on loan at

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

and

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

, before joining Accrington Stanley permanently in May 2012. He was released by Accrington in January 2013. He joined

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

in January 2014, before joining

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

in June 2014. After winning the 2016 National League play-off final he joined

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

, staying there for six months before a switch to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

. Following defeat in the 2018 EFL League One play-off final he signed for Ipswich.

Early life

Nsiala was born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

in 1992, but moved to Paris with his mother and four siblings when he was three years old. He and his family moved again in 2002, to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. He began his football career playing for youth side Kingsley United in

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Dingle, and Edge Hill. The area w ...

, and was recruited by Everton's youth academy in 2007.

Club career

Everton

Nsiala rose through the ranks of Everton's youth system, and featured for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

from 2009 onwards. He was an unused substitute for the Everton first-team in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

dead rubber Dead rubber is a term used in sporting parlance to describe a match in a series where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches. The dead rubber match therefore has no effect on the winner and loser of the series, other than the ...

against BATE Borisov on 17 December 2009. He was an unused sub in 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 ...

clash with

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 ...

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

on 31 March 2011, and said that " uringthe last few minutes when I was told to get stripped off, I actually nearly wet myself!" In May 2011, he signed a new one-year contract with Everton.

Macclesfield Town (loan)

On 8 October 2010, Nsiala joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

for a one-month-long youth loan, and made his debut the following day in a 2–1 away defeat to Lincoln City. His loan at Macclesfield was extended by a further two months by "Silkmen" boss Gary Simpson, and he made 13 appearances and scored one goal during his stay at

Moss Rose Moss Rose, known as The Leasing.com Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, which is the home ground of Macclesfield F.C., and the former home of Macclesfield Town F.C., Macclesfield Town, a clu ...

. He scored his first goal in senior football on 16 November when he scored the opening goal of a 2–2 draw with

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

in the

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 ...

Accrington Stanley

Nsiala was loaned out to

club

on 6 January 2012, signing an initial one-month loan deal, which was later extended until the end of the 2011–12 season. Released by Everton, he signed for

Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He was also called "Cookie" by his friends on the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was raised in Hammersmith and atte ...

's Accrington Stanley in May 2012 on a one-year deal. He made twenty appearances for Accrington in the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 10 January 2013 after he fell out of new manager

Leam Richardson Leam Nathan Richardson (born 19 November 1979) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Wigan Athletic. As a player, Richardson played for Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Notts Coun ...

's first team plans.

Free agent

He joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on trial in July 2013, but failed to earn a contract. He also had trials at

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

and

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

, but was not offered a contract with either club. While on holiday in Vietnam, he briefly played for Vietnamese clubs Ha Noi FC and TDCS Dong Thap in the V.League 2.

Southport

Nsiala signed for

in January 2014, in a move that reunited him with John Coleman, his former manager at Accrington. He scored his first goal for the Sandgrounders on 15 March, in a 4–1 win over former club

Haig Avenue Haig Avenue is a football stadium in Blowick, Southport, Merseyside, England, that holds 6,008 people (1,660 seated, 4,164 standing) Since its opening in 1905 it has been the home ground of Southport F.C. Everton Reserves also use the stadium fo ...

. He ended the 2013–14 season with 19 appearances to his name, helping Southport to finish two points above the relegation zone.

Grimsby Town

On 12 June 2014, Nsiala signed for Conference Premier side

on a one-year contract. He made his debut in the 0–0 stalemate to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

on the opening day of the season. He missed just six league games of the 2014–15 season as

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, ba ...

's Mariners came 3rd in the Conference, and secured a play-off spot. Following a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

injury to Josh Gowling, Nsiala reverted to his favored centre-back position in the 2015 Conference Premier play-off final against

at Wembley on 17 May 2015; following a 1–1 draw after extra time, Grimsby lost 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out. On 3 June 2015, Nsiala agreed a new one-year deal with the club. Nsiala's first goal for the club came on 11 August 2015 in the second game of the 2015–16 season, scoring the 4th goal in 4–1 thrashing of Barrow, a scramble in the box and Nsiala dived into a challenge to flick it home. Nsiala played in Grimsby's 3–1 victory over

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

in the 2016 National League play-off final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, seeing Grimsby promoted to

after a six-year absence from

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

Hartlepool United

Nsiala joined

in June 2016 on a two-year deal, having turned down a new contract at Grimsby Town. Nsiala scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

on 20 August 2016. A week later he was sent off for deliberate handball in a 2–2 draw with Newport County. Nsiala was sent off again on 31 August 2016 in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

tie against

, though this time it was expected to be a case of mistaken identity.

Shrewsbury Town

Six months into his contract at Hartlepool, Nsiala joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

for an undisclosed fee on 1 January 2017, signing a deal until summer 2019. The move reunited him with

who had previously managed him at Grimsby. He was sent off 53 minutes into his Shrewsbury debut, having been deemed to have fouled

Luke Norris Luke Michael Norris (born 3 June 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Stevenage. Having played in the youth academies at Luton Town, Hitchin Town and Brentford, Norris made his debut in the Brentford fir ...

in a 1–1 draw away at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

, although the red card was later rescinded on appeal. Nsiala scored his first goal for the club – a 90th minute match-winning header against

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

– on 18 February to earn his side a fourth successive home victory. In his first half-season he established a strong defensive partnership with the experienced left-sided centre-back

Mat Sadler Mathew John Sadler (born 26 February 1985) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a left-footed defender capable of playing either at full-back or as a centre-back. Sadler played in the Premier League and the Football Leag ...

to help steer Shrewsbury away from relegation danger.

Ipswich Town

After putting in transfer requests, Nsiala and Jon Nolan signed for

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on 8 August 2018 for a combined fee of £2 million, reuniting with their former Grimsby and Shrewsbury manager

, with both players signing three-year contracts with the option of an additional year's extension. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

on 25 August 2018, however he was later sent off in the same match. He made 24 appearances in all competitions during his first season at

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...

, scoring once. Nsiala suffered a hamstring injury during a friendly match against

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

in the pre-season of the 2019–20 season. He returned to first-team action on 8 October 2019, starting in a 4–0 home win over Gillingham at Portman Road in a group stage match of the

. On 10 May 2021, Ipswich announced that they had taken up the option to extend Nsiala's contract by an additional year, keeping him under contract until 2022.

Bolton Wanderers (loan)

On 10 January 2020, Nsiala joined

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 ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2019–20 season.

Fleetwood Town

On 14 January 2022, Nsiala joined

on a permanent deal. He signed a new two-year contract with the club at the end of the 2021–22 season. Nsiala left Fleetwood Town on 30 November 2023, by mutual consent.

International career

Eligible to play for DR Congo, England, Scotland and Wales, Nsiala was first called up by Wales to their under-19 training squad in July 2009. He made his international debut for

in a

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

against the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

on 15 June 2012, coming on as a substitute for Diego Kazadi Mutombo in a 3–0 victory.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Grimsby Town *

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

play-offs:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

runner-up: 2015–16 Shrewsbury Town *

runner-up: 2017–18

References

External links

Aristote Nsiala profile
at the Ipswich Town F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nsiala, Aristote 1992 births Living people Footballers from Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Vietnam Everton F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Southport F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Dong Thap FC players 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people