Abdoulaye Demba (also Abdoulai Demba; born 2 November 1976) is a retired Malian

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

On 1 July 2002, Demba signed for English club

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

on a one-year contract with the option for a second, after being top scorer for K.V. Oostende in the Belgian third division (9 goals in 15 games). He had briefly been on trial at Yeovil in the previous season. He made his debut for the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

club on 17 August 2002 in a 2–2 draw with Gravesend & Northfleet at

Huish Park Huish Park is a football stadium located in Yeovil, Somerset, England. The stadium has been home to Yeovil Town F.C. since its completion in 1990, following their relocation from Huish. Huish Park has a capacity of 9,565 (of which two stands ...

. He came on as a 16th-minute substitute for

Adam Stansfield Adam Stansfield (10 September 1978 – 10 August 2010) was an English professional footballer who played as a striker. He competed professionally for Yeovil Town, Hereford United and Exeter City, and won promotion from the Football Conf ...

, who had suffered a serious injury. With Stansfield ruled out long-term, Demba made his first start three days later in a 1–2 defeat at

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, playing 70 minutes before being replaced by

Chris Giles Chris Giles (born 16 April 1982 in Wales) is a former Welsh footballer, who was most recently acting first team coach at Yeovil Town. He played predominantly as a defender, but could also play as a striker. Playing career Yeovil Town Giles ...

. On 14 September, he scored his first goal for the club to rescue a 2–2 draw away at

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

, having been brought on at half time in place of Anthony Tonkin by manager

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

and heading in a cross by Lee Johnson. A week later in a 3–0 home win over

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

, he was brought down for a penalty by opposing goalkeeper Lee Butler, resulting in a red card, but was himself sent off for foul and abusive language, and his teammate

Terry Skiverton Terence John Skiverton (born 26 June 1975) is an English former footballer who enjoyed a long playing career at Yeovil Town for 11 years, appearing 382 times in all competitions, before becoming their manager and subsequently, assistant manager ...

also dismissed. He scored five further goals in the season, all in the next three games: one in a 4–0 win over

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

three days later, a first-half hat-trick in a 6–0 win against

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 ...

on 5 October, and the opener in a 1–2 draw at

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

three days after that. Yeovil won the Conference, earning promotion to

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 ...

for the first time.

International career

Demba represented

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

at the

2004 Africa Cup of Nations The 2004 African Cup of Nations, known as the NOKIA African Cup of Nations, Tunisia 2004 for sponsorship reasons (also referred to as AFCON 2004 or CAN 2004) is the 24th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's footb ...

in Tunisia. His first appearance came in their second group game on 30 January, a 3–1 win over

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

, replacing Soumaila Coulibaly in added time. Three days later he started in place of Coulibaly, in a 1–1 draw with

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

. Mali eventually came fourth.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Demba, Abdoulaye 1976 births Living people Malian footballers Malian expatriate footballers Mali international footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players K. Beerschot V.A.C. players K.V. Oostende players Yeovil Town F.C. players S.C. Eendracht Aalst players Ethnikos Asteras F.C. players Belgian First Division B players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Morocco National League (English football) players Belgian people of Malian descent Belgian sportspeople of African descent European sportspeople of Malian descent Belgian footballers Footballers from Antwerp Ittihad Tanger players Association football forwards