Ibrahima Sonko (born 22 January 1981) is a Senegalese former 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 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 ...

. Sonko moved to France from Senegal at a young age and began his career with

Olympique Noisy-le-Sec Olympique Noisy-le-Sec Banlieue 93 is a French association football team founded in 1943. They are based in Noisy-le-Sec, France and are currently playing in Regional 1, Paris Île-de-France, the sixth tier in the French football league system, ...

and

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...

, before turning professional with

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

. In 2002 Sonko moved to English side

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

where he spent two seasons before moving to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in 2004. Sonko spent four seasons with the Royals and helped them 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 2005–06. Following their relegation, Sonko joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

for a fee of £2 million in August 2008. However, he failed to establish himself in the first team at Stoke and spent time out on loan at

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 ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

before being released. He spent the 2011–12 season with

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 ...

and then played for Turkish side

Akhisar Belediyespor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

from 2012 until 2015.

Club career

Brentford

Sonko was born in

Bignona Bignona is a town with commune status located in the Ziguinchor Region of Senegal (Casamance). It briefly appears in the movie ''Binta and the Great Idea.'' Its population on 2013 was 27,826. Notable people *Landing Savané, politician *Ibrahi ...

, Senegal but moved to France when he was young. He played with

and was in the youth team at

before he joined

in 1999. Sonko helped Grenoble gain promotion from the

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...

in 2000–01 and in 2002 he left to join English side

. He played 45 times for Brentford in 2002–03, scoring six goals at the Bees finished in 16th position. He played 46 times in 2003–04 as Brentford again finished in a mid-table position this time 17th. His performances for Brentford attracted interest from high placed sides.

Reading

Sonko joined

on a bosman in the summer of 2004. He made 42 appearances in 2004–05 as Reading finished in 7th place missing out on a play-off place by three points. In 2005–06 Sonko was ever-present as the Royals gained promotion to the

in emphatic fashion after winning the league with a record 106 points. During the season, he won the player of the month award for October and was also named in the PFA Team of the Year. Sonko's first season in the Premier League was eventful. He received a straight red card against

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 ...

for tripping

Luke Moore Luke Isaacc Moore (born 13 February 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Moore represented England at England U21 level and is the younger brother of former professional footballer Stefan Moore. Club ca ...

in the penalty area, meaning Reading lost 2–1. He was the subject of further controversy in a match against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on 14 October 2006, when his challenge left goalkeeper

Carlo Cudicini Carlo Cudicini (; born 6 September 1973) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the son of the former Milan goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini, and the grandson of Ponziana defender Guglielmo Cudicini. Cudicini is currently a c ...

unconscious. Cudicini was carried off the field wearing a neck brace. Sonko stated that he was scared after receiving death threats in connection with the Chelsea match. On 11 December 2006, Sonko signed an extension to his contract with Reading, keeping him at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the Rea ...

until the summer of 2010. However, on 20 January 2007, he injured knee ligaments when he fell awkwardly whilst playing for Reading in their 3–1 home win against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, and it was subsequently announced that he would miss the rest of the 2006–07 season. Sonko played a total of 23 times on 2006–07 as Reading ended the season in 8th position. He returned to first team action on 20 October 2007 in a 4–2 defeat away to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. Sonko went on to play 16 matches for Reading in 2007–08 as they were unable to retain the Premier League status, being relegated in 18th place. Sonko ended the season on a sour note after he and teammate Emerse Faé were suspended by the club after refusing manager Steve Coppell's request to play in a reserve match. Sonko later stated that he wanted to leave Reading after he had become an 'outcast' at the club. Despite this he did start the first three matches of the 2008–09 season where he scored twice against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. He also scored against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

but was also sent-off in the match.

Stoke City

On 29 August 2008, Sonko signed for Premier League

for a fee of £2 million, which could rise £2.25 million depending on appearances. He made his Stoke debut on 14 September 2008 in a 3–2 defeat against Everton. However, he was unable to hold on to his place in the team under

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 ...

and became mainly used as a substitute. On 20 December 2008 Stoke played away at

, Sonko conceded an early penalty after a horribly mistimed tackle on

Morten Gamst Pedersen Morten Gamst Pedersen (born 8 September 1981) is a Norwegian professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Åsane. Pedersen began his career with Tromsø, then played for English side Blackburn Rovers between 2004 and 2013. He the ...

which helped Blackburn ease to a 3–0 win, Pulis described it as 'abysmal defending'. Sonko only figured as a substitute for the remainder of the 2008–09 season as the Potters finished in 14th position. On 1 September 2009, Sonko joined

on loan for the 2009–10 season. Sonko made his debut for Hull on 12 September 2009, in a 4–1 loss away to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He made just nine appearances as Hull suffered relegation from the Premier League. He spent the 2010–11 season on loan at

. He played 27 times for Pompey scoring once. After an unsuccessful time at Stoke he was released at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Ipswich Town

Following his release from Stoke, Sonko went on trial with his former club Reading but was unable to earn a contract. On 26 August 2011, Sonko signed for Championship club

on a one-year deal. He scored his first goal for Ipswich in a 3–1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on 1 October 2011. Sonko struggled with fitness and injuries during his time 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 ...

and was openly criticised by manager

Paul Jewell Paul Jewell (born 28 September 1964) is an English football manager and former player, who was most recently director of football at Swindon Town. Jewell began his playing career with Liverpool, continued at Wigan Athletic and concluded in a t ...

after a 3–1 defeat 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 S ...

. He was released by Ipswich at the end of the 2011–12 season.

Akhisar Belediyespor

Sonko joined newly promoted Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side

Akhisar Belediyespor Akhisarspor Kulübü (Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

on 15 August 2012. He spent three seasons with Akhisar, making 63 appearances.

Harlow Town

It was announced on 6 August 2015, that Sonko had returned to England and signed for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Division One North club

Harlow Town Harlow Town Football Club is an English association football, football club based in Harlow, Essex. The club is a former member of the and plays at The Harlow Arena. The club is best known for its exploits in the 1979–80 FA Cup, in which it ...

. In September of the same year, Sonko revealed he turned down a one-year contract with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

to remain with Harlow Town and stay close to his family. Sonko retired at the end of the 2017–18 season.

International career

Sonko was born in

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

, but moved to France when he was six months and 14 days old. Despite this, Sonko initially elected to play for the Senegal national team. He represented Senegal at U23 level, but declined his call-up to their

African 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 ...

squad of 2006, opting instead to help Reading's ultimately successful bid for promotion to the Premier League. He then announced that he would play for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

if selected, but if called up to the Senegal squad before a French call-up, he would play for the African team. Sonko was named in Senegal's provisional 38-man squad for the

, which runs from 20 January to 10 February 2008. Senegal coach

Henryk Kasperczak Henryk Wojciech Kasperczak (born 10 July 1946) is a Polish Association football, football manager and a former player who most recently managed the Tunisia national football team. As a player, Kasperczak took part in two FIFA World Cups with Po ...

also included Sonko in his final 23-man squad making him the only uncapped player in the squad. He finally made his debut for Senegal on 12 January 2008 in their 3–1 win over

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

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 ...

; he played the entire game in the centre of defence.

Personal life

His cousin

Bacary Sagna Bacary Sagna (born 14 February 1983) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right back and is mostly known for his time at Arsenal. He also played for the France national football team. Sagna's former manager at Arsenal, ...

is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Club

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Football League 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 Leag ...

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 ...

play-offs and

Isthmian League Cup The Alan Turvey Trophy, formerly the Isthmian League Cup is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England. History Isthmian League Chairman and President Alan Turvey was among the FA's "150 Grassroots Heroes" ...

International

Source:

International goals

''Senegal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Sonko goal.''

Honours

Grenoble *

: 2000–01 Reading *

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 ...

: 2005–06 Harlow Town *

First Division North 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 ...

Individual * Football League Championship Player of the Month: October 2005 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2005–06 Championship

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonko, Ibrahima Living people 1981 births Senegalese Muslims Senegalese footballers People from Bignona French sportspeople of Senegalese descent Senegal international footballers 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Association football central defenders Grenoble Foot 38 players Brentford F.C. players Reading F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Akhisarspor footballers Harlow Town F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Isthmian League players Ligue 2 players Süper Lig players Senegalese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Senegalese emigrants to France Expatriate footballers in Turkey Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey French expatriate footballers