Olivier Hakim Boumelaha (born 27 May 1981, in Mulhouse) is a French former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

striker of Algerian descent. He last played for

FC Gossau FC Gossau is a Swiss football club from the city of Gossau in the canton of St. Gallen. It currently plays in the Challenge League, the second-highest level of Swiss football. History After its foundation in 1906, FC Gossau spent the first 65 ...

in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

. He is the older brother of

Virgile Boumelaha Virgile Boumelaha (born 6 August 1983 in Mulhouse) is a French association footballer of Algerian descent; he plays for FC Grenchen. Career Boumelaha began his career with FC Saint-Louis, he moved then to FC Basel and later to FC Sochaux-Mo ...

and Sabri Boumelaha.

Career

Boumelaha began his career with

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

in 1998 but made only one appearance for the club before moving on to

FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the Swiss Super League. History Founde ...

in 2000. He failed to break into the first team there, also, and after a short spell at Etoile Carouge FC, he signed for

FC La Chaux-de-Fonds FC La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss football club based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. It was founded in 1894 and used to play at the Stade Charrière. History F.C. La Chaux-de-Fonds was founded on July 4, 1894, and won the Swiss first division in the ...

where he played 14 games over the course of the 2004/05 season. He then moved to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

with

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

in July 2004 where he scored seven goals in just 15 appearances. This caught the eye of many European clubs and

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklö ...

of the Finnish Veikkausliiga acquired his services the next season. He scored twice in five matches there, but never broke into the starting XI and dropped down to the

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also play ...

(Finland's second division) with Tampereen Peli-Pojat -70 in 2006. He scored goals despite a relatively low number of appearances at PP-70 but returned to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

during the Summer of 2007, this time with Al Ahli of

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. After just one season with ''The Eagles'', he made his way back to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

with

of the Challenge League, he left on 18 December 2008 Gossau and will go to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

References

External links

Stats at Swiss Football League
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boumelaha, Olivier 1981 births Living people French footballers Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Veikkausliiga players French people of Kabyle descent Association football forwards FC Gossau players FC Basel players FC St. Gallen players IFK Mariehamn players Expatriate footballers in Bahrain French expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain Footballers from Mulhouse French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate footballers in Finland Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates French expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates French expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Al-Ittihad Kalba SC players UAE Pro League players