Sofiene Zaaboub (born 23 January 1983 in

Montereau-Fault-Yonne Montereau-Fault-Yonne (), or simply Montereau, is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Geography Montereau-Fault-Yonne is situated at the confluence of the rivers Yonne and Seine, 70&nb ...

) is a French-Algerian

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 ...

player who currently plays for

USM Annaba Union Sportive Médinat d'Annaba ( ar, الإتحاد الرياضي لمدينة عنابة), known as USM Annaba or simply USMAN for short, is an Algerian football club based in Annaba. It was founded in 1983 and its colours are red and white. ...

in the

Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 ( ar, الرابطة الجزائرية المحترفة الأولى لكرة القدم); known as Championnat National de Première Division or Ligue 1 for short, and formerly known as the Championnat Natio ...

. He has become renowned for wearing gloves regardless of the weather conditions.

Club career

Swindon Town

Zaaboub was

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former association football, football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances betwe ...

's first signing as Town manager and signed on a short-term deal in November 2006 after leaving

FC Brussels Racing White Daring Molenbeek Brussels F.C., often simply referred to as RWDM Brussels, F.C. Brussels or simply Brussels was a Belgian association football club based in the municipality of Molenbeek in the Brussels Capital-Region. They last pl ...

, just a few days after Sturrock had arrived at the club. Prior to joining Swindon he had many trials at higher-level clubs – including Úbeda CF,

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

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, ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and

FC Metz Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...

, but his longest trial was at Sturrock's former club

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 ...

. He scored his first and what turned out to be only Swindon goal in a 2–1 win over Wrexham on 13 January 2007.

End of reign at the County Ground

Due to the reinforcement made to the

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 ...

side with the likes of

Anthony McNamee Anthony McNamee (born 13 July 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-sided midfielder, and current football manager. Career Watford Born in Kensington, England, McNamee began his career at Watford. He quickly p ...

running an un-touchable string of games on the left for the Robins, Zaaboub was deemed surplus to the requirements of the club. Unable to break into the first team, the 2006/07 fans' favourite was told in March 2008 his contract would not be renewed and at the end of the season would be forced to find a new club.

Walsall

Zaaboub completed a move to Walsall in July 2008 and became

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

's fourth signing of the summer. He suffered injuries to his back and groin in the pre-season and was unable to break into the first team on his return. However, he resolved to keep up his fitness and try his best in training to gain a first team place, he did gain his place back with a number of superb displays down the left wing, he quickly became a favourite with the fans

ES Sétif

On 6 January 2011, Zaaboub signed an 18-month contract with Algerian club

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaaboub, Sofiene 1983 births Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Algerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Algerian footballers Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players AS Saint-Étienne players Association football midfielders Belgian Pro League players English Football League players ES Sétif players French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French footballers French sportspeople of Algerian descent Living people Modena F.C. players Real Jaén footballers R.W.D.M. Brussels F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Walsall F.C. players