Sofiene Zaaboub (born 23 January 1983 in
Montereau-Fault-Yonne) 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 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's first signing as Town manager and signed on a short-term deal in November 2006 after leaving
FC Brussels, 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
Úbeda Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Úbeda, Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1923 and dissolved in 2006, they played in the Tercera División for 33 seasons, and held home matches at ''Campo de ...
,
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,
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, but his longest trial was at Sturrock's former club
Sheffield Wednesday. 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 side with the likes of
Anthony McNamee 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'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.
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