Souleymane Oularé (born 16 October 1972) is a Guinean retired professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er 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) ** Smal ...

. His son Obbi is also a professional footballer.

Career

Oularé was elected Footballer of the Year in Belgium in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, when he won the Belgian Championship as a striker with

Racing Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk or Racing Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four championship title ...

, scoring 17 goals during the season. He then went on to play for Fenerbahçe (Turkey),

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

(Spain),

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

(England), K. Beringen-Heusden-Zolder and C.S. Visé (both Belgium). Oularé signed for

in England in 2002. After his only league game for Stoke against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

in 2002 Oulare was diagnosed with a life-threatening

blood clot A thrombus ( thrombi) is a solid or semisolid aggregate from constituents of the blood (platelets, fibrin, red blood cells, white blood cells) within the circulatory system during life. A blood clot is the final product of the blood coagulatio ...

in his lungs. He returned for the 2nd leg of the play-offs against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

and made a vital contribution. He came on after 71 minutes replacing Chris Iwelumo with Stoke 2–1 down, James O'Connor scored in the 88th minute to send the tie into extra time and then in the 115th minute an O'Connor free-kick was deflected in off Oularé's backside. This went down in folklore among Stoke City fans as they won the tie 3–2 and went on to win promotion. He never got a chance the following season and was released in 2003.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Genk *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 1998–99 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

: 1997–98

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oularé, Souleymane 1972 births Living people Footballers from Conakry Guinean men's footballers Belgian people of Guinean descent Men's association football forwards Guinea men's international footballers Guinea men's youth international footballers 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1998 African Cup of Nations players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Süper Lig players La Liga players English Football League players K. Sint-Niklase S.K.E. players K.S.K. Beveren players SV Zulte Waregem players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers KRC Genk players Stoke City F.C. players UD Las Palmas players C.S. Visé players Guinean expatriate men's footballers Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Guinean expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England