Samassi Abou (born 4 April 1973) is a former Ivorian 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

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) ** Sm ...

. He played internationally for the French under-21 team.

Life and career

Abou started playing in France for

FC Martigues Football Club de Martigues, known as FC Martigues or just Martigues, is a French professional football club which plays in the Championnat National, the third level of football in France. The club plays at the Stade Francis Turcan, which has a ...

, before moving to

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. In October 1997, after a spell at

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 3, ...

, he made the move to English football, signing for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

for £250,000. Signed by manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...

to give more options for

strikers Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, Abou made his West Ham debut on 9 November 1997, in a 2–1 away defeat to

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 ...

coming on as a substitute for

John Moncur John Frederick Moncur (born 22 September 1966) is an English football chairman and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a midfielder notably playing top flight football for Tottenham Hotspur, Swindon Town and West Ham United, with ...

. His opening West Ham goal came on 6 January 1998, in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. In a fifth-round game at the

Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...

, Abou came on as a substitute for

Paul Kitson Paul Kitson (born 9 January 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United, as well as in the Football League with Leicester Cit ...

to score their only goal in a 2–1 defeat. In the following game, on 10 January 1998, Abou scored twice as West Ham beat

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

6–0. Abou received his only

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

in the next game, a 1–0 away defeat to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. Fouling

Ramon Vega Ramon Vega (born 14 June 1971) is a Swiss retired footballer, who played as a central defender. During his 13-year professional career he played for Grasshoppers, Cagliari, Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic, Watford and Créteil. Vega also played 23 ti ...

in an off-the-ball incident, Abou was dismissed by referee

David Elleray David Roland Elleray, (born 3 September 1954), is an English former football referee who officiated in the Football League, Premier League and for FIFA. As of September 2021 he held the position of Technical Director at the IFAB. During his ca ...

. Abou finished the 1997–98 season with 6 goals from 26 games, including two on the last day of the season in a 4–3 home defeat of

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. West Ham fans would boo Abou whenever he scored, making an "Abooooooooo" noise. In 31 appearances in all competitions, he scored six times, before being released to

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 ...

in December 1998, where he scored once against Sheffield United. In October 1999, he signed for

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 ...

, an unsuccessful spell which lasted little over a month. He also spent time on loan at

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

, and played in Scotland for three months at

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. ...

. Abou continued his career back in France, playing for

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

and

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

Honours

West Ham United *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

References

External links

* * * *
Saddlers A-Z
at the Walsall F.C. Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Abou, Samassi 1973 births Living people Ivorian emigrants to France Ivorian footballers France under-21 international footballers French footballers French expatriate footballers Ivorian expatriate footballers Ligue 1 players category:Expatriate footballers in France FC Martigues players Olympique Lyonnais players AS Cannes players West Ham United F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Premier League players Walsall F.C. players ES Troyes AC players Kilmarnock F.C. players AC Ajaccio players FC Lorient players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland People from Gagnoa Association football forwards