Yann Songo'o (born 19 November 1991) is a 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 ...

who plays as a defender for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. Born in France, he has represented Cameroon at youth level.

Club career

Early years

Songo'o began his career in Spain, playing in Deportivo's youth categories. He then had a short period in the French club

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 ...

, and in 2009 he was moved to Spain, playing for

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

's youth ranks. After one season with Zaragoza B, he was moved to freshly-promoted

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holdi ...

. On 31 January 2012, Songo'o rescinded his contract with Sabadell, and in the same day he signed a contract with CF Pobla de Mafumet.

United States

On 13 December 2012, Songo'o signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

. He was loaned to third-division Orlando City for the 2013 season. Songo'o scored one goal in twelve appearances with Orlando City before mutually agreeing to terminate his contract with Sporting Kansas City in June 2013, effectively ending his loan as well.

Blackburn Rovers

In July 2013, Songo'o featured in a pre-season friendly for the English Championship side

Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. ...

, as part of a trial period with the club, he featured in two pre-season friendlies. On 5 August 2013, Songo'o signed a two-year deal with the club on a free transfer. He made his senior debut for the club on 7 August 2013 in a

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

match against Carlisle United. Songo'o started the match and played the full 90 minutes of the 3–4 defeat in extra time.

Ross County (loan)

On 18 January 2014, Songo'o signed for Ross County of the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

on loan until the end of the 2013–14 season on 30 June 2014. He was then placed directly into the starting line-up for Ross County's match against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. Songo'o made his debut for the club in the starting XI for that match the same day that the signing was confirmed. During Ross County's next match only seven days later, Songo'o scored his first goal for the club during a 1–2 defeat to Hearts on 25 January 2014.

Plymouth Argyle

Songo'o joined

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Plymouth Argyle on 19 June 2016, reuniting with

Derek Adams Derek Watt Adams (born 25 June 1975) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is currently manager of Morecambe. Adams played professionally for six clubs, including Aberdeen and Motherwell, where he made over 300 league appearances ...

who was his manager at Ross County. He scored his first goal for the club on 15 October 2016 in a 2–2 draw at home to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. His second goal for the club came in a 3–3 draw with

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

at home on 26 December 2016. Argyle won promotion to the

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

that

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. He signed a new contract with Argyle at the end of the 2017–18 season. He was offered a new contract by Plymouth Argyle at the end of the 2018–19 season but instead decided to join newly-relegated

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Scunthorpe United on a one-year deal.

Morecambe

On 23 September 2020, Songo'o joined EFL League Two side

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

. On 18 March 2021, he was handed a six-game ban and ordered to complete face-to-face education after admitting a charge of directing a homophobic insult at an opposing player.

Bradford City

He moved to

at the start of the 2021–22 season.

Personal life

The Songo'o family has raised many footballers. Yann is the son of former Cameroonian national team goalkeeper

Jacques Songo'o Jacques Celestin Songo'o (born 17 March 1964) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is the current goalkeeper coach of the Cameroon national team. He spent the vast majority of his professional career ...

, who featured for Spanish side

Deportivo La Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is a aerial lift line in Ecatepec de Mo ...

in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His brother is a professional footballer

Franck Songo'o Franck Steve Songo'o (born 14 May 1987) is a retired professional Cameroonian footballer who played as either a forward or midfielder. His senior career had been spent primarily in the English and Spanish football league systems, and has also b ...

Career statistics

Honours

Morecambe *

EFL League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engl ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

External links

Sabadell official profile

Futbolme profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Songo'o, Yann 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Yaoundé French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent Citizens of Cameroon through descent Cameroonian footballers French footballers Association football defenders Real Zaragoza B players CE Sabadell FC footballers CF Pobla de Mafumet footballers Sporting Kansas City players Orlando City SC (2010–2014) players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Cameroonian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Segunda División players USL Championship players Scottish Professional Football League players France youth international footballers Cameroon under-20 international footballers Sportspeople from Toulon Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Bradford City A.F.C. players Footballers from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur