Adlène Guedioura (; born 12 November 1985) is a former 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. At club level, Guedioura had spells at Sedan,

Noisy-le-Sec Noisy-le-Sec () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Population Heraldry Transport Noisy-le-Sec is served by Noisy-le-Sec station on Paris RER line E. Education Schools:< ...

L'Entente SSG The Entente Sannois Saint-Gratien is a French association football team based in the suburb of Saint-Gratien, Val-d'Oise, Saint-Gratien in Paris. The team was founded in 1989 and play in the Championnat National 3, the country's fifth tier of com ...

and

Créteil Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...

in France,

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

and

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

in Belgium,

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

in England, and

Al-Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club () is a Qatari multi-sports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Ar Rayyan, Al Rayyan municipality. The club is best known for its association football, football team, although it also has teams for other sports. The ...

in Qatar. Born in France, at international level he represented

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

– the birthplace of his father who also played for the team – and made 63 appearances. Guedioura is known for his powerful long-range shots. In the 2011–12 season, he won "Goal of the Season" for both Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He is thought to be the first footballer ever to win the award for two clubs in the same season.

Early life

Guedioura, born in

La Roche-sur-Yon La Roche-sur-Yon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Vendée Departments of France, department in the Pays de la Loire Regions of France, region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is '' ...

, France, to a Algerian mother, a former Algeria Women Basketball team player), and former Algerian international striker

Nacer Guedioura Nacer Guedioura (4 November 1954) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

Early career

He started playing amateur football with

Racing Paris Racing Club de France Football, commonly known as Racing Club de France (), is a French Association football, football club based in the Paris suburb of Colombes. The club was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline sports club, and is one of ...

in the fifth tier of French football, where his form for the club attracted attention from

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

club Sedan, who he joined in 2004. He made a total of 15 appearances for the club, scoring one goal. He then moved up to the third tier with

in 2006. He made a total of 21 appearances for the club, scoring 3 times. He signed for fellow French third-tier side

US Créteil-Lusitanos Union Sportive Créteil-Lusitanos (commonly referred to as US Créteil, USC, or simply Créteil) is a French football club based in Créteil, a southeastern suburb of Paris. The club was founded in 1936 and currently play in the National 2, the ...

in 2007, where he scored 6 times in 24 appearances.

Belgium

Guedioura moved to Belgium in the summer of 2008, joining

Belgian Pro League 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 ...

side

on a two-year deal. He made a total on 10 appearances for

. He spent just half a season with the club and moved to fellow Pro League side

in January 2009, and signed a year-and-a-half contract. He made a total of 25 appearances for the club as a captain, scoring one goal, before joining English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

on loan in January 2010 until the end of the season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Within 24 hours of his arrival at Wolves, he made his debut as a substitute in a goalless draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, soon becoming a regular starter as the club ensured their survival in the Premier League for the first time. He made his first Wolves start in the 1–0 win over

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

, on 10 February 2010. He scored his first goal for the club in the final game of the season to earn a victory over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, after which it was confirmed that he had signed a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £2m. Guedioura suffered a fractured

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

after a challenge by

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

Steve Sidwell Steven James Sidwell (born 14 December 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Sidwell was a product of the Arsenal academy, and after winning two FA Youth Cups, he had constructive loan spells at Brentfo ...

on 26 September 2010. On 30 March, Guedioura returned for Wolves after 6 months out injured against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Reserves, playing the full 90 minutes and winning the game 2–1, with Guedioura scoring a 25-yard strike. On 9 April, Guedioura made his first team appearance after 6 months out injured for Wolves, playing 75 minutes against

side Everton. On 8 May he scored his first goal of the 2010/2011 Premier League season during the 3–1 win in the

local derby A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and th ...

against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Nottingham Forest

On 30 January 2012, Guedioura joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

on loan until the end of the season. Guedioura made his debut for Nottingham Forest in their 0–2 loss against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

on 31 January 2012. Guedioura was praised by Forest manager

Steve Cotterill Stephen John Cotterill (born 20 July 1964) is an English coach and former player who is currently the manager of National League side Forest Green Rovers. Cotterill, a striker, had a nine-year career as a footballer playing for Burton Albio ...

for his 'heart and soul' while playing for Forest, and

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

described him as a "firm favourite with the Forest faithful" due to his "all-action displays". He scored his first and only goal for Forest in the 2011–12 season with a 35-yard strike in the 7–3 away win against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. The goal won Nottingham Forest's Goal of the Season award. On 23 July 2012, Guedioura joined Nottingham Forest permanently for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £1m. He signed a three-year contract. He asked his Twitter followers if he should wear the 22 shirt or number 7 for the club. He announced the following day that he would be wearing number 7, which was confirmed by the club soon after. Guedioura scored the winner for Nottingham Forest on the first day of the season, in a 1–0 win over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. On 10 November Guedioura scored an equalizer against

Leicester City F.C. Leicester City Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1884 as Leicester F ...

to make the score 1–1, the game finished 2–2. Two weeks later on 24 November he scored against his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers with a trade mark long range effort.

Crystal Palace

On 3 September 2013, Guedioura completed a late deadline day move to

side

for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year deal. He made his debut for the club on 14 September 2013, away to reigning league champions

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, coming on as a 56th-minute substitute for

José Campaña José Ángel Gómez Campaña (; born 31 May 1993) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club UD Las Palmas, Las Palmas. Developed at Sevilla FC, Sevilla, for whom he appeared in 24 competitive ...

Watford

On 26 November 2014, Guedioura moved on loan to

until 1 January 2015. Guedioura scored a brace for Watford in their game 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 ...

on 28 December 2014. Guedioura returned from his loan deal in January 2015 and was used immediately by new manager

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who most recently managed Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup ...

playing as a half-time substitute in a 2–1 win over Tottenham. Pardew went on to cite Guerdioura as a "maverick" and the calibre of player that Crystal Palace needed to avoid relegation. Guedioura rejoined Watford on an emergency loan deal on 27 February 2015. After two successful loan spells at Watford in the 2014–15 season, an agreement was reached between Crystal Palace and Watford for a permanent transfer on 1 September 2015. Guedioura signed a three-year deal with "The Hornets".

Middlesbrough

On 31 January 2017, it was announced that Guedioura had joined Premier League club

on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

Return to Nottingham Forest

On 31 January 2018, transfer deadline day, it was confirmed that Guedioura had returned to

, on a contract running until the conclusion of the 2020–21 season, reuniting with former Middlesbrough manager

Aitor Karanka Aitor Karanka de la Hoz (Basque and ; born 18 September 1973) is a Spanish football manager and former player. Save for a brief spell in the United States at age 32, Karanka played solely in Spain for Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, appearing ...

. He returned to the

City Ground The City Ground is a association football, football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,455. ...

on a free transfer, after having his contract with Middlesbrough terminated by mutual consent. He made his first appearance for the club since his previous departure, on 10 February, when they lost 2–0 to an out-of-form

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

side, with the Algerian being substituted off in the 77th minute of the league fixture.

Sheffield United

On 13 September 2021, Guedioura signed a one-year contract with

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

side

. On 1 February 2022, Guedioura had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Burton Albion

On 19 February 2022, the management of the

MC Oran (), known as , commonly referred to as MC Oran for short, is an Algerian professional Association football, football club based in Oran. Founded on 1 January 1917, the club was known as Mouloudia Chaâbia Ouahrania from 1971 to 1977, Mouloudia P ...

tried to recruit him but the transfer ended in failure. Six days later, Guedioura joined

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

side

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

on a short-term contract until the end of the 2021–22 season. On 11 April 2022, Guedioura left by mutual consent after struggling to cope with Algeria not making the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

CR Belouizdad

On 8 September 2023, he joined

CR Belouizdad Chabab Riadhi Belouizdad (); known as CR Belouizdad or simply CRB for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Algiers, Algeria, that plays in the Ligue Professionnelle 1, the top flight of Algerian football. The club has com ...

International career

Guedioura received his first international recognition when he was included in

's preliminary squad for the

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. He made his international debut on 28 May 2010 in a 0–3 defeat to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, before being confirmed in the final squad for the tournament in South Africa. He appeared as a substitute in all three of Algeria's group games during the competition – against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

– where the team finished bottom of their group. On 3 September 2010, Guedioura scored the equalizer in a 1–1 home draw with

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

in a

2012 African Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CA ...

qualifier, enabling the team to achieve their first point of the campaign as well as his first international goal. Ultimately Algeria failed to qualify for those finals, but Guedioura was selected for three squads which did qualify successfully, in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, finishing the latter as continental champions with Guedioura named in the 'team of the tournament'.

Personal life

Guedioura is the son of former Algerian international striker,

Nacer Guedioura Nacer Guedioura (4 November 1954) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

. His younger brother Nabil is also a footballer who played for the Crystal Palace U21 development team and at amateur level in France. Guedioura is

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. On 14 January 2024, his brother Arslane who played for Moulon Bourges died from a car accident, along with his teammate Axel Salhi, at the age of 26.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Watford *

runner-up: 2014–15

International

Algeria *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

Individual

* Nottingham Forest Goal of the Season: 2011–12 * Wolverhampton Wanderers Goal of the Season: 2011–12 * Watford Goal of the Season: 2015–16 (vs

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

on 13 March 2016) * Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

Official personal website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guedioura, Adlene 1985 births Living people French Muslims Sportspeople from La Roche-sur-Yon French sportspeople of Algerian descent French people of Spanish descent Sportspeople of Spanish descent Algerian people of Spanish descent Algerian men's footballers Algeria men's international footballers French men's footballers CS Sedan Ardennes players US Créteil-Lusitanos players Royal Charleroi S.C. players K.V. Kortrijk players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Algerian expatriate men's footballers Algerian Muslims Men's association football midfielders Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Qatar Stars League players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Watford F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Al-Gharafa SC players Sheffield United F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Al-Duhail SC players Al-Wakrah SC players CR Belouizdad players Expatriate men's footballers in England Olympique Noisy-le-Sec players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Algerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Algerian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar English Football League players Footballers from Vendée French expatriate sportspeople in Qatar French expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Algerian sportsmen