Mohamed Aly Coulibaly (born 7 August 1988) is a Senegalese 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 played as a winger or

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 ...

. Coulibaly has played in France, Switzerland, England and Spain for

Gueugnon Gueugnon () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Population Economy The primary industry in the town is a stainless-steel factory run by Aperam. A huge part of Gueugnon ...

, Saint-Louis Neuweg,

Dornach : ''Dornach is also a quarter of the French city of Mulhouse and the Scots name for Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands, and Dòrnach is the Gaelic name for Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands.'' Dornach (Swiss German: ''Dornech'') is a municipalit ...

and

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

Racing Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

, Logroñés and Vaduz. He scored two goals in the 2020

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

play-offs to help Vaduz win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

into the Swiss Super League. He returned to Dornach in 2021.

Career

Early career

Born in Bakel, Senegal, Coulibaly began his football career in France with

, who at that time played in the

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 ...

, signing his first professional

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

at 19 years old during the summer of 2007. However, having played only 45 minutes with their first team, he suffered an ankle injury. Following his recovery, he moved on to Saint-Louis Neuweg in the fifth tier of the

French football league system The French football league system, also known as the French football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in France and Monaco, and includes one Spanish side. At the top two levels of the system is the Ligue de Footb ...

. In 2011, Coulibaly joined the Swiss amateur side

in the third tier of the

Swiss football league system The Swiss football league system, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Switzerland, with seven teams from Liechtenstein, and one each from exclaves of Germany and Italy, also competing. The system has a hierarchi ...

before moving on to

of the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

later that year. He made five appearances in their 2012–13 season as Grasshoppers finished second in the league. He was also an unused substitute in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

final; as they beat

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

on penalties.

Bournemouth

Coulibaly signed with

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 ...

club

in July 2013. Later that month he spoke about his respect for

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Eddie Howe Edward John Frank Howe (born 29 November 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Premier League club Newcastle United. A centre-back during his playing career, Howe spent most of his playing ...

. Throughout the first half of the 2013–14 season Coulibaly suffered a number of injuries, though in January 2014 it was revealed he was close to returning after 14 weeks out. Coulibaly moved on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

to League One side

in July 2014. He played eight games for

Steven Pressley Steven John Pressley (born 11 October 1973) is a Scottish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre back. He is currently the head coach of club Dundee F.C., Dun ...

's "Sky Blues" before his loan was terminated due to "personal reasons" in November 2014. He moved on loan to

in March 2015. Following Bournemouth's

to the

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 ...

, Coulibaly was released at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Spain

In July 2015, Coulibaly signed a two-year deal with

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

, newly relegated to

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. He scored eight goals in 41 appearances in the 2015–16 campaign to help Santander to win the division, however, they failed to achieve promotion after losing to

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The area has long been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental significance during the time of the Phylloxera plague. Currently it is known f ...

in the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. He left the club after his contract was cancelled on 31 January 2017. Coulibaly joined Segunda División B club

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in , holding home matches at ''Estad ...

in April 2017 on a deal running until the end of the 2016–17 season. On 14 May, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 5–1 victory over

Gernika Guernica (, ), officially Gernika () in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo ...

at the

Estadio Las Gaunas Estadio Municipal Las Gaunas is a football stadium in Logroño, La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja, Spain. The stadium holds 16,000 spectators and was opened on 28 February 2002. It is the home ground of Segunda Federación club UD Logroñés, and the w ...

Vaduz

On 5 July 2017, Coulibaly signed with Liechtenstein-based

side

Vaduz Vaduz (; or ; High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' ...

. The club won the

Liechtenstein Football Cup The Liechtenstein Football Cup is Liechtenstein's premier football competition, and has been organised annually by the Liechtenstein Football Association (LFV) since 1946. The winner qualifies to take part in the UEFA Conference League. As the ...

in 2018 with a 3–0 victory over

FC Balzers FC Balzers is a Liechtensteiner football (soccer), football team based in Balzers. They currently compete in the 2. Liga Interregional, the fifth tier of Swiss football league system, Swiss football. Balzers play at Sportplatz Rheinau which is ...

and defeated

FC Ruggell FC Ruggell is a Liechtensteiner amateur association football, football team that plays in Ruggell. They currently play in the Swiss Football League, in 2. Liga (Switzerland), 2. Liga, which is the sixth tier of Swiss football league system, Swis ...

3–2 in the 2019 final to secure the trophy for the seventh successive time. He scored 13 goals in 39 games during the 2019–20 season as Vaduz finished second behind

Lausanne-Sport Football Club Lausanne-Sport is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport compete in the top-tier Swiss Super League after being promoted in the 2022–23 Swiss Challenge League Season. The ...

. They were placed in a play-off game against

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

and gained promotion into the Swiss Super League with a 5–4 aggregate victory, with Coulibaly claiming two goals in the away tie at the

Stockhorn Arena Stockhorn Arena (formerly known as Arena Thun) is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in Thun, Switzerland. It has a capacity of 10,000 spectators and opened in 2011. It is the home of FC Thun of the Swiss Super League. History From 1954 ...

. Vaduz were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

after finishing bottom of the Swiss Super League in the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

campaign; Coulibaly scored two goals in 17 games, both goals coming against Sion.

Later career

After leaving Vaduz, Coulibaly returned to Dornach, now in the fifth tier of the Swiss football league system. He was the team's top goal scorer in the 2021–22 season.

Personal life

His brothers

Karim Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim, Kerim or Karem) () is a given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honourable". It is also one of the Names of God. Given name Karim * Karim Abdel Aziz (born 1975), Egyptian ac ...

, Ibrahim and Aly are also professional footballers. Coulibaly completed his apprenticeship as accountant, but now he works as logistician. He lives in Dornach with his wife, who comes from Basel. The pair have two children, a son and a daughter.

Career statistics

Honours

Grasshoppers *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Vaduz *

: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

play-offs: 2020

References

External links

* * * *
Profile on the Swiss Football League web cite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coulibaly, Mohamed 1988 births Living people People from Tambacounda region Senegalese men's footballers 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen French men's footballers French sportspeople of Senegalese descent Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Ligue 2 players Championnat National players FC Gueugnon players FC Saint-Louis Neuweg players Swiss Super League players SC Dornach players Grasshopper Club Zurich players English Football League players AFC Bournemouth players Coventry City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Segunda División B players Racing de Santander players UD Logroñés players Swiss Challenge League players FC Vaduz players Senegalese expatriate men's footballers Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Liechtenstein Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Liechtenstein 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen