Morike Sako (born 17 November 1981) is a French 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 ...

who played as a forward.

Club career

Early career

Born in Paris, Sako began his career in France with US Ivry, leaving in 2004 to join Swiss side

SR Delémont SR Delémont is a Swiss football club based in Delémont and founded in 1909. It played in the Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the ...

Torquay United

Sako joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

in July 2005, one of three French players, the others being Mamadoli Sow and Carl Priso signed at the same time by then Torquay manager Leroy Rosenior. Sako was the most successful and popular of the three, playing 27 times and scoring three goals the following season, his league debut coming in a 3–0 defeat away to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

on 13 August 2005. He was one of six players transfer-listed in October 2005 as Torquay struggled in the league, but regained his place in the side and was taken off the list in January 2006 after Rosenior had been replaced by

John Cornforth Sir John Warcup Cornforth Jr., (7 September 1917 – 8 December 2013) was an AustralianBritish chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions, becoming the only Nobel l ...

. Torquay chairman

Mike Bateson Mike Bateson is an English businessman and former chairman of Torquay United Football Club. Bateson was brought up in Blackpool and after a spell in the Scots Guards made his fortune selling double glazing in the South-West of England. In May 199 ...

turned down an offer for Sako on the transfer deadline day at the end of that month. He was surprisingly released by new manager

Ian Atkins Ian Leslie Atkins (born 16 January 1957) is an English football manager, scout, and former player. Atkins amassed over 300 appearances for Shrewsbury Town, the club where he began his career. He also made appearances in the Football League for ...

at the end of the season, despite playing in some crucial games as Torquay successfully fought off relegation to the Conference National. He had trials with a number of clubs after being released from Torquay, including

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 ...

clubs

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and Blackpool.

Rochdale

In August 2006, Sako signed for

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 ...

club

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

having impressed manager Steve Parkin. At the end of December 2006, Sako left Rochdale after being told his contract would not be renewed. He played twenty times for the club, scoring three goals. He was on then trial at

club, AFC Bournemouth.

FC St. Pauli

In January 2007, Sako signed a short-term contract until the end of the 2006–07 season to play for German

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

after rejecting an offer from League 2 side Bury. He later signed a contract with St. Pauli until the end of the 2008–09 season. Sako went on to play 71 matches for St. Pauli and to score eight goals. In the 2009–10 season, Sako helped St. Pauli to gain promotion to the Bundesliga.

Arminia Bielefeld

In September 2010, Sako signed a one-year contract with an optional year's extension with 2. Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld. He was released after one year, then spent two years without a club before signing for

Hessen Kassel KSV Hessen Kassel is a semi-professional German football club based in Kassel, Hesse. KSV competes in the German Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German football. Nicknamed "Die Löwen" (the lions), the club was founded as FC Union 9 ...

Personal life

Sako is the older brother of

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 building ...

player Bakary Sako.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sako, Morike Living people 1981 births French footballers Association football midfielders Association football forwards Footballers from Paris French people of Malian descent 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players US Ivry players SR Delémont players Torquay United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players FC St. Pauli players Arminia Bielefeld players KSV Hessen Kassel players FC Eintracht Norderstedt 03 players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany