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 lea ...

who plays as a defender for and captains

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

. 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 () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...

, 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 football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

'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 historical List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Sabadell ( Catalonia) Founded in 1903, its first men's team plays in the . Its first CE Sabadell (women), women's tea ...

. On 31 January 2012, Songo'o rescinded his contract with Sabadell, and in the same day he signed a contract with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 Club de Fútbol Pobla de Mafumet is a Spanish football club based in La Pobla de Mafumet, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1953, it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadi Municipal'', which has a capacity of 1,700 spectato ...

United States

On 13 December 2012, Songo'o signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

. 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 association football, football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewo ...

, 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 English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

match against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

. 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, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

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 Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

. 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, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

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 the manager of National League football club Morecambe. Adams became manager of Ross County in 2007, winning promotion from the Scottish Second Divisio ...

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 city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

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

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

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

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 ...

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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. 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 side

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

on a one-year deal.

Morecambe

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

. 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

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

at the start of the 2021–22 season. In January 2023 he moved on loan to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

. In May 2023 it was announced that he would leave Bradford City when his contract expired on 30 June.

Return to Morecambe

On 27 June 2023, Songo'o was announced to be returning to Morecambe on a one-year deal.

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 football goalkeeper who is the current goalkeeping coach of the Cameroon national team. He spent the vast majority of his professional career in France and Spa ...

, 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 an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

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

Franck Songo'o Franck Steve Bangweni Songo'o (born 14 May 1987) is a Cameroonian former professional 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 ha ...

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 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

Sabadell official profile

Futbolme profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Songo'o, Yann 1991 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent Cameroonian men's footballers 21st-century Cameroonian sportsmen French men's footballers Men's association football defenders Deportivo Aragón 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 Bradford City A.F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Segunda División players USL Championship players Scottish Professional Football League players France men's youth international footballers Cameroon men's under-20 international footballers Footballers from Toulon Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland English Football League players 21st-century French sportsmen