Habib Sissoko (born 24 May 1971) 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 played as a

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 ...

Career

Born in

Juvisy-sur-Orge Juvisy-sur-Orge (, literally ''Juvisy on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located southeast of Paris and a few kilometres south of Orly Airport. The city is known for Gare de Juvisy, ...

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.Olympique Noisy-le-Sec Olympique Noisy-le-Sec Banlieue 93 is an association football team based in Noisy-le-Sec, France, founded in 1943. They are currently playing in Regional 1, Paris Île-de-France, the sixth tier in the French football league system, following re ...

in 1996, moving on to

CS Louhans-Cuiseaux Louhans-Cuiseaux Football Club is a football club located in Louhans, France. History The club was founded in 1970 as ''Club Sportif Louhans Cuiseaux 71'' after the merger of ''Club Sportif Louhannais'' (founded in 1916) and ''Club de Cuiseaux'' ...

in the 1997 close season. He joined

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

in February 1998, making his league debut, as a second-half substitute for Kurt Nogan, in a 1–1 draw away to

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 ...

on 21 February 1998. He played seven times for North End before being released at the end of the season. He joined

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

on trial in August 1998, scoring a late winner on his only appearance having come on as a 70th-minute substitute for Stuart Taylor in the home game against St Mirren on 22 August 1998. In October 1998 he joined Portuguese side União Leiria joining Belgian side

Cappelen Cappelen is a Norwegian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cappelen (family), a distinguished Norwegian family * Andreas Zeier Cappelen (1915–2008), Norwegian jurist and politician * August Cappelen (1827–1852), Norwegian pai ...

in the 1999–2000 season. He was released at the end of the season and returned to England, joining

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

on trial, signing on a free transfer in July 2000. He was one of three French players to play for Torquay that season, the others being Jules Mendy and Khalid Chalqi. His Torquay debut came on 12 August 2000, a 2–0 defeat away to

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

, with his first goal coming two weeks later in a 3–2 win home to

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 ...

. Despite a good start to his

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United F.C., Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National Leagu ...

career, Sissoko struggled to establish himself in Torquay's struggling side. He was sacked by the club on 23 April 2001 after an angry reaction to being substituted in the defeat away to local rivals

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. In July 2001, Sissoko signed for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ian side

Red Star 93 Red Star Football Club (), known as Red Star FC or simply Red Star, is a French professional football club founded in Paris in 1897, and is the fourth oldest French football club, after Standard AC of Paris, Le Havre AC and Girondins de Borde ...

. He subsequently played for

Nîmes Olympique Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was founded on 12 April 1937 and currently plays in the Championnat National, the third tier of French football. The Sta ...

before joining

Stade Brestois 29 Stade Brestois 29, commonly known as Stade Brestois or simply Brest,''Stade Brest'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, is not a grammatically correct name for the club. is a French professional football club based in ...

in 2003, immediately becoming embroiled in controversy. On leaving Nîmes he still had a three match suspension in place, but played in the first three games for Brest after his move, against

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed in 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 2 ...

US Raon-l'Étape Union Sportive Raonnaise is a French association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to prop ...

and Libourne-Saint-Seurin. Brest won all three games and the three clubs appealed. However, the French Football Federation rejected the appeal and allowed the results to stand, confirming Brest's promotion to League 2 instead of Cannes, who Sissoko subsequently joined in 2004. He was released at the end of the season and in October 2005 he looked set to sign for Belgian side Louvière until the end of the season, but it fell through. On 16 November 2005, he signed for

FC Rouen Football Club de Rouen 1899 (; commonly referred to as simply FC Rouen) is a French association football club based in Rouen, Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive w ...

. His contract with Rouen was terminated in March 2006, 'a victim of his bad temper'.Sissoko a victim of his bad temper (''French'')

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sissoko, Habib 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Juvisy-sur-Orge French sportspeople of Malian descent Footballers from Essonne Men's association football forwards French men's footballers English Football League players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Louhans-Cuiseaux FC players Preston North End F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players U.D. Leiria players Torquay United F.C. players Red Star FC players Nîmes Olympique players Stade Brestois 29 players AS Cannes players FC Rouen players Olympique Noisy-le-Sec players Royal Cappellen F.C. players