Gyawe Jonas Salley (born 16 March 1982 in

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

) is a former Ivorian-

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

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 last played for Nei Mongol Zhongyou in

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

. He is currently an assistant coach for White City.

Early life

Salley moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to escape from the civil and government problems of his home country in 2006.

Club career

He first played at Mill Park Soccer Club, where his outstanding performances were noticed within a very short time. He was eventually signed up to play with

Victorian Premier League The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier L ...

side

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

. He was then signed by A-League club

New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-League ...

in 2006. Salley was a fan favourite at the Knights for his high work rate and quality passes. Despite being injured for a large part of the season, he made a huge impact for the team on his return with his strength and fitness. As the Knights folded at the end of the

A-League 2006-07 A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

season, Salley signed with

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

on a short-term contract as cover for their finals campaign. He made one appearance for Sydney FC before they were eliminated. He chose not to stay at the club after his short-term contract, and then played briefly for

Sunshine George Cross FC Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Fraser Rise, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and plays in the Victoria Premier League 1, the second tier of football in Victoria, and ...

. On 13 March 2007, it was announced that Salley was signing for

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

on a 2-year deal. Despite being an

Australian citizen The primary law governing nationality of Australia is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applicable in all states and territories of Australia. All persons born in Australia before 20 August 198 ...

, Salley was ruled to be a foreign player under new

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

amendments stating that a player must reside in country for a minimum of five years before local status is obtained. This meant he was ineligible to play in the

2008 AFC Champions League The 2008 AFC Champions League was the 27th AFC Champions League, the top-level Asian club football tournament, and the 6th under the current AFC Champions League title. It was the last AFC Champions League before the competition expanded to 32 te ...

as Adelaide listed

Brazilians Brazilians (, ) are the citizens of Brazil. A Brazilian can also be a person born abroad to a Brazilian parent or legal guardian as well as a person who acquired Brazilian nationality law, Brazilian citizenship. Brazil is a multiethnic society, ...

Cássio, Cristiano and

Diego Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...

as their three foreign players. He stated that he was ready to leave the club because of the lack of game time at Adelaide, during the 2008/2009 season: "For me I need to move on," Salley told the

Adelaide Advertiser ''The Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858,Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club

Shaanxi Chanba Beijing Chengfeng Football Club ( zh, s=北京橙丰, t=北京橙丰, p=Běijīng Chéngfēng) was a professional Chinese football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). T ...

on a free transfer. Returning to Australia, Salley signed an emergency injury replacement deal on loan with A-League club

Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian Association football, soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first ...

. The Queensland club will be looking to sign him on a permanent deal when they find room within the salary cap. As Gold Coast struggled with injuries leading up to their game against

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

in February 2012 it was revealed Salley had defected, signing a lucrative contract with a

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

team. In January 2013, Salley signed with Chinese Super League club

Guizhou Renhe Beijing Chengfeng Football Club ( zh, s=北京橙丰, t=北京橙丰, p=Běijīng Chéngfēng) was a professional Chinese Association football, football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Footbal ...

on a free transfer. In January 2015, Salley signed with

club Nei Mongol Zhongyou. On 18 February 2017 Salley was forced into retirement due to a knee injury.

Coaching career

On 1 May 2019 Salley was announced as an assistant coach to

's sister club Qingdao Red Lions.

Personal life

Salley became an Australian citizen in 2008. He married his sweetheart Azra in 2010. The couple are the parents of two girls – Nahla, 5, and Ayla, 2.

Career statistics

(''Correct as 22 October 2016'') ¹ – includes

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

final series statistics
² – includes

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

statistics;

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)

Honours

;Guizhou Renhe *

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

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 ...

Chinese FA Super Cup The Chinese FA Super Cup (), formerly named Chinese Football Super Cup (), is a Chinese football super cup competition that takes place every year before the start of the new season. It is contested between the champions of the previous Chinese Su ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

External links

Adelaide United profile

Shaanxi Chanba profile

Gold Coast United Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salley, Jonas 1982 births Living people Ivorian men's footballers South Melbourne FC players New Zealand Knights FC players Adelaide United FC players Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in China Ivorian emigrants to Australia Sydney FC players Expatriate men's footballers in China Caroline Springs George Cross FC players Australian expatriate sportspeople in China Beijing Chengfeng F.C. players Shanghai Shenxin F.C. players Inner Mongolia Zhongyou F.C. players Chinese Super League players China League One players Australian people of Ivorian descent Sportspeople of Ivorian descent Naturalised soccer players of Australia Men's association football midfielders FK Beograd (Australia) non-playing staff 21st-century Ivorian sportsmen