Sofiene Zaaboub (born 23 January 1983) is a French-Algerian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who currently plays for

USM Annaba Union Sportive Médinat d'Annaba (), known as USM Annaba or simply USMAN for short, is an Algerian football club based in Annaba. It was founded in 1983 and its colours are red and white. Their home stadium, 19 May 1956 Stadium has a capacity of ...

in the

Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 (), known as Championnat National de Première Division or Ligue 1 for short, and formerly known as the Championnat National 1, is the Algerian professional league for association football clubs. It is the co ...

. He has become renowned for wearing gloves regardless of the weather conditions.

Club career

Swindon Town

Zaaboub was

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He w ...

's first signing as Town manager and signed on a short-term deal in November 2006 after leaving

FC Brussels Racing White Daring Molenbeek Brussels Football Club, often simply referred to as RWDM Brussels, F.C. Brussels or simply Brussels, was a Belgian professional association football club based in the municipality of Molenbeek, in the Brussels, Bru ...

, just a few days after Sturrock had arrived at the club. Prior to joining Swindon he had many trials at higher-level clubs – including

Úbeda CF Úbeda Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Úbeda, Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1923 and dissolved in 2006, they played in the Tercera División for 33 seasons, and held home matches at ''Campo de F ...

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 ...

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

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 ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and

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, ...

, but his longest trial was at Sturrock's former club

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. He scored his first and what turned out to be only Swindon goal in a 2–1 win over Wrexham on 13 January 2007.

End of reign at the County Ground

Due to the reinforcement made to the

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

side with the likes of

Anthony McNamee Anthony McNamee (born 13 July 1984) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a left-sided midfielder, and current football manager. Career Watford Born in Kennington, England, McNamee began his career at ...

running an un-touchable string of games on the left for the Robins, Zaaboub was deemed surplus to the requirements of the club. Unable to break into the first team, the 2006/07 fans' favourite was told in March 2008 his contract would not be renewed and at the end of the season would be forced to find a new club.

Walsall

Zaaboub completed a move to Walsall in July 2008 and became

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 ...

's fourth signing of the summer. He suffered injuries to his back and groin in the pre-season and was unable to break into the first team on his return. However, he resolved to keep up his fitness and try his best in training to gain a first team place, he did gain his place back with a number of superb displays down the left wing, he quickly became a favourite with the fans

ES Sétif

On 6 January 2011, Zaaboub signed an 18-month contract with Algerian club

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne (), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional association football, football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in 1958 and its colours are bl ...

References

External links