Youssef Sofiane (; born 8 July 1984, in

Villefranche-sur-Saône Villefranche-sur-Saône (, ; ) is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It lies 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the river Saône, and is around north of Lyon. The inhabitants of the town are called ''Caladois''. History Villefran ...

) is a French

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 in England, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Algeria and Germany.

Club career

Of Algerian descent, Sofiane began his footballing career in August 2000 as a trainee at

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in L ...

. He joined

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in June 2002, when he was signed by manager

Glenn Roeder Glenn Victor Roeder (13 December 1955 – 28 February 2021) was an English professional football player and manager. As a player, Roeder played as a defender for Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Watf ...

on a free transfer as back-up to the club's strikers. Opportunities were rare however and he made only two appearances for West Ham, as a substitute in a 2–1 away win against Preston, and in a 3–1 win over

Rushden Rushden is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of B ...

in the first round of the League Cup, both in August 2003. He was loaned to

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

in January 2004 until the end of the 2003–04 season, and to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

on a one-month loan deal in September 2004, where he made three appearances, scoring one goal against Wrexham in the Football League Trophy. He then joined Dutch club

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

on loan through January–May 2005, where he made three substitute appearances. Despite playing in pre-season games, he was not given a squad number by West Ham for the 2005–06 season and his contract was terminated by mutual consent in August 2005. After trials with

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

and

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

, he joined Coventry on non-contract terms in October 2005. However, he made only one substitute appearance for Coventry before being released in January 2006. After leaving Coventry, he played for La Louviere in the Belgian Jupiler League,

Sportfreunde Siegen Sportfreunde Siegen is a German association football club based in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia. After going through insolvency in 2008, the first team was forcibly relegated to the fifth-tier NRW-Liga. Promotion to fourth division Regionallig ...

of the German

Regionalliga A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the Germa ...

, and

US Lesquin Union Sportive Lesquin is a French association football team founded in 1920. They are based in Lesquin, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France and are currently playing in the Championnat de France Amateurs Group A. They play at the Stade Jean-Pierre Papin i ...

in France. On 7 December 2011, Sofiane signed an 18-month contract with

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 ...

.ESS, signature de Youssef Sofiane
; DZFoot, 7 December 2011. He signed as a free agent having been without a club after his contract with

MC Alger Mouloudia Club d'Alger (), referred to as MC Alger or MCA for short, is an Algerian football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1921 and its colours are red, green and white. Their home stadium, Ali La Pointe Stadium, has a capacit ...

ended in summer 2011. Sofiane later became a football agent.

Representative honours

Sofiane represented France at Under-15 to Under-18 level.

Honours

ES Sétif *

Algerian Cup The Algerian Cup () also known the Republic Cup (), is a football competition in Algeria, pitting regional teams against each other. It was established in October 1962, three months after independence, and has been played yearly since then apart ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sofiane, Youssef 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Villefranche-sur-Saône Footballers from Rhône (department) French men's footballers Algerian men's footballers France men's youth international footballers French sportspeople of Algerian descent Men's association football forwards AJ Auxerre players West Ham United F.C. players Lille OSC players Notts County F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players English Football League players R.A.A. Louviéroise players Sportfreunde Siegen players Ligue 1 players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players MC Alger players ES Sétif players Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players US Lesquin players Association football agents Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Algerian sportsmen