Aliou Cissé

Aliou Cissé
Personal information
Full name Aliou Cissé
Date of birth March 24, 1976 (1976-03-24) (age 35)
Place of birth Ziguinchor, Senegal
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Full back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1997 Lille 6 (0)
1997–1998 Sedan 0 (0)
1998–2001 PSG 43 (1)
2001–2002 Montpellier 17 (1)
2002–2004 Birmingham City 36 (0)
2004 Crystal Palace (loan) 0 (0)
2004–2006 Portsmouth 23 (0)
2006–2008 Sedan 21 (1)
2008–2009 Nîmes Olympique 7 (0)
National team
1999–2005 Senegal 28 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 November 2009.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 December 2006

Aliou Cissé (born March 24, 1976 in Ziguinchor) is a Senegalese former football player. He has previously played for English Premier League club Portsmouth. Cisse was a defensive midfielder who has, on occasion, played at full back.

Contents

Career

He began his career with Lille OSC before moving onto CS Sedan and then Paris Saint-Germain. He also spent the majority of the 2001-02 season on loan at Montpellier Herault SC. In the summer of 2002 Cissé captained the Senegal national team which reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup, beating holders France en route.

Impressive performances for his country led to a transfer to English club Birmingham City for the 2002-03 season. Cissé made his debut at Arsenal on the opening day of the season, but was sent off. Though the sending-off was rescinded, he went on to pick up five yellow cards in six games, picking up ten yellow cards before the New Year.

Despite this poor discipline, Cissé was impressive for his club, until an injury in February ruled him out for the rest of the season. He was then late in returning to pre-season training in July 2003, leading to manager Steve Bruce placing him on the transfer list.

Cissé got himself back into the first team picture, but his relationship with Bruce continued to go sour, and after Christmas he only played three more games that season. At the end of the season he signed for Portsmouth for £300,000 on a two-year contract, beating off strong competition from Premiership rivals Bolton Wanderers.

In 2002, Cissé lost several members of his family in the MV Joola ferry disaster off the coast of Gambia.[1]

His transfer from Birmingham City to Portsmouth in August 2004 is one of those about which the Stevens inquiry report in June 2007 expressed concerns:

“Agent Willie McKay acted for Portsmouth in the transfer of Cisse and, for the same reason as above” {still awaiting clarification) “the inquiry is not prepared to clear these transfers at this stage.”[2]

Cissé signed for French Ligue 2 side Nîmes Olympique, from CS Sedan Ardennes in September 2008.

Career statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
1994-95 Lille Division 1 6 0
1995-96 0 0
1996-97 0 0
1997-98 Sedan Ardennes Championnat National 0 0
1998-99 Paris Saint-Germain Division 1 8 0
1999-00 25 1
2000-01 10 0
2001-02 Montpellier Division 1 17 1
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2002-03 Birmingham City Premier League 21 0
2003-04 15 0
2004-05 Portsmouth Premier League 20 0
2005-06 3 0
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
2006-07 Sedan Ardennes Ligue 1 11 0
2007-08 Ligue 2 10 1
2008-09 0 0
2008-09 Nîmes Olympique Ligue 2 7 0 1 0 8 0
Total France 94 3
England 59 0
Career total 153 3

References

External links