Yoann Folly

Yoann Folly

Personal information
Full name	Yoann Folly
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Dagenham & Redbridge
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2003	Saint-Étienne	0	(0)
2003–2006	Southampton	14	(0)
2005	→ Nottingham Forest (loan)	1	(0)
2005	→ Preston North End (loan)	2	(0)
2006	→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	14	(0)
2006–2008	Sheffield Wednesday	39	(0)
2008–	Plymouth Argyle	22	(0)
2010	→ Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)	0	(0)
International career‡
2003–2006	France U-21	10	(0)
2008–	Togo	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:14, 17 January 2010 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 08:43, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Yoann Folly (born 6th June 1985 in Paris) is a French-born Togolese international footballer who plays for Plymouth Argyle of the Football League Championship. His preferred position is in central midfield, but he can also play on the wing.

Club career

Folly was brought to England in 2003 by then Southampton manager Gordon Strachan who paid St. Étienne £250,000 to secure his signature. After numerous managerial changes at Southampton, Folly struggled to get in the team and loan spells at Nottingham Forest (where he scored his first goal in English Football against QPR in the FA Cup) and Preston North End followed.

In January 2006, Folly was signed on loan by Sheffield Wednesday to ease injury problems as the then manager Paul Sturrock had been impressed by him after taking over as Saints manager from Strachan in 2004. He made his debut on 31 January at Hillsborough, suffering a 2-0 defeat against Luton Town.

Folly's promising displays meant that he joined Wednesday on a permanent basis following the end of the season, rejecting the offer of a new contract at St. Mary's - however, Southampton received an undisclosed compensation fee under FA rules due to him being under the age of 24.

On 28 August 2007, Folly climbed off the substitutes' bench at Hillsborough to score an extra-time winner for Wednesday in the League Cup 2nd round versus Hartlepool United.

Despite becoming an increasingly important member of the side over the 07/08 season, Folly handed in a transfer request to the club on the 4th of January 2008, citing concerns about his lack of first team football.

On 11 January 2008, it was announced that Folly had signed for Plymouth Argyle for a fee believed to be around £200,000, joining manager Paul Sturrock for the third time in his career. . After only appearing once all year, he started the match at the Riverside Stadium against Middlesbrough on the 31st of October 2009, and produced a vivid display. He was then voted man of the match in the following home win over Doncaster Rovers on the 7th of November 2009, and looks likely to hold down a first team spot.

On 24 February 2010, Folly signed a one month loan deal with League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge after former team mate Damien McCrory signed there permanently.

International career

Folly played for France at Under 16, 17, 18 and 21 level, but later switched his alliance to Togo. He was called up to Togo's 2006 World Cup squad, but did not make the final cut. On 22 August 2008, Folly made his debut for Togo in their 2-1 defeat to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

References

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dagenham_and_redbridge/8534836.stm

External links

• Yoann Folly player profile at pafc.co.uk
• Yoann Folly player profile at swfc.co.uk
• Yoann Folly at Soccerbase