Ibou Touray

Ibou Touray
Touray with Stockport County in the 2023–24 season
Personal information
Full name Ibou Omar Touray[1]
Date of birth (1994-12-24) 24 December 1994 (age 29)
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Left back
Team information
Current team
 Stockport County
Number 3
Youth career
2011–2014 Everton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Chester 19 (0)
2015–2016 Rhyl 29 (2)
2016–2017 Nantwich Town 38 (0)
2017–2023 Salford City 237 (8)
2023– Stockport County 32 (1)
International career‡
2015– Gambia 21 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:28, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:16, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

Ibou Omar Touray (born 24 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a left back for EFL League Two club Stockport County.[3]

Touray began his career with local team Everton, but left in 2014 having made no appearances for the first team. He spent successive seasons in the lower leagues with Chester, Rhyl, and Nantwich Town, before signing for National League North team Salford City in 2017. He helped them achieve back to back promotions in his first two seasons, first to the National League and then to League Two, the first time Salford had reached the English Football League in their history. He is the longest serving player in the clubs' history, and helped the club win the 2020 EFL Trophy Final. During his final season, he served as the team captain.

Born in England, Touray represents Gambia internationally, qualifying through his father.[4] He made his international debut for Gambia in 2015, and represented his country at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, their first ever major international tournament, helping Gambia to reach the quarter-finals.

Club career

Everton

Born in Toxteth,[5] Liverpool, Touray started his career at Everton, having joined the club in 2011.[6] He was close of joining Liverpool before joining Everton instead.[7] After progressing through the Everton's youth system, he signed his first professional contract at the club in July 2013.[6][4] Although he was given a number 40 shirt in the 2013–14 season, he was released by the club in May 2014.[8]

Chester

After leaving Everton in the summer, Touray went on a trial at Tranmere Rovers.[9] After the trial was unsuccessful, he joined Chester on 13 September 2014,[10] having caught the eye of manager Steve Burr during a pre-season game between Tranmere and Chester.[7]

After appearing as an unused substitute against Woking, Touray made his Chester debut three days later joining the club, coming on as a first half substitute, in a 2–0 win over Southport.[11][12] Since making his Chester debut, Touray quickly established himself in the starting eleven at the club, playing in the left-midfield position.[7] His performance attracted attention from League One side Oldham Athletic, which he appeared on the substitute bench on two occasions.[13] After returning, he appeared in every match until he was sent-off for a "wild challenge" on Nicky Clee, in a 4–1 loss to Altrincham on 31 December 2014.[14] Although he served a three match suspension,[15] Touray, however, lost his first team place for the rest of the season and was released by the club.[16]

Rhyl

After leaving Chester, Touray moved to Wales when he joined Rhyl.[17][18]

Touray made his Rhyl debut in the opening game of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Bangor City on 21 August 2015, starting the whole game.[19] Since making his Rhyl debut, he established himself in the starting eleven for the side despite missing out one game through suspension.[20] It wasn't until on 9 April 2016 when Touray scored his first goals, in a 5–0 win over Port Talbot Town.[21] Rhyl had not won in 16 matches and faced accusations of match fixing due to suspicious betting patterns.[22] At the end of the season, Touray went on to make a total of 29 appearances and scoring two times in total.

After one season at Rhyl, Touray was released by Rhyl in May 2016.[23][24]

Nantwich Town

After being released by Rhyl,[23] he signed for Nantwich Town.[25] His move came after at a recommendation from the club's manager Dave Cooke.[26]

Touray made his Nantwich Town debut in the opening game of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Ashton United.[27] Throughout the season, Touray established himself in the starting eleven at Nantwich Town as a left-back.[28] He'a also played a role when the club won 5–3 in the penalty shootout to the final of Cheshire Senior Cup against Warrington Town.[29] However, the club went on to lose the final after losing to Crewe Alexandra 3–2.[30]

After making 41 appearances in all competitions, Touray was awarded the club's Young Player of the Year.[31][32]

Salford City

Touray playing for Salford City in 2017.

He's resilient, trains every single day to his maximum... He's learning more and more about the game, certainly as a full-back and the many challenges you face. When a player is as fit as he possibly can be, he understands what's required from him in the team and he goes out and commits every day, anything can happen for him in a positive way.

—Touray's manager at Salford City Graham Alexander praising his character in 2019[33]

In May 2017, he signed for Salford City.[34] Touray made his Salford City debut in the opening game of the season, in a 2–0 loss against Darlington.[35] At the conclusion of the 2018–19 season as Salford earned back-to-back promotions into the Football League, Touray scored Salford's third goal in the 2019 National League play-off final, a 3–0 victory against AFC Fylde at Wembley Stadium on 11 May 2019.[36] In 2021, he played in the delayed 2020 EFL Trophy final against Portsmouth, helping keep a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw before Salford won the resulting penalty shoot-out.[37]

Following an impressive 2020–21 season, Touray was named in the 2020–21 EFL League Two Team of the Season at the league's annual awards ceremony.[38] In June 2021, Touray signed a new two-year contract; Touray and manager Gary Bowyer both cited a connection with Salford's supporters as being key to the new deal.[39] He made his 200th appearance for The Ammies against Bristol Rovers in November 2021, cementing his record as the club's modern-day record appearance holder.[40]

Touray with Salford City in the 2022–23 season

In January 2023, he made his 250th Salford appearance in a 2–0 league win against Sutton United.[41] Along with teammate Elliot Watt, Touray was named in the EFL League Two Team of the Season for the 2022–23 season.[42]

Stockport County

In June 2023, it was announced that he would sign for Stockport County on 1 July 2023.[3][43] Touray scored his first goal for The Hatters against former club Salford at Moor Lane on 14 March 2024, scoring his teams' first to help overcome a two-goal defiicit.[44]

International career

He made his international debut for Gambia in 2015.[17] Touray is eligible for Gambia through his father, who moved to England aged 16,[45][46] and is one of several of the Gambian diaspora called up who helped the country's results improve.[47] In a 2021 interview, Touray said that his proudest moment in international football was when Gambia drew 1–1 with Algeria, who at the time were unbeaten in over two years.[46]

Touray played in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, his national team's first continental tournament, where they made the quarter-final.[48][49] He described representing the country at the tournament, as well as visiting the residency of Adama Barrow, the President of the Gambia, as "surreal".[45] He missed the knockout stage match against Guinea through illness,[50]

At the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Touray became the first Stockport County representative to feature at a major international tournament.[51]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 April 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Chester 2014–15[52][53] Conference Premier 19 0 1 0 — 3[a] 1 23 1
Rhyl 2015–16[52] Welsh Premier League 29 2 0 0 — 0 0 29 2
Nantwich Town 2016–17[54] NPL Premier Division 38 0 5 0 1 0 9[b] 0 53 0
Salford City 2017–18[52] National League North 39 0 0 0 — 0 0 39 0
2018–19[52][55] National League 45 3 3 0 — 4[c] 0 52 3
2019–20[56] League Two 35 4 2 1 1 0 4[d] 0 42 5
2020–21[57] League Two 46 1 1 0 2 0 2[d][e] 0 51 1
2021–22[59] League Two 27 0 2 0 1 0 2[d] 1 32 1
2022–23[60] League Two 45 0 2 0 1 0 8[f] 0 56 0
Total 237 8 10 1 5 0 20 1 272 10
Stockport County 2023–24[61] League Two 32 1 2 0 1 0 3[d] 0 38 1
Career total 355 11 18 1 7 0 35 2 415 14
  1. ^ Two appearances in FA Trophy, one appearance and one goal in Cheshire Senior Cup
  2. ^ Three appearances in FA Trophy, five appearances in Cheshire Senior Cup, one appearance in NPL Premier Division play-offs
  3. ^ Two appearances in FA Trophy, two appearances in National League play-offs
  4. ^ a b c d Appearances in EFL Trophy
  5. ^ Includes appearance in the 2020 EFL Trophy final which was postponed until 13 March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic[58]
  6. ^ Six appearances in EFL Trophy, two appearances in League Two play-offs

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Gambia[17] 2015 1 0
2016 2 0
2019 3 0
2021 2 0
2022 9 0
2023 4 0
2024 1 0
Total 21 0

Honours

Salford City

Stockport County

Individual

References

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External links