Amdy Faye

Amdy Moustapha Faye (born 12 March 1977) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder and could also play as a centre back.

Faye began his career at French Ligue 1 club AS Monaco FC playing for their youth team between 1996 and 1997.

He then had spells with Championnat National side ES Frejus.

Faye signed for AJ Auxerre of Ligue 1 in 1998.

He failed to make the first team in his first season he then made three appearances in the 1999–2000 season.

Faye then began to brake into the first team for the 2000–01 season when he made 22 appearances scoring once in his third season at the club.

His first appearances of the 2001–02 season came in their 5–0 away win over Stade Rennes on the opening day of the season when he came on as a 47th-minute substitute.

He 23 appearances in all competitions and scored once in the cup and help Auxerre top a third-place finish in Ligue 1 qualifying then for the UEFA Champions League.

He played for Senegal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

His first game of the 2002–03 season came in Auxerre 1–0 away defeat to PSG on the opening day of the season.

He played 46 games in all competitions in 2002–03 including 10 in European competitions both the Champions League and UEFA Cup, before transferring to Portsmouth for £1.5 million in August 2003.

In his final season at Auxerre he also helped them win the 2002–03 Coupe de France, playing in the final as they defeated Paris Saint-Germain.

He made his debut for Portsmouth in a 2–1 home win over Aston Villa.

Faye began his career with Monégasque club AS Monaco, French clubs ES Fréjus and Auxerre before moving to Premier League side Portsmouth in August 2003 for a fee of £1.5 million.

His first goal came in Auxerre 2–1 away defeat to Lens in November 2002, he then scored his second goal in their Troyes on 11 January 2003 in their 1–0 home victory.

However, a knee injury picked up at the end of October threatened to rule him out for five months of the 2003–04 season.

He returned in December, but after just three games suffered a relapse and was out until the end of January.

Due to the injury, Faye was not selected by Senegal for the 2004 African Nations Cup but he made 31 appearances for Pompey in his debut campaign.

Since recovering from injury he has reclaimed his place as a regular in the Senegalese national team.

He spent a season and a half at Fratton Park before leaving for Newcastle United in January 2005 for £2 million.

He then had spells with Charlton Athletic and Scottish side Rangers.

Faye signed for Premier League side Newcastle United in January 2005 for a fee of around £2million along with Jean-Alain Boumsong and Celestine Babayaro as part of manager Graeme Souness's first transfer deals at the club.

He made his debut in Newcastle's 3–1 FA Cup win over Coventry City on 29 January 2005.

His first league game came in their 1–1 draw with Manchester City away 2 February.

He made his first appearances in the UEFA Cup for Newcastle in their round of 32 win away at Dutch side SC Heerenveen.

He made his first appearance of the 2005–06 season in Newcastle's 2–0 win over ZTS Dubnica in the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

His first league game came in their 2–0 loss to Arsenal.

In the 2005–2006 season he was used on the right wing in some cases when Newcastle suffered injuries in the midfield area, often as part of a makeshift midfield involving striker Shola Ameobi on the left wing and veteran Lee Clark drafted in to cover the midfield area, one example is the 3–0 win over Blackburn Rovers.

He failed to impress however, and was offloaded in the summer with the arrival of new midfielder Damien Duff and James Milner returning from his loan at Aston Villa.

On 8 August 2006, after one-and-a-half seasons in the Northeast, he completed a move to Charlton Athletic.

He scored his first goal since he moved to English football in 2003, against his former club Portsmouth on 20 January 2007.

His debut season with Charlton, however, was unsuccessful as the club was relegated at the end of the season.

In August 2007, after playing the first game of the season for Charlton in the Championship, Faye joined Scottish Premier League side Rangers on a season-long loan, but failed to break into the side, making only six appearances.

He joined Stoke City in August 2008 and spent the 2008–09 season with the Potters.

He ended his career with a short stay at Leeds United.

During his tenure at English football, his first name was sometimes referred as Amady because of a misspelling in his passport.

In January 2008, he trained with Premier League side Blackburn Rovers, but was prevented from making a move to the club because of FIFA rules which bar players from playing for three teams in one season.

He returned to Charlton in the 2008 summer on 15 August, before signing for Stoke.

He signed for Stoke City.

Coincidentally, on the same day another Senegalese international and former Newcastle United player named Faye also signed for Stoke City, central defender Abdoulaye Faye.