Ibrahima Sonko

Ibrahima Sonko (born 22 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a centre back.

Sonko moved to France from Senegal at a young age and began his career with Olympique Noisy-le-Sec and AS Saint-Étienne, before turning professional with Grenoble.

He played with Olympique Noisy-le-Sec and was in the youth team at AS Saint-Étienne before he joined Grenoble in 1999.

Sonko helped Grenoble gain promotion from the Championnat National in 2000–01 and in 2002 he left to join English side Brentford.

In 2002 Sonko moved to English side Brentford where he spent two seasons before moving to Reading in 2004.

He played 45 times for Brentford in 2002–03, scoring six goals at the Bees finished in 16th position.

He played 46 times in 2003–04 as Brentford again finished in a mid-table position this time 17th.

His performances for Brentford attracted interest from high placed sides.

Sonko joined Reading on a bosman in the summer of 2004.

He made 42 appearances in 2004–05 as Reading finished in 7th place missing out on a play-off place by three points.

Sonko spent four seasons with the Royals and helped them gain promotion to the Premier League in 2005–06.

In 2005–06 Sonko was ever-present as the Royals gained promotion to the Premier League in emphatic fashion after winning the league with a record 106 points.

During the season, he won the player of the month award for October and was also named in the PFA Team of the Year.

Sonko's first season in the Premier League was eventful.

He received a straight red card against Aston Villa for tripping Luke Moore in the penalty area, meaning Reading lost 2–1.

He was the subject of further controversy in a match against Chelsea on 14 October 2006, when his challenge left goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini unconscious.

Cudicini was carried off the field wearing a neck brace.

Sonko stated that he was scared after receiving death threats in connection with the Chelsea match.

On 11 December 2006, Sonko signed an extension to his contract with Reading, keeping him at the Madejski Stadium until the summer of 2010.

Sonko played a total of 23 times on 2006–07 as Reading ended the season in 8th position.

However, on 20 January 2007, he injured knee ligaments when he fell awkwardly whilst playing for Reading in their 3–1 home win against Sheffield United, and it was subsequently announced that he would miss the rest of the 2006–07 season.

He returned to first team action on 20 October 2007 in a 4–2 defeat away to Blackburn Rovers.

Sonko went on to play 16 matches for Reading in 2007–08 as they were unable to retain the Premier League status, being relegated in 18th place.

Sonko ended the season on a sour note after he and teammate Emerse Faé were suspended by the club after refusing manager Steve Coppell's request to play in a reserve match.

Sonko later stated that he wanted to leave Reading after he had become an 'outcast' at the club.

Following their relegation, Sonko joined Stoke City for a fee of £2 million in August 2008.

However, he failed to establish himself in the first team at Stoke and spent time out on loan at Hull City and Portsmouth before being released.

Despite this he did start the first three matches of the 2008–09 season where he scored twice against Plymouth Argyle.

He also scored against Charlton Athletic but was also sent-off in the match.

On 29 August 2008, Sonko signed for Premier League Stoke City for a fee of £2 million, which could rise £2.25 million depending on appearances.

He made his Stoke debut on 14 September 2008 in a 3–2 defeat against Everton.

However, he was unable to hold on to his place in the team under Tony Pulis and became mainly used as a substitute.

On 20 December 2008 Stoke played away at Blackburn Rovers, Sonko conceded an early penalty after a horribly mistimed tackle on Morten Gamst Pedersen which helped Blackburn ease to a 3–0 win, Pulis described it as 'abysmal defending'.

Sonko only figured as a substitute for the remainder of the 2008–09 season as the Potters finished in 14th position.

On 1 September 2009, Sonko joined Hull City on loan for the 2009–10 season.

Sonko made his debut for Hull on 12 September 2009, in a 4–1 loss away to Sunderland.

He made just nine appearances as Hull suffered relegation from the Premier League.

He spent the 2010–11 season on loan at Portsmouth.

He spent the 2011–12 season with Ipswich Town and then played for Turkish side Akhisar Belediyespor from 2012 until 2015.

Sonko was born in Bignona, Senegal but moved to France when he was young.