Yoann Folly

Southampton

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. Folly was signed on loan by Sheffield Wednesday in January 2006 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.

Sheffield Wednesday

Folly's promising displays meant that he joined Wednesday on a permanent basis at the end of the 2005–06 season, rejecting the offer of a new contract at St. Mary's. However, Southampton did receive an undisclosed compensation fee, under FA rules due to him being under the age of 24. He climbed off the substitutes' bench at Hillsborough to score an extra-time winner for Wednesday in the League Cup second round versus Hartlepool United in August 2007.

Plymouth Argyle

Folly handed in a transfer request to the club in January 2008, citing concerns about his lack of first team football, and he joined Championship rivals Plymouth Argyle that month for a fee believed to be around £200,000, joining manager Paul Sturrock for the third time in his career. Despite this,…

Folly represented France at under-21 level, but later switched his allegiance to Togo. He was included in Togo's provisional squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but pulled out to pursue his International Career in France. However, Folly did make his senior international debut for Togo in August 2008 against DR Congo.