Cheick Diabate (footballer, born 2002)

Cheick Diabate

Personal information
Full name	Cheick Tiemoko Diabate [1]
Date of birth	(2002-01-21) 21 January 2002 (age 23)
Place of birth	Southwark, England [2]
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.86 m) [3]
Position	Defender
Team information
Current team	St Johnstone
Number	3
Youth career
0000–2018	Stevenage
2018–2019	Exeter City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2025	Exeter City	70	(3)
2020	→ Buckland Athletic (loan)	1	(0)
2020	→ Bideford (loan)	0	(0)
2020	→ Tiverton Town (loan)	3	(0)
2021	→ Truro City (loan)	14	(2)
2024–2025	→ Bradford City (loan)	11	(0)
2025–	St Johnstone	1	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13:35, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

Cheick Tiemoko Diabate (born 21 January 2002) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Scottish Championship club St Johnstone.

Career

Exeter City

Diabate started his career at Stevenage before a move to Exeter City in 2018. He first appeared in a matchday squad during Exeter's 2–0 away EFL Trophy group-stage victory over Newport County in October 2019, ^[4] and then later that season enjoyed a brief loan spell with Buckland Athletic. ^[5] In a disrupted 2020–21 campaign, Diabate had loan spells at Bideford ^[6] and Tiverton Town ^[7] before making his Exeter debut in November 2020, featuring for the final twenty-eight minutes of their EFL Trophy tie with West Bromwich Albion U23s, which resulted in a 4–0 win for The Grecians. ^[8]

On 14 July 2021, Diabate joined Southern League Premier Division South side, Truro City ^[9] and went onto make his debut during a 1–1 draw with Walton Casuals a month later. ^[10] He then scored his first career goal in a 4–1 away victory over Poole Town in October ^[10] before eventually returning to Exeter two months later following an injury crisis at the Devon-based side. ^[11] He made his league debut for the club just a week later in a 2–1 defeat to Sutton United. ^[12] He went on to feature heavily in the second half of Exeter's season as they secured promotion to League One. Diabate was rewarded with a new two-year contract in June 2022. ^[13]

On 30 August 2024, Diabate joined League Two club Bradford City on a season-long loan deal. ^[14] He was recalled in January 2025. ^[15]

On 5 May 2025, Exeter announced the player would leave the club in June when his contract expired. ^[16]

St Johnstone

On 7 July 2025, Diabate joined Scottish Championship side St Johnstone on a one-year deal. ^[17]

Personal life

Diabate's cousin Mory Koné is a former professional footballer, having played for Troyes, Le Mans, and Parma. ^[18]

Diabate is a Muslim. ^[19]

Career statistics

As of end of 2024–25 season

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		EFL Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Exeter City	2019–20	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2020–21 [20]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [a]	0	1	0
	2021–22 [21]	League Two	18	2	0	0	0	0	1 [a]	0	19	2
	2022–23 [22]	League One	20	1	1	0	1	0	1 [a]	0	23	1
	2023–24 [23]	League One	28	0	1	0	2	0	1 [a]	0	32	0
	2024–25 [24]	League One	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		70	3	2	0	4	0	4	0	80	3
Buckland Athletic (loan)	2019–20 [25]	Western League Premier Division	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
Bideford (loan)	2020–21 [26]	Southern League Division One South	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
Tiverton Town (loan)	2020–21 [10]	Southern League Premier Division South	1	0	—		—		1 [b]	0	2	0
Truro City (loan)	2021–22 [10]	Southern League Premier Division South	14	2	0	0	—		3 [b]	0	17	2
Bradford City (loan)	2024–25 [24]	EFL League Two	11	0	1	0	0	0	3 [a]	0	15	0
Career total			97	5	3	0	4	0	11	0	115	5

1. Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy
2. Appearances in the FA Trophy

Honours

Exeter City

• League Two runner-up: 2021–22 ^[27]

References

1. "EFL Professional Retain List 2020/21". English Football League. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
2. "C. Diabate". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
3. "Cheick Diabate". Exeter City F.C. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
4. "Newport County vs. Exeter City". Soccerway. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
5. "Buckland Athletic on Twitter". Twitter. Buckland Athletic F.C. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
6. "✍️ Loan deals: Cheick Diabate and Lewis Wilson join Bideford until January". Exeter City F.C. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
7. "✍️ Cheick Diabate joins Tiverton Town on loan". Exeter City F.C. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
8. "Exeter City vs. West Bromwich Albion U21". Soccerway. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
9. "✍️ Cheick Diabate joins Truro on loan". Exeter City F.C. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
10. "Cheick Diabate Profile". Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
11. "💬 Cheick Diabate on his return to City". Exeter City F.C. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
12. "Sutton United vs. Exeter City". Soccerway. 1 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
13. "✍️ Cheick Diabate seals new City contract". www.exetercityfc.co.uk. 28 June 2022.
14. "DIABATE ARRIVES ON DEADLINE DAY". www.bradfordcityafc.com. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
15. "DIABATÉ RETURNS TO EXETER". www.bradfordcityafc.com. 6 January 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
16. "Exeter City Retained List 2025 | Exeter City F.C." www.exetercityfc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
17. "Cheick Diabate signs for Saints!". www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk. 7 July 2025. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
18. Pilnick, Brent. "Cheick Diabate: Exeter City defender relishing first-team chances". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
19. James, Stuart. "Cheick Diabate confident he can step into the Exeter City team". Devon Live. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
20. "Games played by Cheick Diabate in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
21. "Games played by Cheick Diabate in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
22. "Games played by Cheick Diabate in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
23. "Games played by Cheick Diabate in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
24. "Games played by Cheick Diabate in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
25. "Cheick Tiemoko Diabate Player Stats". The Football Association . Retrieved 4 January 2022.
26. "Cheick Diabate - Bideford AFC". Bideford A.F.C. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
27. "Port Vale end Exeter's League two title hopes". BBC Sport. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.

External links

• Cheick Diabate at Soccerbase