Jonas Salley

Jonas Salley

Salley with Adelaide United in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Gyawe Jonas Salley [1]
Date of birth	(1982-03-16) 16 March 1982 (age 41) [1]
Place of birth	Ouragahio, Ivory Coast
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Team information
Current team	White City (assistant)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2001	Sirocco FC
2001–2004	Séwé Sport
2004–2005	Africa Sports National
2006	South Melbourne	9	(1)
2006–2007	New Zealand Knights	15	(0)
2007	Sydney FC	1	(0)
2007	Sunshine George Cross	9	(0)
2007–2009	Adelaide United	31	(0)
2009–2010	Shaanxi Chanba	56	(1)
2011	Chengdu Blades	25	(0)
2011–2012	Gold Coast United	12	(0)
2012	Shanghai Shenxin	28	(3)
2013–2014	Guizhou Renhe	58	(0)
2015–2016	Nei Mongol Zhongyou	35	(1)
Managerial career
2019–2020	Qingdao Red Lions (assistant)
2020–	White City (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 October 2016

Gyawe Jonas Salley (born 16 March 1982 in Ivory Coast) is a former Ivorian-Australian footballer, who last played for Nei Mongol Zhongyou in China League One. He is currently an assistant coach for White City.

Early life

Salley moved to Australia to escape from the civil and government problems of his home country in 2006.

Club career

He first played at Mill Park Soccer Club, where his outstanding performances were noticed within a very short time. He was eventually signed up to play with Victorian Premier League side South Melbourne.

He was then signed by A-League club New Zealand Knights in 2006. Salley was a fan favourite at the Knights for his high work rate and quality passes. Despite being injured for a large part of the season, he made a huge impact for the team on his return with his strength and fitness.

As the Knights folded at the end of the A-League 2006-07 season, Salley signed with Sydney FC on a short-term contract as cover for their finals campaign. He made one appearance for Sydney FC before they were eliminated. He chose not to stay at the club after his short-term contract, and then played briefly for Sunshine George Cross FC.

On 13 March 2007, it was announced that Salley was signing for Adelaide United on a 2-year deal. ^{[2] [3]} Despite being an Australian citizen, Salley was ruled to be a foreign player under new FIFA amendments stating that a player must reside in country for a minimum of five years before local status is obtained. This meant he was ineligible to play in the 2008 AFC Champions League as Adelaide listed Brazilians Cássio, Cristiano and Diego as their three foreign players. ^[4]

He stated that he was ready to leave the club because of the lack of game time at Adelaide, during the 2008/2009 season:

"For me I need to move on," Salley told the Adelaide Advertiser. "I've already made up my mind. I don't know what's going on. I was looking forward to playing here but it doesn't look like it's going to happen and that's the way it is. I'm here just training, training, I don't know what I'm here for. I haven't spoken to anyone about it. For me it's not the best way, if you're not going to use someone tell him why he's not playing." ^[5]

After many weeks of speculation the Ivorian born Salley, was released by the club on 20 January 2009. In March 2009, Salley signed with Chinese Super League club Shaanxi Chanba on a free transfer. ^[6]

Returning to Australia, Salley signed an emergency injury replacement deal on loan with A-League club Gold Coast United. The Queensland club will be looking to sign him on a permanent deal when they find room within the salary cap. ^{[7] [8]}

As Gold Coast struggled with injuries leading up to their game against Melbourne Heart in February 2012 it was revealed Salley had defected, signing a lucrative contract with a Chinese Super League team. ^[9]

In January 2013, Salley signed with Chinese Super League club Guizhou Renhe on a free transfer.

In January 2015, Salley signed with China League One club Nei Mongol Zhongyou. ^[10]

On February 18, 2017, Salley was forced into retirement due to a knee injury. ^[11]

Coaching career

On May 1, 2019, Salley was announced as an assistant coach to Adelaide United's sister club Qingdao Red Lions. ^[12]

Personal life

Salley became an Australian citizen in 2008. He married his sweetheart Azra in 2010. The couple are the parents of two girls – Nahla, 5, and Ayla, 2. ^[11]

Career statistics

(Correct as 22 October 2016)

Club	Season	League1		Cup		International2		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
South Melbourne	2006	9	1	0	0	0	0	9	1
New Zealand Knights	2006–07	10	0	5	0	0	0	15	0
Sydney FC	2006–07	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Adelaide United	2007–08	17	0	5	0	0	0	22	0
	2008–09	14	0	3	0	6	0	23	0
Shaanxi Chanba	2009	29	0	0	0	0	0	29	0
	2010	27	1	0	0	0	0	27	1
Chengdu Blades	2011	25	0	0	0	0	0	25	0
Gold Coast United	2011–12	12	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
Shanghai Shenxin	2012	28	3	1	0	0	0	28	3
Guizhou Renhe	2013	28	0	4	0	6	0	38	0
	2014	30	0	1	0	5	0	36	0
Nei Mongol Zhongyou	2015	27	1	1	0	0	0	28	1
	2016	8	0	1	0	0	0	9	0
Total								302	6

¹ – includes A-League final series statistics
² – includes FIFA Club World Cup statistics; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)

Honours

Guizhou Renhe

• Chinese FA Cup: 2013 ^[13]
• Chinese FA Super Cup: 2014

References

1. "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 Presented By TOYOTA — List Of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008.
2. Adelaide United Transfer – TWG Archived 17 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
3. Jonas Salley article – TWG Archived 11 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
4. "Salley out of ACL Knockout Stage". Archived from the original on 12 April 2011.
5. "Salley: What Am I Here For? - Australian FourFourTwo - the Ultimate football Website". Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
6. "Salley signs with Chinese club Shaanxi Chanba | Australia/Asia News |…". www.tribalfootball.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
7. Davutovic, David; Bernard, Grantley (22 November 2011). "Salley primed to face Victory". Herald Sun. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
8. "Jonas Salley Signs For Gold Coast United". FourFourTwoAustralia. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
9. "Youth answer United's crisis call". goldcoast.co.au. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
10. 中甲新军宣布落户呼和浩特 人和外援萨利将加盟 at sports.sohu.com 2015-01-05 Retrieved 2015-01-05
11. Migliaccio, Val (18 February 2017). "Adelaide United fan favourite Gyawe Jonas Salley forced into retirement through injury". The Advertiser. News Corporation. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
12. "Adelaidenow.com.au | Subscribe to The Advertiser for exclusive stories". www.adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
13. "足协杯-人和总分3–2恒大队史首夺冠 恒大三冠梦碎". Sports.sina.com.cn. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2019.

External links

• Adelaide United profile
• Shaanxi Chanba profile (in Chinese)
• Gold Coast United Profile ^{[ permanent dead link ]}