Abdou El-Kholti

Abdou El-Kholti

Born 17 October 1980 (Age 26 at debut)

Position: Defender

(Diamonds player #271)

Total appearances 21

(13 League, 1 FA Trophy, 4 League Cup, 3 Hillier Senior Cup)

Debut: 30 August 2007 (Away York City)

Final game: 29 April 2008 (Home Brackley Town)

Born of Moroccan parents, French born Abdelhalim El-Kholti started his career at Servette FC in Switzerland, before spending time with Wydad Casablanca in Morocco. In September 2002, he came over the the UK and after a trial, joined Yeovil Town where he played in their Conference winning side. He was released at the end of the 2003/2004 season, and joined Cambridge United, the club being relegated to the Conference. The following season, he joined Chester City, before dropping into non-league football with Weymouth in July 2005. With the Dorset club suffering financial difficulties, he moved to Grays Athleic where he played 6 times before being released. Abdou joined Diamonds on 29 August 2007 re-joining Garry Hill – his former manager at Weymouth. He added flexibility down the left, playing in midfield or defence, and after a brief loan spell at Billericay Town in November, and made an impression towards the end of the 2007/2008 season, notably in the Setanta Shield games.

He was released at the end of that season however, and joined Woking 18 June 2008 for the following season. After Woking’s relegation, he joined newly promoted Hayes & Yeading on 1 September 2009, but his stay was short lived and he was released the following month. Abdou retired from football to return the catering business which he had learned while in Paris after leaving school. His passion for pancakes saw him open up his own business in Canary Wharf, London in October 2010. He is still involved with the catering trade as of 2018.

Appearances

2007/2008 – squad number 27