Olivier Tébily (born 19 December 1975) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. A French citizen, he won 18 full international caps for his native Ivory Coast national team. He played in the top level league in four countries: for Châteauroux in Ligue 1, for Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, for Birmingham City in the English Premier League, and for Toronto FC in Major League Soccer. Early life and career Tébily was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and raised in France. As a child, he was an Arsenal fan. He became a naturalised French citizen, and began his career as a junior at Ligue 2 Niort, where he spent several years. In January 1998, he moved to Châteauroux, promoted that season to Ligue 1. While his contribution failed to prevent their relegation, it clearly attracted favourable attention, because the following March, Steve Bruce signed him for English club Sheffield United for a fee of £200,000. His Sheffield United career proved brief. His seventh game for the club was watched by Kenny Dalglish, and on Dalglish's appointment as Director of Football at Celtic in June 1999, he was quick to bring Tébily to the club for a fee of £1.25 million. On 8 July, he became manager John Barnes' third signing. Celtic Tébily marked his first Celtic appearance, in a pre-season game against Leeds United, by scoring an own goal, an early indication of the sometimes erratic nature of his performances which earned him the nickname "Bombscare" from the Celtic fans. The next pre-season game, this time against Newcastle United, saw him redeem himself by scoring at the right end, and also by a good defensive performance against Alan Shearer. He held down a regular starting spot until Christmas, when he joined up with the Ivory Coast national team for the 2000 African Cup of Nations. His return from his country's unsuccessful campaign was delayed when the squad was detained in a military camp in the Ivory Coast, described by the authorities as a necessary move to ensure the players' safety in light of the public reaction to their failure to reach the knockout stage of the competition. Tébily and the remainder of the squad were able to make their way home following intervention from FIFA president Sepp Blatter. His next appearance for Celtic was in the shock Scottish Cup defeat at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle