Grégory Arnolin

Grégory Arnolin (born 10 November 1980), known simply as Grégory, is a French former professional footballer who played as a central defender and represented Martinique internationally.

Grégory
Personal information
Full name Grégory Arnolin
Date of birth (1980-11-10) 10 November 1980
Place of birth Livry-Gargan, France
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
US Montfermeil
1997–1999 Paris Saint-Germain
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 Paris SG B 21 (0)
1999–2000 → Red Star (loan) 14 (0)
2001–2002 Villemomble
2003–2004 Pedras Rubras 46 (7)
2004–2006 Gil Vicente 53 (10)
2006–2008 Marítimo 44 (3)
2008–2009 Vitória Guimarães 26 (2)
2009–2013 Sporting Gijón 93 (3)
2013 Paços Ferreira 6 (0)
2014 Goa 15 (2)
2014–2015 Atlético 24 (1)
2015–2016 Goa 24 (1)
Total 366 (29)
National team
2013 Martinique 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Arnolin was born in Livry-Gargan, Seine-Saint-Denis. At the age of 16 he signed a semi-professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain F.C. but, during his spell at the club, he never played for the first team.

In the summer of 2001, after a loan to Red Star FC, Arnolin's contract with PSG ran out and he became a free agent. He was quickly acquired by semi-professionals Villemomble Sports (also in Paris, competing in the fourth division) but, however, never appeared in a league match for the side, and in the summer of 2002 was released.

Arnolin then moved to Portugal, to play for F.C. Pedras Rubras in the third level. After solid performances he attracted attention from bigger clubs in the country, and eventually signed his first professional contract with Gil Vicente FC, in the Primeira Liga. In his second season he scored an impressive seven league goals for the Barcelos team, catching the eye of Madeira-based C.S. Marítimo and signing a two-year deal in late May 2006;[1] after only missing one league game in his debut campaign, he played second-fiddle in the second (15 appearances).

On 12 June 2007, British sports channel Sky Sports reported that Arnolin was preparing to sign for West Bromwich Albion of the Football League Championship, after manager Tony Mowbray made it clear that the player was one of his summer transfer targets. The player's agent, former footballer Rudi Vata, said to the Birmingham Mail:

"There is a good possibility that Grégory will join West Bromwich but there are still issues to be resolved. We should know more at the end of this month when people are back from holiday and all focus switches towards pre-season. I think there is a big chance he will be a West Bromwich player next season. He is well aware of how close they were to playing in the Premiership and the club's ambitions match his own. What we don't know yet is whether it would be a transfer for about £400,000 or a loan move – that is one of the issues we have to discuss".[2]

However, nothing came of it and Arnolin remained in Marítimo. On 7 June 2008, he signed for another Portuguese team, Vitória de Guimarães,[3] as he was also applying for Portuguese citizenship – during his spell in the country, he began being addressed by his first name.

On 24 June 2009, Grégory moved to Sporting de Gijón, on a three-year link.[4] In only his third game for the Asturians he netted through a header, as 10-men Sporting levelled 2–2 at Valencia CF with just four minutes to go.[5]

Grégory's importance at the club became gradually less important, and he only appeared in 14 league games in 2012–13, in division two. On 24 August 2014, after brief spells in Portugal with F.C. Paços de Ferreira and Atlético Clube de Portugal, he was drafted by FC Goa to play in the inaugural edition of the Indian Super League;[6][7] he retired at the age of 36,[8] and later worked for Portuguese sports agency ProEleven.[9]

International career

In June 2013, aged nearly 33, Grégory was called up by Martinique for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[10] He made his debut in the tournament's opener, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win against Canada.[11][12]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Pedras Rubras 2002–03[13] Segunda Divisão B 15000—150
2003–04[13] Segunda Divisão B 31710—327
Total 46710—477
Gil Vicente 2004–05[13] Primeira Liga 23310—243
2005–06[13] Primeira Liga 30700—307
Total 531010—5410
Marítimo 2006–07[13] Primeira Liga 29210—302
2007–08[13] Primeira Liga 15110—161
Total 44320—463
Vitória Guimarães 2008–09[13] Primeira Liga 262814[lower-alpha 1]0383
Sporting Gijón 2009–10[14] La Liga 35200—352
2010–11[14] La Liga 23110—241
2011–12[14] La Liga 21000—210
2012–13[14] Segunda División 14040—180
Total 93350—983
Paços Ferreira 2013–14[13] Primeira Liga 60102[lower-alpha 2]090
Goa 2014[14] Indian Super League 152——152
Atlético 2014–15[13] Segunda Liga 24130—271
Goa 2015[14] Indian Super League 40——40
Career total 311282106033828
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup
  2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

References
  1. "Ulisses Morais anuncia contratação de Gregory" [Ulisses Morais announces signing of Gregory]. Record (in Portuguese). 31 May 2006. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  2. "West Brom keen on French defender". BBC Sport. 11 June 2007. Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  3. "Guimarães makes Douglas latest recruit". UEFA. 6 July 2008. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  4. "Grégory Arnolin se convertirá en el tercer fichaje sportinguista y el Almería puja por Barral" [Grégory Arnolin will become third sportinguista signing, and Almería fight for Barral] (in Spanish). Canal Rojiblanco. 23 June 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
  5. "Valencia held at home". ESPN Soccernet. 20 September 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  6. "6th round draft". Facebook. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  7. "Indian Super League: FC Goa re-sign defender Gregory Arnolin". Goal. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  8. "¿Qué fue de Grégory Arnolin?" [What happened to Grégory Arnolin?]. La Voz de Asturias (in Spanish). 27 December 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  9. "La nueva vida de Gregory Arnolin" [Gregory Arnolin's new life]. La Voz de Asturias (in Spanish). 3 June 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  10. "Gregory inicia la cuenta atrás para la Golden Cup" [Gregory starts countdown for Golden Cup]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  11. "Canada vs. Martinique: Gold Cup match preview". Major League Soccer. 7 July 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  12. "1er tour: la Martinique s'offre un succès mérité face au Canada" [1st round: Martinique work for deserving victory against Canada] (in French). Eurosport. 8 July 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  13. "Gregory". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  14. "G. Arnolin". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
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