Grégory Vignal
 Vignal playing on tour with Southampton in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 19 July 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Montpellier, France | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | AS Béziers | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–1998 | Castelnau Le Crès FC[1] | ||
| 1998–1999 | Montpellier | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1999–2000 | Montpellier | 0 | (0) |
| 2000–2005 | Liverpool | 11 | (0) |
| 2003 | → Bastia (loan) | 15 | (0) |
| 2003 | → Rennes (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2004 | → Espanyol (loan) | 8 | (1) |
| 2004–2005 | → Rangers (loan) | 30 | (3) |
| 2005–2006 | Portsmouth | 14 | (0) |
| 2006–2009 | Lens | 22 | (0) |
| 2007 | → Kaiserslautern (loan) | 9 | (1) |
| 2007–2008 | → Southampton (loan) | 20 | (3) |
| 2009–2010 | Birmingham City | 8 | (0) |
| 2010 | Atromitos | 4 | (0) |
| 2012 | Dundee United | 0 | (0) |
| 2013– | AS Béziers | 5 | (1) |
| National team | |||
| 2001 | France U20 | 9 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | France U21 | 4 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:45, 10 October 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Grégory Vignal (born 19 July 1981 in Montpellier) is a French footballer. A left full back or midfielder, he plays for CFA club AS Béziers.
Vignal has played in the top division in five countries – England, France, Spain, Scotland and Greece – and in the second tier in a sixth, Germany, though as of 2012 he is yet to play more than 30 league games for any of his clubs.[2][3][4] At international level, he represented France at under-20 level in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship[5] and has also been capped at under-21 level.[6]
Playing career
Liverpool
Vignal began his career at his home town club, Montpellier. He soon established a reputation as a promising young player, and was signed by Liverpool in September 2000 for £500,000. He immediately impressed in his first reserve team outings and made his first team debut against Rotherham United in the FA Cup. He went on to make a further six appearances during the 2000–01 season.
Vignal returned for the following season having featured in the World Youth Championship with the France Under-18 squad, and staked his claim for the left-back spot with some impressive performances at the start of the 2001–02 season. However, he found it hard to displace the reliable and experienced John Arne Riise. He went on to make nine appearances that season.
He made just four appearances during the first half of the 2002–03 season, and was loaned to Bastia for the remainder of the campaign in mid-January 2003.
During the 2003–04 campaign Vignal was again loaned out to Rennes for the first half of the season, and to Espanyol for the latter half.
Vignal had a season at Rangers as the club regained the Scottish Premier League title, playing 42 games for the club, picking up a Scottish League Cup winner's medal as well as the league title.
Portsmouth
At the end of the season Vignal's Liverpool contract expired, and with him available on a free transfer Rangers wanted Vignal to sign a permanent contract with them. However he failed to agree terms, instead opting to move to Portsmouth. He was then released from Portsmouth after failing to impress Harry Redknapp on his return in the 2005–06 season.
RC Lens
He then moved to Lens on a free transfer and was loaned out to Kaiserslautern for the second half of the season in January 2007.
After a trial with the club,[7] Vignal joined Southampton on a season-long loan on 27 July 2007.[8] He scored his first goal for Southampton with a free kick in a 2–0 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup,[9] and his first league goal came from a penalty against Scunthorpe United[10] while playing with a broken arm.[citation needed] He scored another penalty in the 2–2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers before being sent off for an off-the-ball incident.[11] However he later won an appeal against the card.[citation needed] He scored four goals from 23 appearances in the 2007–08 season.
During the summer of 2009, Vignal had a trial with Queens Park Rangers which did not bring the offer of a contract.[12]
Birmingham City
He then played in a friendly match against Sporting Gijón as part of a trial with Birmingham City, newly promoted to the Premier League. After producing what manager Alex McLeish described as a "strong performance",[13] Vignal signed a one-year contract with the club, with an option for a further year, subject to medical examination.[14] Injury disrupted his season, which combined with the form of Liam Ridgewell at left-back restricted the player to just nine first-team appearances. The club chose not to take up the option of a second year.[15]
In July 2010, Vignal had trials with Sheffield United[16] and Cardiff City.[17] In September 2010, he joined Atromitos. He then left the Athens club in December 2010.
On 12 September 2012, Vignal signed a contract with Scottish Premier League club Dundee United until January 2013,[18] but left the club in November without having made a first-team appearance.[19] He returned to France, where he signed for CFA (fourth-tier) club AS Béziers ahead of the 2013–14 season.[20]
Honours
- FA Cup: 2001
- UEFA Cup: 2001
- European Super Cup: 2001
- Scottish League Cup: 2005
- Scottish Premier League: 2005
References
- ↑ "Portraits" (in French). Castelnau Le Crès FC. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- ↑ "La fiche de Grégory Vignal". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 2 September 2009.
- ↑ "Gregory Vignal All time playing career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
- ↑ "G. Vignal". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ↑ "FIFA Player Statistics: Gregory Vignal". FIFA. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
- ↑ Garin, Erik (5 June 2006). "France – U-21 – International Results – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 2 September 2009.
- ↑ "Vignal on trial". Southampton F.C. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008.
- ↑ "Saints complete capture of Vignal". BBC Sport. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ↑ "Southampton 2–0 Leicester". BBC Sport. 5 January 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
- ↑ "Scunthorpe 1–1 Southampton". BBC Sport. 22 February 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
- ↑ "Wolves 2–2 Southampton". BBC Sport. 4 March 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
- ↑ "QPR decide against signing Vignal". BBC Sport. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ↑ Tattum, Colin (10 August 2009). "Gregory Vignal makes 'strong' case to fill Blues' problem left-back position". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ↑ "Vignal signs in". Birmingham City F.C. 13 August 2009. Archived from the original on 16 August 2009.
- ↑ "Quintet depart". Birmingham City F.C. 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 17 May 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
- ↑ "Trio link up with Blades". Sky Sports. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
- ↑ "Deportivo edge it against City". Cardiff City F.C. 31 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 November 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ↑ "Defender Gregory Vignal signs Dundee United deal". BBC Sport. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ↑ "Time up for Gregory Vignal and time out for Gary Mackay-Steven". Daily Record. Retrieved 10 October.
- ↑ Lauricella, Mathieu (13 August 2013). "Béziers: Grégory Vignal s'engage" [Béziers: Grégory Vignal signs up]. Foot-National.com (in French). Retrieved 10 October 2013.