Benjamin Boulenger (born 1 March 1990) is a French

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a defender for Belgian club

Francs Borains Royal Francs Borains is a football club based in Boussu, Hainaut Province, Belgium. It was founded in 1949 and its home ground is Stade Robert Urbain, which has a capacity of 6,000. The club is affiliated to the Royal Belgian Football Associat ...

Career

Boulogne

Boulenger started his career with

Division d'Honneur Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

club

Aulnoye Aulnoye-Aymeries (; pcd, Auno-Aymeries) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It was established in 1953 by the merger of the former communes Aulnoye and Aymeries. Before the opening of the high-speed railway line between Brus ...

before joining Boulogne. He was is initially a part of the reserve team, before being promoted to the first team competing in Ligue 2 ahead of the 2011–12 season. After a season where he mainly appeared as a substitute, he became a starter the following season in

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

after Boulogne's relegation.

Lens

After being contacted by Jocelyn Blanchard, Boulenger joined Ligue 2 club

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

in August 2013 on an amateur contract. He became a part of the club's reserve team playing in National 2. Boulenger made his professional debut for the first team on 11 November 2013 in a 2–2 away draw against Chamois Niortais, replacing Pablo Chavarría, and scoring his first goal a few seconds after coming on. Lens received a recruitment ban in 2014 due to irregularities in the club's proposed budget, which meant that Boulenger could not sign a professional contract. Alongside Samuel Atrous, he spent six months without a team and waited until December 2014 for a six-month contract to be offered and approved.

Sporting Charleroi

On 26 May 2015, he left Lens, who had just been relegated to Ligue 2, and signed with

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...

club

Sporting Charleroi Royal Charleroi Sporting Club, often simply known as Charleroi or Sporting Charleroi, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League and their current spell at ...

on a two-year deal with an option for an additional year. He made his debut for the club, as well as his European debut, on 23 July 2015, replacing

Neeskens Kebano Neeskens Kebano (born 10 March 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Fulham and the DR Congo national team. Kebano is a former French youth international having earned caps a ...

in the 68th minute of a 4–1 win in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

over

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Jerus ...

. A long-time reserve, he only made his league debut on 23 April 2016, during his club's 4–0 victory against Mechelen. On 1 September 2017, Boulenger was sent on a one-season loan with an option to buy to OH Leuven competing in the second-tier Proximus League. After returning to Sporting Charleroi, his situation did not improve and despite his contract running for one more season, until June 2019, he was placed in the reserve team and was asked to look for a new club. He failed to find a new club, and stayed with Charleroi until the expiry of his contract.

Seraing

Boulenger joined

Seraing Seraing (; wa, Serè) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Ougrée, and Seraing. With Liège, Herstal, Sai ...

on 19 September 2019, signing a one-year contract with an option for another year with the club competing in the third-tier

Belgian First Amateur Division The Belgian National Division 1, commonly referred to as simply Eerste Nationale (in Dutch) or Nationale 1 (in French) is a semi-professional and the third-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First ...

. He was part of the team winning two promotions in a row, reaching the top level

in 2021.

Francs Borains

In the summer of 2022, Boulenger signed with

in the third-tier

Belgian National Division 1 The Belgian National Division 1, commonly referred to as simply Eerste Nationale (in Dutch) or Nationale 1 (in French) is a semi-professional and the third-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boulenger, Benjamin 1990 births People from Maubeuge Living people French footballers Men's association football defenders US Boulogne players RC Lens players R. Charleroi S.C. players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players R.F.C. Seraing (1922) players Francs Borains players Ligue 2 players Ligue 1 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Belgian National Division 1 players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Sportspeople from Nord (French department) Footballers from Hauts-de-France