Bernard Mendy (born 20 August 1981) is a French former professional

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 played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He was known for his blistering pace and constant overlapping runs. He most recently served as the assistant manager of

Paris Saint-Germain Féminine Paris Saint-Germain Féminine (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris SG, or simply Paris or PSG, are a French professional football club based in Paris. Founded in 1971, they compete in Division 1 Féminine, the top divi ...

. Having started his professional career with Caen in the 1998–99 season, Mendy moved to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

in 2000 where his eight-year was only interrupted by a season-long loan at Bolton Wanderers. He went on to play for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

and OB before returning to France joining

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

in 2012. Later in his career, he had stints with Indian clubs

Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural season o ...

and

East Bengal FC East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fli ...

as well as with Cypriot side

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintai ...

Early life

Bernard Mendy was born on 20 August 1981 in

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. Geography The city is on the Iton river. Climate History In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named ...

, Eure.

Playing career

A fan of

since his childhood, Mendy achieved his ambitions in 2000 when he joined PSG from

SM Caen Stade Malherbe Caen (; commonly known as SM Caen, SMC, or simply Caen) is a French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy, that competes in the Ligue 2. The club was founded on 17 November 1913 by the merger of ''Clu ...

. Even though he had impressed a lot of people by his qualities during his first two seasons at PSG, he was loaned to Bolton Wanderers of England for a year, where he was appreciated for his offensive and speedy style. The new manager of PSG, Vahid Halilhodzic, decided to give him an opportunity to assert himself by using him as a first choice. That year, Mendy played one of his best seasons and was rewarded by playing his first match with the France national team against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. However, he was not selected for the country's

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

roster. In 2008, he came on as a substitute and scored the decisive goal in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue against

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...

in a 2–1 victory, calmly stroking the ball home from the penalty spot. Mendy had stated his desire to return to England, to play for his favourite football club, Manchester United. Instead, on 20 June 2008, it was reported by

BBC Radio Humberside BBC Radio Humberside is the BBC's local radio station serving East Yorkshire and North & North East Lincolnshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Queen's Gardens in Hull. According to RAJAR, the statio ...

that

had offered Mendy a three-year deal to join the newly promoted English club. He accepted the offer and joined Hull City for training in Italy. Hull manager Phil Brown had been assistant manager at Bolton during Mendy's time there. He scored his first goal for Hull City, a lob against Manchester United, in a game they lost 4–3. He was released from his contract on 17 May 2010. On 9 February 2011, Mendy signed a -year contract with Danish club

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga ...

having passed the medical examination. On 25 June 2012, Mendy returned to playing in the French league by signing a two-year contract for Stade Brestois on a free transfer. On 21 August 2014, Mendy was a first round pick in the Inaugural ISL International Draft, signing for the

. He started in their first match on 15 October, a 2–1 win at

FC Goa Football Club Goa is an Indian professional football club based in Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 26 August 2014. Nicknamed as '' Gaurs'', the club plays their h ...

. On 12 January 2016, Mendy signed to play for the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

side

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

in the 2015–16 season. For the 2016 ISL season, he returned to Chennaiyin for one final season, playing 9 games and scoring twice as Chennaiyin had a disappointing season, finishing 7th in the points table. He decided to end his career at the end of the 2016 ISL season.

Coaching career

Mendy was appointed as assistant manager of

in December 2017. With manager

Patrice Lair Patrice Lair (born 16 June 1961) is a French football coach. He is currently the manager of Division 1 Féminine side Bordeaux. Career As a footballer Lair played in the lower categories in France. After spending a decade in Stade Briochin and ...

joining Chamois Niortais prior to the final of 2017–18 Coupe de France féminine, Mendy took over as caretaker manager and led his side to a 1–0 victory against six-time defending champions

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

. It was also second major title in team's history after the cup victory in 2010. He continues in his role of assistant manager after the appointment of Olivier Echouafni as manager.

Personal life

Mendy is married to former gymnast Lucy Hughes and has three daughters, Kayna, Iman and his third daughter was born in June 2010.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

: 2003–04, 2005–06 * Coupe de la Ligue: 2007–08 * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001 Chennaiyin *

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

: 2015 France U18 *

UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Individual * UNFP Team of the Year: 2003–04

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendy, Bernard 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Évreux Footballers from Normandy French footballers Association football defenders Stade Malherbe Caen players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Odense Boldklub players Stade Brestois 29 players Chennaiyin FC players AEL Limassol players East Bengal Club players Premier League players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Danish Superliga players Indian Super League players Cypriot First Division players France youth international footballers France international footballers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in India French expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus French expatriate sportspeople in Denmark French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in India