Christian André (born 14 August 1950) 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 le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Career

André, who is originally from

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

, was recruited by

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 1972 with fellow Trinitaire

Jacques Laposte Jacques "Jacky" Laposte (born 24 March 1952) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent his entire senior career at Paris Saint-Germain. Club career Laposte began his career in his hometown club of La Gaul ...

, after the club had been relegated to the Division 3 following a split with

Paris FC Paris Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris FC or simply PFC, is a French professional football club based in Paris, that competes in the Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Paris FC play their home matches at the Stade Ch ...

. In his first season with PSG, he quickly established himself as a key player in

Robert Vicot Robert Vicot (born 29 October 1931) is a French former professional football defender. He played for Ivry sur Seine, Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville, Toulon and SO Le Lavandou. Vicot coached SO Le Lavandou, Châteauroux, Paris SG, Rouen, Paris FC, ...

's side. Nicknamed the "black panther", André scored 21 goals in 30 Division 3 games to help the Parisian club achieve promotion to the Division 2. He was PSG's top scorer during the 1972–73 season. In his second season at the club, André scored 14 goals in all competitions, as PSG was promoted for the second time in a row, this time to Division 1. André started in several matches, but was then relegated to the bench in favour of

Mustapha Dahleb Mustapha Dahleb (born 8 February 1952) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Having begun his career at Sedan and CR Belouizdad, he spent most of his career at Paris Saint-Germain before playing a final seaso ...

and

François M'Pelé François M'Pelé (born 13 July 1947) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years. Career M'Pelé played professiona ...

. In the 1974–75 season, André suffered a knee ligament injury. He was loaned to

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

in January 1975, and returned from loan eighteen months later. Unable to establish himself in the squad, he signed for

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hos ...

in 1977. After one season at Béziers he joined

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

in 1978, lasting one season before retiring.

After football

After retiring, André briefly coached in Martinique, then returned to metropolitan France where he coached young players in

Gagny Gagny () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Geography Location Gagny is located 10 km to the east of Paris. Until the law of 10 July 1964, the commune was part of the departme ...

in 2003. He then became a groundskeeper at

football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural tu ...

es in the Paris area. André left Paris for

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

and

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Christian 1950 births Living people French men's footballers Martiniquais men's footballers French people of Martiniquais descent Black French sportspeople Men's association football forwards People from La Trinité, Martinique AS Samaritaine players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Red Star F.C. players AS Béziers Hérault (football) players Montpellier HSC players French Division 3 (1971–1993) players Ligue 2 players Ligue 1 players