Christophe Grondin (born 2 September 1983) 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 le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Biography

Grondin was born in the French city of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, of Malagasy and

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

descent. The defensive midfielder was a youth player at French side

. In 2000, he joined the English club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. He remained there for 3 years and moved to the

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Associa ...

side

K.S.K. Ronse Koninklijke Sportkring Ronse was a Belgian football club formed in Ronse, East Flanders in 1906 as A.S. Renaisienne. History A.S. Renaisienne was founded in 1906 and received later the matricule n° 38. The club first reached second division ...

. Grondin helped keep Ronse in the Second Division with a goal in the last match. He moved back to

in 2004. During the winter of the 2004-2005 season, he was loaned to the Belgian side

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

. They signed Grondin at the end of the season. He is contracted until mid 2008. Grondin wanted to be able to be a regular player and quickly became a key member of Cercle Brugge's side. During the winter of the season 2006-07, it was reported that French and English teams were interested in Grondin. At the end of that season, Grondin was chosen as Player of the Year by the Cercle Brugge fans. On 29 January 2007 Grondin was called up for the first time to play for the national team of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, against FC Toulouse. This match was not registered as an official friendly by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, so Grondin is not capped as a player for Madagascar and he still can play for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. But Grondin has acquired the

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

lese nationality and was called up by coach

Jean Thissen Jean Thissen (born 21 April 1946) is a retired Belgian international footballer. At the club level, he played for Standard Liège and Anderlecht. He also played internationally for the Belgium national football team in the 1970 FIFA World Cup an ...

to play for the national team of that countrybr>
On 22 May 2007 Grondin signed a contract with the Belgian club

AA Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...

until 2011, where he stayed until the summer of 2012, when he moved to Al-Faisaly.

Honours

; K.A.A. Gent * Belgian Cup (1): 2009–10

References

Christophe Grondin player info at the official Cercle Brugge site

Cerclemuseum.be
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grondin, Christophe 1983 births Living people French men's footballers Malagasy men's footballers French people of Réunion descent French sportspeople of Malagasy descent Men's association football midfielders Toulouse FC players Birmingham City F.C. players K.S.K. Ronse players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players K.A.A. Gent players Al Faisaly FC players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Saudi Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia