Fahid Ben Khalfallah ( ar, فهيد بن خلف الله; born 9 October 1982) is a retired 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 last played for and was head coach of Australian side Nunawading City. Born in France, he represented the Tunisia national team between 2008 and 2011.

Career

Early career

Ben Khalfallah played in the French second and third divisions until the age of 25, first with

Amiens SC Amiens Sporting Club (; commonly referred to as Amiens SC or simply Amiens) is a French association football club based in the northern city of Amiens in the Hauts-de-France region. The club was formed in 1901 and play in Ligue 2, the second d ...

, then with

Stade Lavallois Stade Lavallois Mayenne Football Club (), also referred to as Stade Laval or simply Laval, is a French association football club based in Laval in western France. The club was formed on 17 July 1902 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second l ...

and

Angers SCO Angers Sporting Club de l'Ouest, commonly referred to as Angers SCO or simply Angers (), is a French professional football club based in Angers in Pays de la Loire in western France. The club was founded in 1919 and plays in Ligue 1, the first ...

, until he got his first taste of

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

football with

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 ...

. His new team, however, was relegated at the end of the season after a decent first season in Ligue 1 for the midfielder.

Valenciennes

In the summer of 2009, he signed for

Valenciennes FC Valenciennes Football Club (; commonly known as Valenciennes or USVA) is a French association football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1913 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Valenciennes play ...

for three years. He started the season very well, starting five games and coming on as a substitute in another five, scoring 3 goals and providing 5 assists.

Bordeaux

In August 2010, Ben Khalfallah joined

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

signing a four-year contract with a fee of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

5 million being paid to Valenciennes.

Troyes

He joined

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

in January 2014.

Melbourne Victory

In September 2014 he signed a one-year contract with

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

. His first season in Australia was very successful; scoring five goals and making nine assists in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

helping to win that competitions Premiership and Championship, as well as being awarded the Victory Medal as the club's player of the season. On 24 April 2015, Melbourne Victory announced that they had retained Ben Khalfallah's services for a further two years, the player citing that he enjoyed life in Melbourne and playing for the club.#BenPenned: MVFC re-signs FBK
Melbourne Victory Official Website On 26 April 2017, Ben Khalfallah confirmed that he would be leaving the Victory at the end of the season. This was confirmed by the club on 12 May 2017, with Ben Khalfallah listed as one of 7 players departing the club at the end of the season.

Brisbane Roar

Ben Khalfallah signed with rival

club

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

on a one-season deal shortly after leaving the Victory. On 20 April 2018, following the elimination of Brisbane Roar against Melbourne City in the A-League Elimination Finals, Fahid Ben Khalfallah decided to retire at the age of 35.

Nunawading City

On 19 May 2018, only a month after announcing his retirement, Ben Khalfallah came out of retirement and sign for NPL2 East Victoria club Nunawading City for the remainder of the season. After promising the coaching staff he would play for Nunawading after his stint with Roar, Ben Khalfallah made his debut on the same day his signing was announced against the Eastern Lions in a goalless draw. Ben Khalfallah scored his first goal for Nunawading against

Melbourne City FC Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

Youth, winning the game 3–1. Nunawading finished the season in bottom place in NPL2 East and were relegated to the fifth-tier State League Division 1 South-East for 2019. In September 2018, Ben Khalfallah was announced as player-coach of Nunawading for the 2019 State League 1 season. Nunawading went on to finish top of the 2019 State League 1 South East ladder, winning the league and winning promotion back into the NPL in 2020. On October 15, 2021, after two disrupted seasons due to the COVID-19 Pandemic; Nunawading City announced on their facebook page that they had parted ways with Ben Khalfallah and assistant Devon Bonne after the 2021 NPL3 Season had been cancelled. Bringing his 3 years with the club and his playing career to an end at Mahoney's Reserve.

Personal life

Ben Khalfallah was born in Peronne, France, to Tunisian parents. His father had emigrated to France, also as a professional footballer. Although his parents were

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, Ben Khalfallah has described himself as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

.Fahid Ben Khalfallah condemns Paris religious terror
The Age 17 November 2015 He has often spoken very positively of the experience for himself and his family since moving to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, for Melbourne Victory, and this was a key reason for his re-signing for the club.

Honours

Club

Bordeaux *

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 ...

: 2012–13 Melbourne Victory: *

A-League Championship A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...

: 2014–2015 * A-League Premiership: 2014–2015 *

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Nunawading City *

Victorian State League Division 1 State League 1 is a semi-professional association football league in Victoria, Australia. Sitting at level 4 of the Victorian league system, below the three NPL Victoria divisions, it forms part of the fifth tier of the overall Australian league ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual

* Ligue 2 UNFP Team of the Year: 2007–08 *

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal Duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitu ...

Medal: 2014–15 * A-League PFA Team of the Season: 2014–15

References

External links

frenchleague.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Khalfallah, Fahid 1982 births Living people People from Péronne, Somme Sportspeople from Somme (department) Footballers from Hauts-de-France French sportspeople of Tunisian descent Citizens of Tunisia through descent Association football wingers Association football forwards Tunisian footballers Tunisia international footballers Amiens SC players Stade Lavallois players Angers SCO players Stade Malherbe Caen players Valenciennes FC players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players ES Troyes AC players Melbourne Victory FC players Brisbane Roar FC players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players A-League Men players Tunisian former Muslims French former Muslims Tunisian atheists French atheists French expatriate sportspeople in Australia French expatriate footballers French expatriate football managers Tunisian expatriate football managers Tunisian expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Australia Expatriate soccer managers in Australia