Franck Roger Queudrue (born 27 August 1978) 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
left back. He began his career with
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 ...
, for whom he played in
Ligue 1, and went on to play in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
for
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
,
Fulham and
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, 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. Sin ...
, and in
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...
for
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
. He returned to Lens in 2010, and joined Red Star on a free transfer in 2012. Queudrue retired at the end of the 2012–13 season.
Queudrue played one match for France at B international level,
and considered playing for the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
until being deemed ineligible by FIFA to play for them.
Early life
Franck Roger Queudrue was born on 27 August 1978 in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
Club career
Lens
Queudrue began his football career in the youth system of
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 ...
. He made 41 appearances for the club's reserve team in the
Championnat de France Amateur (CFA) from the 1997–98 season onwards, scoring seven goals, and stepped up to the first team during the 1999–2000 season. His debut in
Ligue 1 came as a second-half
substitute against
Montpellier on 16 October 1999, and during that first season he played 16 league games as well as 6 in the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
. His first league goal came in his third appearance, a 90th-minute winner away to
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
. He appeared frequently the following season, but made only two substitute appearances in 2001–02 before leaving for England on loan.
Middlesbrough
Queudrue joined English
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
club
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
on loan in October 2001, and the deal was made permanent at the end of the season.
He stayed until the summer of 2006. His preferred position was left-back, though he was comfortable at centre-back and, on certain occasions, played for Middlesbrough as a left or central midfielder. He was also renowned for his free kick and penalty converting ability.
He became popular with fans when he scored in his second game for the club – against
North East rivals
Sunderland. Queudrue impressed enough to earn a permanent move in May 2002 for a fee of £2.5 million.
[ However, he was also recognised for his poor disciplinary record. His five yellow and three red cards in the 2002–03 season contributed hugely to Middlesbrough missing out on a place in the ]UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
through the fair play league – although, conversely, he was a major reason they were high enough up the league to be in contention. He was part of the Middlesbrough side, who beat Bolton Wanderers to win the 2004 League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
final. He also started for Middlesbrough in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final which they lost 4–0 to Sevilla
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
in Eindhoven.
In 2006, Queudrue announced that he was considering switching his nationality to British, after becoming eligible for UK citizenship. He had previously hoped to claim Irish citizenship, before revealing "unfortunately I am one generation out" to be eligible.
Fulham
Queudrue left for Fulham, signing a four-year contract in July 2006. Queudrue was a regular for Fulham under Chris Coleman, but he was made available for transfer by new manager Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrence Philip Sanchez (born 22 October 1959) is a Northern Irish football manager and former international footballer.
The defining moment of his playing career came in the 1988 FA Cup Final, when he scored the winning goal for Wimbledon a ...
, as he did not agree with Sanchez's long-ball game. He scored once in the league for Fulham, an injury time equaliser against Charlton Athletic.
Birmingham City
On 3 August 2007, Queudrue signed a three-year contract with Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, 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. Sin ...
for a fee estimated at £2.5 million. After Birmingham's relegation at the end of the 2007–08 season, co-owner David Sullivan claimed he should have intervened to stop manager Steve Bruce "buying a pile of rubbish" and singled out Queudrue as "a major disappointment". Sullivan's apology the next day was accepted, but after Queudrue reported back late for pre-season training, he was told he could leave on a free transfer. However, he returned to the team the following season, produced man-of-the-match performances, and in October Sullivan issued a public apology in the match programme. Voted player of the season both by the fans and by the local newspaper, the ''Birmingham Mail
The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire a ...
'', Queudrue also received personal message of congratulation from Sullivan via the club website.
In March 2010, Queudrue joined Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
of League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season, but injury restricted him to just three appearances. On his return to Birmingham, the club announced that he would be released when his contract expired at the end of June 2010.
Return to Lens
Queudrue had a trial at Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
, but was reported to have joined Greece Super League
The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...
club Panionios
Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...
instead. However, he chose not to proceed with that move for family reasons, and after several weeks training with his first club, 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 ...
, he rejoined them on 27 September until the end of the season.
Red Star
On 1 August 2012, Queudrue signed a two-year contract with Red Star on a free transfer. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 win over Cherbourg, and his second in a 1–1 draw with Quevilly.
International career
While a Lens player in 2000, Queudrue earned one cap for the France B national football team
The France national football B team is a national football team representing France that plays matches at a lower level than the France national football team. In France, the team is usually called "France A–". They commonly played matches aga ...
. He was hopeful of being able to represent Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
as he believed he had an Irish grandfather, but it was later discovered he in fact had an Irish great-grandfather, thus making him ineligible.
Career statistics
Honours
Middlesbrough
* Football League Cup: 2004
*UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
runner-up: 2006
References
External links
Fulham FC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queudrue, Franck
1978 births
Living people
Footballers from Paris
French footballers
Men's association football defenders
RC Lens players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Fulham F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
Colchester United F.C. players
Red Star F.C. players
Ligue 1 players
Premier League players
English Football League players
Ligue 2 players
French expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in England
French expatriate sportspeople in England
French people of Irish descent