Grégory Carmona (born 17 January 1979) 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

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 ...

Career

Carmona is the son of a former Montpellier player, Norbert Carmona, who made two appearances for the club in the 1977–78 season. A quick

attacking 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 ...

, Carmona joined the Montpellier youth academy in 1993 from Castelnau Le Crès, where he had played alongside future professional players such as Sébastien Gimenez, Romain Rambier and Grégory Vignal. In 1997 he was part of the team reaching the final in the

Coupe Gambardella The Coupe Gambardella is a French football cup competition held between the under-18s of the French football clubs, organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). The cup is regarded as an opportunity for young hopefuls to showcase their s ...

which was eventually lost to

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 ...

. He made his professional debut for the first team on 25 March 2000 against

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

, in which he came on as a 88th-minute substitute for Rui Pataca in a 2–0 win. He played three league games during the season which saw the club suffer relegation to Ligue 2. He signed his first professional contract after the season, but after only making seven league appearances in the following season, he was released by the club. Carmona joined

ASOA Valence Association Sportive d'Origine Arménienne de Valence was a French football team playing in the city of Valence, Drôme. History The team ended in 2005 due to financial problems. Its successor is AS Valence, which plays at an amateur level. N ...

in 2001, competing in

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...

. He contributed greatly to the club's third place in the league which secured promotion to Ligue 2, making 37 appearances and finishing as the club's top goalscorer with ten goals. After failing to gain a contract following a trial with

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

, and later

Racing Besançon Racing Besançon is a French association football, football club based in Besançon. It was founded in 1904. They play at the Stade Léo Lagrange. The club currently competes in the Championnat National 2 the fourth tier of France Football. Histo ...

, he finally signed a one-year contract with

Gueugnon Gueugnon () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Population Economy The primary industry in the town is a stainless-steel factory run by Aperam. A huge part of Gueugnon ...

. He played for several clubs the following years including Sète,

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

and Boulogne. After being released in 2008, he kept in contact with Sète for a return. However, the move did not come to fruition due to the club's dire financial situation. In January 2009, Carmona joined Béziers in

Régional 1 The Régional 1 (previously known as ''Division d'Honneur'') is the common generic name for the highest level football league competitions run by each of the 13 Regional Leagues in France. Together, these league competitions serve as the sixt ...

. He had some late success with the club, scoring a decisive goal against Tarbes Pyrénées in 2010 which ensured promotion to the national divisions. Carmona retired from football at the end of the 2009–10 season, which had ended in a second consecutive promotion, this time to the fourth-tier Championnat de France Amateur.

Honours

Béziers * Régional 1 – Languedoc-Roussillon: 2008–09 * Championnat de France Amateur 2 – Group F: 2009–10

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carmona, Gregory 1979 births Living people AS Béziers (2007) players ASOA Valence players Men's association football midfielders Castelnau Le Crès FC players Championnat National 3 players FC Gueugnon players FC Sète 34 players Footballers from Montpellier French men's footballers Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Montpellier HSC players Régional 1 players Tours FC players US Boulogne players