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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Career

Carmona is the son of a former

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) 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 France, department of ...

player, Norbert Carmona, who made two appearances for the club in the 1977–78 season. A quick

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, Carmona joined the Montpellier youth academy in 1993 from Castelnau Le Crès, where he had played alongside future professional players such as

Sébastien Gimenez Sébastien Gimenez (born 21 March 1974) is a French football coach and former professional footballer who is a goalkeeping coach for the Monaco under-19 team. Playing career Gimenez mainly played football at the lower level for Castelnau Le Cr ...

Romain Rambier Romain Rambier (born 29 August 1981) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Career He played on the professional level in Segunda División for Racing Ferrol and in Ligue 2 for Libourne Libourne (; ) is a co ...

and

Grégory Vignal Grégory Vignal (born 19 July 1981) is a French football coach and former professional player. A left back, Vignal played in the top division in five countries – England, France, Spain, Scotland and Greece – and in the second tier in a sixth ...

. 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 (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

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

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

, 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 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

. 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 association football, football List of football clubs in France, team playing in the city of Valence, Drôme. History The team dissoved in 2005 due to financial problems. Its suc ...

in 2001, competing in

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

. 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 (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, and later

Racing Besançon Racing Besançon is a French 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 3, the fifth tier of France Football. History Founded in 1904 by ...

, 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 Sète (; , ), also historically spelled ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises'' (fem ...

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

and

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

. 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 Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

Régional 1 The Régional 1, formerly Division d'Honneur or Honneur Ligue 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 six ...

. 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 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

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