Jim Ablancourt (born 3 July 1983) 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 le ...

who played as a defender.

Early life

Ablancourt grew up in Saint-Pierre, a town in the French overseas department of

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 ...

Career

Early career

At the age of 14, Ablancourt started training with the senior team of Réunionnese side

US Stade Tamponnaise La Tamponnaise is a football club from Le Tampon, Réunion Island, founded in 1982 as the result of the merger between S/S Tamponnaise (founded in 1922) and Stade Tamponnais (founded in 1971). Since 2014 the club was renamed as La Tamponnaise. S ...

. After that, he signed for

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...

in the

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 ...

, where he made eight appearances. On 18 October 2003, he debuted for Monaco during a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

. On 2 April 2004, he played for Monaco against

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

, where he conceded three goals within 45 minutes before being substituted off, a moment he described as one of the worst in his career. Monaco went on to score three goals to make the game 3–3 but he never made another Ligue 1 appearance after that. Besides the league, he also played for Monaco in the

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 ...

as well as the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

and was in the team that reached the final of the 2003-04 UEFA Champions League under

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

-winning manager

Didier Deschamps Didier Claude Deschamps (; born 15 October 1968) is a French professional football manager and former player who has been manager of the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, E ...

. In 2004, Ablancourt departed Monaco after his contract was not renewed.

Later career

After Monaco, Ablancourt signed for Slovak club

MFK Ružomberok MFK Ružomberok () is a Slovak football club, playing in the city of Ružomberok. History Established in 1906, the club's colours have been traditionally white, yellow and red, which are also featured on the town's flag. However, the sponsor ...

, who wanted to sign a central defender, through his agent, former Ligue 1 player Fabien Piveteau, who knew the then manager of MFK Ružomberok, Czech international

Ľubomír Moravčík Ľubomír "Lubo" Moravčík (born 22 June 1965) is a Slovakian football manager and former footballer. A creative midfielder renowned for his technical ability, he was capable of unleashing powerful, accurate shots, and pinpoint crosses with bo ...

. The highest-paid player on the team, he experienced racism and returned to Reunion, even though Ružomberok did not want him to leave, with

. With Stade Tamponnaise, he won the

Réunion Premier League The Réunion Premier League or Championnat de La Réunion de football is the top division of football on the French overseas territory of Réunion. The league is run and managed by the Réunionese Football League under the watch of the French ...

ten times. By age 34, Ablancourt was retired from football.

Personal life

He has one daughter.

References

Living people 1983 births French men's footballers Men's footballers from Réunion Sportsmen from Réunion Men's association football defenders Ligue 1 players AS Monaco FC players MFK Ružomberok players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia {{France-footy-defender-1980s-stub