Joachim Fernandez (6 December 1972 – 19 January 2016) was a 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. Born in Senegal, he held French citizenship.
He played for Sedan, Angers, Bordeaux,
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Udinese,
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
FC Girondins de Bordeaux
Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (de ...
youth product. He spent two seasons on loan in
French Division 2
Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...
with Sedan and Angers.
After returning from loan, Fernandez made his
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 ...
debut with Bordeaux under manager Slavoljub Muslin in November 1995, in a match against Lens. In December, he played against Real Betis in the second leg of the
1995–96 UEFA Cup
The 1995–96 UEFA Cup was the 25th season of Europe's then-tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. It was won by German club Bayern Munich on aggregate over Bordeaux of France. Girondins de Bordeaux went to the finals all the way f ...
round of 16, at the
Estadio Benito Villamarín
Estadio Benito Villamarín is a stadium in Seville, Spain, and the home of Real Betis since its completion in 1929. It has a capacity of 60,720.
History Construction
As early as 1912, the Spanish architect Aníbal González Álvarez-Ossorio had ...
. Bordeaux lost 2–1 but progressed to the quarter-final thanks to a 2–0 win in the first leg. In the second half of the season he made just four appearances under Muslin and Muslin's successor Gernot Rohr. One of these appearances was as a substitute in Bordeaux's 3–0 win against A.C. Milan in the UEFA Cup quarter-final.
Having been released by Bordeaux at the end of the 1995–96 season, Fernandez joined
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000, He continued his career in Italy but made no appearances while at Udinese,
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
and Milan, and on loan at French club Toulouse.
Fernandez moved to Scotland in summer 2000 signing a two-year contract with
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
club Dundee United. While at Dundee United, he notably had an altercation with Everton's
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...
during a friendly match. Having made seven appearances and with the club placed last in the league, he was released in December, five months into his contract.
He played two matches for Persma Manado in Indonesia before retiring from playing at the age of 29, due to a knee injury.
Personal life
Fernandez had a wife and a son. He later separated from his wife and no longer saw his son. He spent parts of his wages supporting family in Senegal.
He died on 19 January 2016 in Domont, aged 43. He was buried in Senegal.