Jonathan Blondel (born 3 April 1984) is a retired

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

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 last 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 ...

for

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

Career

Excelsior Mouscron

Blondel started his career at

Excelsior Mouscron Royal Excelsior Mouscron was a Belgian football club from the municipality of Mouscron, Hainaut. In December 2009 they were declared bankrupt and soon ceased to exist. A new club known as Royal Excel Mouscron was formed in March 2010 and place ...

, making his league debut as a substitute on a 1–0 loss against

RSC Charleroi Royal Charleroi Sporting Club, often simply known as Charleroi or Sporting Charleroi, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League and their cur ...

on 7 September 2001, making a total of 18 league appearances in the season. Blondel also helped Mouscron to finish as runners-up at the

2001–02 Belgian Cup The 2001–02 Belgian Cup was the 47th season of the main knockout competition in Belgian association football, the Belgian Cup. Final rounds The final phase started in the round of 32 when all clubs from the first division entered the competiti ...

, scoring the equaliser in their subsequent defeat by

and helping his team to qualify for the

2002–03 UEFA Cup The 2002–03 UEFA Cup was the 32nd edition of the UEFA Cup, the second-tier European club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played between Portuguese side Porto and Scottish side Celtic at the Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla, Sev ...

Tottenham Hotspur

Blondel was signed by

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 Foo ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

on 7 August 2002, having rejected a move to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

earlier in the year. He made his Premier League debut on 31 August 2002 as a substitute in a 2–1 win against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

at the age of 18 years and 150 days. Lacking first-team football and being relegated to the reserve team, Blondel considered to ask a loan move to Belgium. Royal Excelsior Mouscron enquired about a loan return deal, which was not agreed. Blondel made his second and last Premier League appearance in a 1–0 home loss against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

on 1 November 2003, again as a substitute and almost netting a late equaliser.

Club Brugge

On 28 January 2004, Blondel returned to Belgium after agreeing to join

. He played a total of 266 games for The Blues, before announcing his retirement from professional football on 13 January 2015 after years of injury trouble. His last official match was on 8 August 2013, in the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Sevil ...

. During his career at Club Brugge, Blondel won the

2004–05 Belgian First Division The 2004-05 season of the Belgian First Division began on August 6, 2004 and ended on May 23, 2005. Club Brugge became champions on May 15, 2005 after a decisive game against long-time rivals Anderlecht. The season was full of suspense as the ...

, the 2003–04 and 2006–07 Belgian Cups and was part of the squad that won the

2014–15 Belgian Cup The 2014–15 Belgian Cup is the 60th season of Belgian's annual football cup competition. The competition began on 26 July 2014 and ended with the final on 22 March 2015. The winners of the competition will qualify for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa L ...

, although not playing in the latter and retiring before Club Brugge won the title.

International career

Blondel has played for Belgium under-19 and under-21 teams before being capped for the

Belgium national football team The Belgium national football teamfrench: Équipe nationale belge de footballgerman: Belgische Fußballnationalmannschaft officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the ...

. His debut was on 21 August 2002, coming off the bench in a friendly match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. He returned to the national side in 2004 for the friendly matches against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

After almost six years from his 3rd international appearance, Blondel received his 4th and last cap in 2010, in a friendly match against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Honours

Club

;Club Brugge *

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

: 2004–05 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2003–04, 2006–07 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

References

External links

Soccerbase website
– Blondel's entry
Guardian Football
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blondel, Jonathan 1984 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Belgium men's international footballers Belgian Pro League players Royal Excel Mouscron players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Club Brugge KV players Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in England Belgian expatriate men's footballers Sportspeople from Ypres Footballers from West Flanders