Lilian Martin (born 28 May 1971) 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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He was a regular set-piece taker.

Playing career

Martin was born in

Valréas Valréas (; oc, Vauriàs) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in southeastern France. History The area around the town of Valréas is kno ...

. He started his career at ASOA Valence. After two seasons in the

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, t ...

club, he joined AS Nancy. After scoring nine goals in his first season with the club, his second year had less success after the team was relegated to the

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 ...

. He moved to

Dijon FCO Dijon Football Côte d'Or (; literally "Dijon Football Gold Coast"), commonly referred to as Dijon FCO or simply as Dijon, is a French football club based in Dijon. The club was founded in 1998 as a result of a merger between two local clubs in ...

in the following season and was transferred to USL Dunkerque in 1993. After three season with the French Division 2 club, he joined AS Monaco. He played 26 league matches in his first season of the match, mostly as a starter, and won the

1996–97 French Division 1 The 1996–97 Division 1 season was the 59th since its establishment. AS Monaco won the French Association Football League with 79 points. Four teams were relegated to Second division and only two were promoted because in 1997–1998, only 18 w ...

as well as reaching the 1996–97 UEFA Cup semifinals in which he played the second leg against Internazionale. Martin had his opportunities limited in the next season due to a groin injury, but started in both

1997–98 UEFA Champions League The 1997–98 UEFA Champions League was the 43rd season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club association football, football tournament, and the sixth since its re-branding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The ...

semifinal matches against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

when the club was knocked out of the competition. He had only ten league appearances in the 1998–99 season and joined

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

after the season. Martin started a single league match for OM in December 1999, also featuring a substitute later in the season. After no appearances in the beginning of the 2000–01 season, he moved to Derby County on a free transfer until the end of the season. He played nine league matches and was released after the season. He joined Hibernian early in 2002 in a two-year contract after an invite from

Franck Sauzée Franck Gaston Henri Sauzée (born 28 October 1965) is a French former professional footballer and manager. He played 39 times for the France national team between 1988 and 1993, scoring nine goals and captaining the team several times. He achiev ...

, recently appointed as player-manager. However, Sauzée was fired less than three months after in charge and Martin could not communicate with new manager Bobby Williamson, which led him to leave the club and return to France. After six months, he played for amateur club JS Saint Jean Beaulieu before ending his career.

Managerial career

Martin was appointed manager of

Imperia Imperia (; lij, Inpêia or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Muss ...

, a club in the Italian

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

. He was sacked after the club suffered financial problems and had to be sold. He also worked with AS Monaco youth sides.

Honours

Monaco *

French Division 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 ...

: 1996–97 * Trophée des Champions:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

References

External links

* *
Profile ASMCareer stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Lilian 1971 births Living people Men's association football defenders French men's footballers ASOA Valence players AS Nancy Lorraine players Dijon FCO players AS Monaco FC players Olympique de Marseille players Derby County F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Premier League players Scottish Premier League players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in England USL Dunkerque players