Lionel Pérez (born 24 April 1967 in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Gard) is a retired French 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 ...

. He played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

and more recently was a goalkeeping coach at

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

, following his retirement from the game in 2004.

Club career

France

Pérez's football career started with French club,

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

. However, much of this time was spent out on loan with

Nîmes Olympique Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was founded on 10 April 1937 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. Until November 2022, ...

then

Stade Lavallois Stade Lavallois Mayenne Football Club (), also referred to as Stade Laval or simply Laval, is a French association football club based in Laval in western France. The club was formed on 17 July 1902 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second ...

Sunderland

Pérez made his Sunderland debut, aged 29 on 19 October 1996, as a substitute for

Tony Coton Anthony Philip Coton (born 19 May 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who is a goalkeeper scout for Premier League side Manchester United. As a player he was as a goalkeeper who made 500 appearances in the Football League a ...

, in a 3–0 away defeat 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 ...

. He stayed with Sunderland for a further two years, before signing for rivals Newcastle United, in what was a surprise move at the time.

Newcastle United

At Newcastle United, Pérez was fourth-choice behind Steve Harper,

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. With 134 caps, he is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player. Given started his career at Celtic, however he neve ...

and John Karelse; he never made a competitive start for the Magpies and after being loaned to various clubs throughout his 21-month spell on

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

, he was granted a free transfer to

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

in July 2000, reportedly taking a 95% pay cut to do so.

Later career

Pérez was released by Cambridge at the end of the 2002–03 season, before joining

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

in October 2002, and then Stevenage Borough in February 2003, after a short stint at

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

. He was a regular for Stevenage until in March 2004 (being voted Player of the Year), he broke his leg playing in a league match against

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

. Pérez was forced to retire at the end of the season, and he immediately took up a coaching role at the club. Pérez left his coaching role at the club in April 2006.

Coaching career

On leaving Stevenage, Perez and his family moved back to France where he had spells coaching at FC PHA Chusclan Laudun and SO-Cassis Carnoux. He has been inactive in football since 2010. He is currently looking to get back into football, having gained his UEFA B licence.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Lionel 1967 births Living people People from Bagnols-sur-Cèze French people of Spanish descent French footballers Premier League players Newcastle United F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Enfield F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Nîmes Olympique players Stade Lavallois players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in England French expatriate footballers Association football goalkeepers Sportspeople from Gard Footballers from Occitania (administrative region)