Laura Stéphanie Georges (born 20 August 1984) is a French retired

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 is the Secretary General of the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

. She last played for German club

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, and served as the first-choice

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of her club and played primarily as a

central defender 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 ...

, but was also used as a

defensive 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 ...

. Georges was also a France women's international having made her senior international debut in September 2001. She represented her nation at seven major international tournaments; the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

editions of the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

and the

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 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

editions of the

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...

Club career

Early career

Georges began her football career playing for her hometown club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

at the age of 12. She spent six years in the club's youth academy before being accepted to

CNFE Clairefontaine The Pole France feminin de Football (English: French Women's Football Pole), formally the Centre national de formation et d'entraînement de Clairefontaine (English: National Education and Training Center Clairefontaine) is a French training cent ...

, the women's section of the Clairefontaine academy. Georges returned to Paris Saint-Germain after a year at Clairefontaine and was promoted to the senior team for the 2003–04 season. She made 19 appearances with the team scoring one goal. After the league season with Paris Saint-Germain, Georges announced her intentions to move to the United States to attend

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. She majored in marketing and, while at the university, played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

women's soccer team. In her first season, Georges featured in 13 matches making nine starts. In her second season with the team, despite missing matches due to representing France internationally, she was named to the All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

first team and also earned third-team All-America honors from the

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

. In her final season at the university, Georges was named to the conference's first team for the second consecutive season and was awarded the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award. She was also a semifinalist for the prestigious

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

Lyon

Following the conclusion of her amateur career, Georges returned to France to join

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

. In her first season with the club, she was penciled in as a starter featuring in 18 matches as Lyon finished the season as champions after going undefeated. Georges was also influential in the team's

Challenge de France Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography *Challenge, C ...

campaign featuring in all four matches, including the final, which Lyon won, defeating her former club Paris Saint-Germain 3–0. In the 2008–09 season, Lyon were again crowned champions. In the season, Georges scored her first career goal for Lyon in the opening league match of the season against Paris Saint-Germain. She also helped the club reach the semi-finals in both the domestic cup and

UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

. Following the departure of veterans

Camille Abily Camille Anne Françoise Abily (born 5 December 1984) is a French football manager and former player, best known as a star midfielder for both the French women's national team and for the Lyon club in the Division 1 Féminine. She currently is t ...

and

Sonia Bompastor Sonia Bompastor (born 8 June 1980) is a French football manager and former player who currently manages Lyon of the French Division 1 Féminine. She is the first person to win the UEFA Women's Champions League as both a player and a manager. B ...

to the WPS, Georges was handed the captaincy by coach Farid Benstiti for the 2009–10. She played in 16 league matches as Lyon were declared champions for the fourth consecutive season. In Europe, Georges was a part of the Lyon team that reached the 2010 UEFA Women's Champions League Final. The team, however, lost 7–6 on penalties to German club

Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

. In the next season, despite the return of Abily and Bompastor, Georges remained captain and displayed her leadership by leading Lyon to victory in the UEFA Women's Champions League Final.

Paris Saint-Germain

In July 2013, she signed with PSG.

FC Bayern Munich

On 8 January she moved to FC Bayern Munich.

International career

Georges made her international debut for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 26 September 2001 in a match against

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

at the age of 17. She was a part of France's 2003 World Cup squad and also participated in the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship. As of total, she won 188 caps and scored six goals for the national team.

Career statistics

Club

''Updated 8 June 2015''

International

:''(Correct as of 22 December 2018)''

International goals

Honours

Club

;Lyon *

Division 1 Féminine The Division 1 Féminine, shortened as D1 Féminine or D1F, and currently known as D1 Arkema for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in France. Run by the French Football Federation, the league is contested by twel ...

: Winner 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 *

Coupe de France Féminine A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

: Winner 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13 *

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

: Winner 2010–11, 2011–12

International

;France *

Cyprus Cup The Cyprus Women's Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football. It has been held annually in Cyprus since 2008. Although the competition takes place in Cyprus, the hosts have yet to take part in t ...

: Winner

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017 and 2018), it was contested by the same four teams: the United ...

: Winner

Individual

ACC Defensive Player of the Year The Atlantic Coast Conference honors players and coaches upon the conclusion of each college football season with the following individual honors as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Coach of the Year *1953: Jim Tatum, Mar ...

: 2006 * All-

First Team: 2005, 2006 * FIFA Women's World Cup All-Star Team:

References

External links

Club profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Georges, Laura 1984 births Living people People from Le Chesnay French women's footballers French people of Guadeloupean descent France women's international footballers CNFE Clairefontaine players Paris Saint-Germain Féminine players Olympique Lyonnais Féminin players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Century Club Carroll School of Management alumni Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of France Women's association football defenders Boston College Eagles women's soccer players Division 1 Féminine players FC Bayern Munich (women) players Expatriate women's footballers in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Frauen-Bundesliga players Black French sportspeople Footballers from Yvelines UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players French expatriate women's footballers