Nicolas Ardouin (born 7 February 1978) 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

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 ...

Career

Ardouin was born in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, Charente-Maritime. His first years in professional football were spent in the lower leagues, first with Grenoble Foot 38 then

La Roche VF La Roche Vendée Football is a French association football team based in La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée, France. History The club was founded in 1947 and play at the Stade Henri Desgranges in the town. In the 2017–18 season they played in the Cha ...

. In 2002, he moved to level two with ASOA Valence, but only amassed 18 matches in two seasons combined. In 2004–05, Ardouin moved abroad with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

, again only being backup. In his second season, as the Basque had returned to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

, he was as low as third-string, behind

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

Franco Costanzo Franco Costanzo Geymonat (born 5 September 1980) is a former Argentine football goalkeeper who last played for Chilean club Universidad Católica of the Primera División. He has earned the reputation of being an eccentric goalkeeper by ofte ...

and

Roberto Bonano Roberto Oscar Bonano (born 24 January 1970) is an Argentine retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Already in his 30s, he moved from River Plate to Spain where he spent the remainder of his 17-year professional career in representation ...

, and did not appear at all. Ardouin moved countries again in 2008, joining A.F.C. Tubize in Belgium. He had his most solid campaign as a professional, but the club was finally relegated.

External links

* * * 1978 births Living people French footballers Association football goalkeepers Ligue 2 players Grenoble Foot 38 players La Roche VF players ASOA Valence players Deportivo Alavés players Belgian Pro League players Royale Union Tubize-Braine players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Spain {{France-footy-goalkeeper-stub