Patrick Blondeau (born 27 January 1968) 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 in

Ligue 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 ...

and the

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 ...

. He also made two appearances for the France national team.

Career

Born in

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 ...

, Blondeau began playing professional football with nearby

FC Martigues Football Club de Martigues, known as FC Martigues or just Martigues, is a French professional football club which plays in the Championnat National, the third level of football in France. The club plays at the Stade Francis Turcan, which has a ...

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), 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 ...

. He played for

Jean Tigana Amadou Jean Tigana (born 23 June 1955) is a French former footballer and coach. He has played in midfield and managed professional football extensively throughout France, including 52 appearances and one goal for the France national football team ...

for several years at

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...

. He was a key part of the side that won the 1996-97 Ligue 1 title. For the 1997–98 season Blondeau signed with

Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

for a transfer fee of £1.8 million. He did not settle in Sheffield and returned to France in January 1998. Blondeau captained his local club,

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

, for three seasons in the prime of his career, and was in the side that lost 3–0 to

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

in the

1998–99 UEFA Cup The 1998–99 UEFA Cup was won by Parma in the final against Marseille. It was their second title in the competition. It was the last edition of the old format UEFA Cup, before the Cup Winners' Cup was merged into it to include domestic cup winn ...

final. During his time at Marseille, he made a violent tackle on Yves Deroff, who suffered a double-broken leg, in a league match against

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, a ...

on 29 May 1999. Blondeau received only a yellow card during the match, but the league later suspended him for six matches.

Personal life

Blondeau was married to fashion designer Véronika Loubry until 2016. They have two children: a daughter, model Thylane Blondeau (born 5 April 2001); and a son, Ayrton Blondeau (born 20 May 2007).

References

External links

* * * 1968 births Living people Footballers from Marseille Men's association football defenders French men's footballers France men's international footballers FC Martigues players AS Monaco FC players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Olympique de Marseille players Watford F.C. players US Créteil-Lusitanos players Premier League players Ligue 1 players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England {{france-footy-defender-1960s-stub