Pegguy Arphexad (born 18 May 1973) 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 ...

Early life

Arphexad was born in

Les Abymes Les Abymes () is the most populous commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is located on the west side of the island of Grande-Terre, and is part of the largest metropolitan area of Guadel ...

, Guadeloupe.

Club career

Arphexad began in the

French League The French League (: "French League for purging, mutual aid and European collaboration") was a collaborationist French movement founded by Pierre Costantini in September 1940. Its journal was entitled '' L'Appel''. Bibliography * Pierre Phi ...

with

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

and played in the last three matches of the 1995–96 Division 1. The next season, he played in two league matches on loan for

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

Leicester City

In August 1997, Arphexad began his time in the Premier League with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. During Leicester's successful 1999–2000

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

campaign, he started ahead of

Tim Flowers Timothy David Flowers (born 3 February 1967) is an English football manager and former player who recently was the manager of Stratford Town. He played as a goalkeeper from 1984 until 2003, notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers w ...

and saved two crucial penalties in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in the quarter-final. He earned his first ever winner's medal as an unused substitute in the final. In that season he also came on as a substitute for the injured Flowers in Leicester's penalty shootout win over

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in an FA Cup fourth round replay, saving penalties from

Lee Dixon Lee Michael Dixon (born 17 March 1964) is an English retired professional footballer and pundit who played as a right-back for Arsenal. Dixon was also capped 22 times for England. A childhood Manchester City fan, Dixon began his footballing ca ...

and Gilles Grimandi as Leicester progressed. Arphexad played a big role in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

's failure to qualify for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

in 1999–2000. He produced an inspired performance to deny the Reds a much needed three points at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

in May 2000. His heroics that night clearly impressed

Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, U ...

, who moved swiftly to sign Arphexad on a free transfer under the

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association ...

during the summer. Arphexad claimed that he would have stayed at Leicester had he been guaranteed a role as the first-choice keeper, but the arrival of Flowers after the departure of

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...

meant that he felt that he had the option of being a backup at a mid-table club or a backup at a club challenging for the title.

Liverpool

Arphexad won six medals with

, all as an unused substitute. These included three in Liverpool's treble winning 2000–01 season, where they won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, the

and the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. Two subsequent medals followed the following season as Liverpool claimed both the Charity Shield and the

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

. In the 2001–02 season, he was the starting goalkeeper in the opening match that ended in a 2–1 win against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. His second and last league appearance for Liverpool was on 9 February 2002 in a 6–0 win against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, replacing

Jerzy Dudek Jerzy Henryk Dudek (; born 23 March 1973) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After beginning his career in his home country, he went on to have successful spells in the Netherlands and England, winning the Ch ...

during the second half. Arphexad earned a second League Cup winners medal in the 2002–03 season and was released by Liverpool that summer, later having spells with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. He also rejected a move to Chester City claiming that he would not be prepared to join a club playing lower than the Second Division.

International career

Arphexad made one appearance for the France national under-21 team in 1994.

After football

Rumours surfaced online that Arphexad turned to making pornographic content after a failed career in acting. However, in an interview with the ''

Leicester Mercury The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its pre ...

'', he stated the rumours were not true, whilst going on to say that he now works in sports insurance. He currently works for Miller Sports and Entertainment, previously known as Henner Sports as a European Business Officer.

Honours

Leicester City *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

: 1999–2000; runner-up: 1998–99 Liverpool *Football League Cup: 2000–01, 2002–03 *

: 2000–01 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arphexad, Pegguy 1973 births Living people People from Les Abymes French men's footballers Guadeloupean men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Stade Brestois 29 players Lille OSC players RC Lens players Leicester City F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Olympique de Marseille players Ligue 1 players Premier League players English Football League players UEFA Europa League winning players France men's under-21 international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Guadeloupean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in England French people of Guadeloupean descent