Romain Jules Salin (born 29 July 1984) is a French former

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 ...

. He spent most of his professional career in Portugal's

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

, making 140 appearances for

Naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, Marítimo,

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Football in Portugal, Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which ...

and

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, winning a

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

and two

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

titles with the last of those clubs. He debuted 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 ...

at age 32, representing

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 6,895 as of 2017, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guinga ...

and

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Mayenne Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et ...

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

, Salin spent six of his first seven seasons as a senior in

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 ...

, in representation of

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 l ...

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is a French association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926 and currently competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French ...

FC Libourne Football Club Libourne, formerly known as AS Libourne or Libourne Saint-Seurin-sur-L'Isle, is a French football team from the town of Libourne in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The club plays in the Championnat National 3, the fifth tier of French footbal ...

and

Tours FC Tours Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tours (), is a French association football club based in Tours, the capital city of the Indre-et-Loire department. The club was formed in 1919 and currently play at the fifth level of French ...

. In 2007–08 he was part of the second club's

squad, but failed to make any competitive appearances.

Naval

In the 2010 off-season, Salin moved to Portugal where he would remain the following six years, signing with

Associação Naval 1º de Maio Associação Naval 1º de Maio or Associação Naval 1893, commonly known as Naval, is a Portuguese football club based in Figueira da Foz, Coimbra District. Founded on 1 May 1893, it plays in the Division of Honour in the Coimbra Football Associ ...

who was coached by compatriot

Victor Zvunka Victor Zvunka ( ro, Victor Zvuncă; born 15 November 1951 in Le Ban-Saint-Martin) is a French former association football, football Defender (association football), defender and football manager most recently in charge of Sporting Club Toulon. ...

. He made his

debut on 14 August, in a 1–0 away loss against

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

Marítimo and Rio Ave

After his team's relegation, Salin signed for

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

of the same league on 15 July 2011, moving on a free transfer on a three-year deal as a replacement for

-bound

Marcelo Boeck Marcelo Boeck (born 28 November 1984) is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Club career Internacional Born in Vera Cruz, Rio Grande do Sul of Belgians, Belgian d ...

. Having spent his first season as back-up to another Brazilian,

Peterson Peçanha Peterson dos Santos Peçanha (born 11 January 1980) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is a manager. Playing career Born in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro, Peçanha began his career with Clube de Regat ...

, he played 22 games in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, and ten in the that edition of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, which ended in group-stage elimination. Salin signed for

Rio Ave F.C. Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlanti ...

in July 2013 on a one-year deal with another season as an option, having been tracked by Sporting and

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese f ...

. He played the first ten matches of the league campaign before being dropped for youngster Ederson in November. In January 2014, Salin returned to Marítimo on a deal until the summer of 2016. He said that he had left the

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

n club because he thought he was going to sign for Braga on a salary four to five times higher than his previous one.

Guingamp

In July 2016, Salin returned to his homeland and joined

En Avant Guingamp En Avant Guingamp (, en, Forward Guingamp), commonly referred to as EA Guingamp, EAG, or simply Guingamp (), is a professional Football in France, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Guingamp in France's Brittany region. ...

on a one-year contract. His maiden appearance in the French top division occurred on 21 September at the age of 32, in a 1–0 home win over Lorient. This was his one league appearance for the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

side, though he played all three games in a run to the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

, winning penalty shootouts away to

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a Corsican association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football ...

and

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 ...

Sporting CP

On 29 July 2017, Salin agreed to a two-year deal at Sporting, replacing the departed Beto as backup to

Rui Patrício Rui Pedro dos Santos Patrício (; born 15 February 1988) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A team Roma and the Portugal national team. He is often nicknamed "São Patrício" (''Saint Patrício'') for ...

; it was the third time that the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

club had been interested in him, after 2013 and 2016. His debut on 19 September was a goalless draw at home to his former side Marítimo, in the group stage of his team's eventual conquest of the

. Salin began his second season as first choice after the departure of Patrício, but following injury against

Portimonense S.C. Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional association football, football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

in October 2018 he was surpassed by loanee

Renan Ribeiro Renan Ribeiro (born 23 March 1990) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He began his career in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A with Atlético Mineiro and São Paulo. In January 2018 he moved to Portugal, where he ...

. The club completed a domestic cup double, with him playing all three

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 ...

group fixtures, and the 2–0 victory at

C.D. Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of Portuguese football. Their chair ...

in the

of the

on 16 January 2019.

Rennes

Salin went back to his country's top flight in June 2019, signing for

Stade Rennais F.C. Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pla ...

for two years. In December 2020, having made seven appearances that season, he added another year to his contract; he subsequently tied himself to the

Roazhon Park The Roazhon Park is a football stadium in Rennes, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, France. ''Roazhon'' is the Breton language, Breton name of Rennes. The stadium was inaugurated on 15 September 1912. It is located at 111 route de Lor ...

club until 2024. Salin did not play at all in

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, but was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

on 21 August in a 2–1 home win against

AC Ajaccio Athletic Club Ajaccio ( co, Athletic Club Aiacciu), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ''ACA'' or simply Ajaccio, is a French association football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and ...

for two

yellow cards Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

for dissent while on the substitutes' bench. On 13 May 2023 he featured for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in the 3–0 victory over visiting

US Granville Union Sportive Granville, commonly referred to as US Granville or simply Granville, is a French football club based in Granville in the Lower Normandy region. History The club was founded in 1918 and currently plays in the Championnat de Fra ...

in the

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

, as two of their goalkeepers had been moved into the main squad.

Marítimo return

On 13 July 2023, days before his 39th birthday, Salin returned to Marítimo. He signed a one-year deal, with the team now in the

Liga Portugal 2 The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

. On 27 August, after his residence in France was robbed with his family inside, he asked the club to terminate his contract so he could return to his home country; a few days later, he announced his retirement.

Honours

Sporting CP *

: 2018–19 *

: 2017–18, 2018–19

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salin, Romain 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Mayenne French men's footballers Footballers from Pays de la Loire Men's association football goalkeepers Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Stade Lavallois players FC Lorient players FC Libourne players Tours FC players En Avant Guingamp players Stade Rennais F.C. players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Associação Naval 1º de Maio players C.S. Marítimo players Rio Ave F.C. players Sporting CP footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal