Stéphane Jean François Pignol (born 3 January 1977) is a French retired 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 ...

who played as a

right back 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 ...

. He appeared in 311 games in Segunda División over 11 seasons, scoring one goal. In

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' ...

, he represented Compostela, Numancia and

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

Club career

Born in

Aubagne Aubagne (, ''Aubanha'' in Occitan according to the classic norm or ''Aubagno'' according to the Mistralian norm) is a commune in the southern French department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In 2018, it had a population of 47,208. Its inhabitants are k ...

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

, Pignol spent his entire professional career in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, representing

SD Compostela Sociedad Deportiva Compostela is a Spanish football team based in Santiago de Compostela, in the autonomous community of Galicia. They play home matches at '' Estadio Multiusos de San Lázaro'', and compete in Segunda División RFEF, the fourth ...

(where he made his

debut, consisting of three games in the 1997–98 season), Pontevedra CF,

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

– was the

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...

club's starter throughout the vast majority of the 2004–05 campaign, which again ended in top-flight relegation for the player –

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

and

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at t ...

. Pignol never appeared in less than 25 league matches during his spell in the Canary Islands, spent in Segunda División. At the end of

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 ...

, after having helped Las Palmas to the sixth position, the 36-year-old retired from football.

Personal life

Born in France, Pignol is of Spanish descent. Pignol's older brother, Christophe (born 1969), was also a professional footballer and a defender. During his 14-year career he represented AS Saint-Étienne,

FC Istres Football Club Istres Ouest Provence (; commonly referred to as simply Istres) is a French association football club based in Istres. The club was formed in 1920 and currently play their home matches at the Stade Parsemain in Fos-sur-Mer, a co ...

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, as a ...

AS Monaco FC 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 Frenc ...

and Lille OSC, winning Ligue 1 titles with the third and fourth clubs.Christophe Pignol, ex du FC Nantes: «1995, un titre inoubliable» (Christophe Pignol, formerly of FC Nantes: «1995, unforgettable title»)
Maville, 5 January 2011

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pignol, Stephane 1977 births Living people People from Aubagne Sportspeople from Bouches-du-Rhône French footballers French people of Spanish descent Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players SD Compostela footballers Pontevedra CF footballers UD Almería players CD Numancia players Real Murcia players Real Zaragoza players UD Las Palmas players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Footballers from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur