Sylvain Distin (born 16 December 1977) 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 ...
. He is left-footed and played as a
central defender
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 ...
, and was also capable of playing at
left-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 ...
.
Distin began his career playing for French amateur sides, working his way up to professional sides
Gueugnon
Gueugnon () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
Population
Economy
The primary industry in the town is a stainless-steel factory run by Aperam. A huge part of Gueugnon ...
and subsequently
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
. He moved to England in 2001, first joining
Newcastle United on a loan move from PSG, before signing a permanent contract with
Manchester City, where he spent five seasons. He then spent two years at
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
where he 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 ...
, before joining
Everton in 2009. In six seasons at
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...
, he made 210 appearances across all competitions, leaving in 2015 for
AFC Bournemouth.
After one season with Bournemouth, Distin was released when his contract expired in June 2016. He played fifteen consecutive seasons in 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 Fo ...
, with over 450 appearances in England's top flight – the
most of any foreign outfield player.
Club career
Early career
Born in
Bagnolet
Bagnolet () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.
History
On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighboring communes. On that occasion, a small part of the commune ...
, Distin started his career at French non-league side
Joué-lès-Tours
Joué-lès-Tours (, literally ''Joué near Tours'') is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.
It is the largest suburb of the city of Tours, and is adjacent to it on the southwest.
Population
Toponymy
The name of Jouà ...
before moving to
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
a year later, where he played 26 times and scored three goals. He then transferred to
Gueugnon
Gueugnon () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
Population
Economy
The primary industry in the town is a stainless-steel factory run by Aperam. A huge part of Gueugnon ...
of
Ligue 2, signing his first professional contract. With Gueugnon he won the
Coupe de la Ligue in 2000. His performances for Gueugnon prompted
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
to sign him, though his time at PSG was short-lived and after a year, Distin went on loan to
Newcastle United where he made 35 appearances in all competitions.
Manchester City
Following the loan spell, Newcastle wanted to sign Distin permanently but he instead opted to sign for Manchester City where he could play in his preferred position of
central defence, rather than left-back at Newcastle. The transfer fee was £4 million, setting a club record for a defender. Consistent performances in his first Manchester City season resulted in Distin being named the club's Player of the Year for the 2002–03 season. At the start of the 2003–04 season, Distin was named captain of Manchester City following the retirement of
Ali Benarbia
Ali Benarbia ( ar, علي بن عربية; born 8 October 1968) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, he is a TV presenter for Al Jazeera Sports in Doha.
As a player he was a midfielder who notably spent time ...
. In total, Distin played 207 times for Manchester City and scored six goals.
Portsmouth
Distin left City at the end of his contract in May 2007, seeking a "fresh challenge",
and moved to
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
on a three-year deal.
Distin was appointed
vice captain by
Harry Redknapp and led Portsmouth in
Sol Campbell
Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August ...
's absences due to injury. At the end of Distin's first season at
Fratton Park, he won his first and only major honour in English football, the
2008 FA Cup.
After
Sol Campbell
Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August ...
's departure from Portsmouth, Distin was named the new club captain.
Everton
![Luis Suarez runs at Distin 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Luis_Suarez_runs_at_Distin_3.jpg)
In August 2009,
Everton signed Distin from Portsmouth for a fee of about £5 million on a three-year contract. He was given the number 15 shirt and made his debut in a 2–1 victory over
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
. On 17 September 2009, he scored his first goal for Everton in 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. ...
against Greek team
AEK Athens
A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikà Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...
. He scored his second goal for Everton in the UEFA Europa League on 16 February 2010 against
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 ...
to give Everton a 2–1 win. Distin was later sent off resulting in Sporting's goal from the penalty spot after a poor touch following an equally poor
Jack Rodwell pass. Distin scored his first league goal for the club against
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 populat ...
on 16 January 2011, heading in from a corner at the start of the second half. During his 2011–12 season, Distin assisted goalkeeper
Tim Howard's 100-yard goal, notable as only the fourth goal from a keeper in the history of the Premier League.
On 14 April 2012, he made a rare mistake in the
FA Cup semi-final
The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world.
Location
The semi-finals have always been contested at neutr ...
when a poor back pass gifted
Luis Suárez
Luis Alberto Suárez DÃaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...
the equalising goal for Merseyside rivals
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 populat ...
. Everton went on to lose the game 2–1, and Distin took to Twitter to apologise to the Everton fans. However, he was named Everton's players' player of the year at the end of season awards ceremony, and then agreed a one-year contract extension to stay at the club for the
2012–13 season.
On 24 January 2013, Distin signed a new one-year contract with Everton, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2014. On 23 February, he made his 400th Premier League appearance against
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
at
Carrow Road. A few weeks later he made his 402nd appearance – more than any other foreign outfield player.
Distin's centre back partnership with
Phil Jagielka
Philip Nikodem Jagielka ( or ; born 17 August 1982) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Stoke City.
Jagielka started his career with Sheffield United in 2000, where he played mainly as a central midfiel ...
remained Everton's first choice through the
2013–14 season, despite the emergence of
John Stones
John Stones (born 28 May 1994) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and the England national football team, England national team.
Stones began h ...
, with the club finishing fifth with their record Premier League points tally of 72. He signed a new one-year contract to keep him at the club until the summer of 2015.
AFC Bournemouth
In June 2015, after being released by Everton at the end of the
2014–15 season, Distin agreed in principle, a free transfer to newly promoted
AFC Bournemouth, signing on 1 July.
Distin spent one season with Bournemouth and was released when his contract expired at the end of June 2016.
International career
In 2003 Distin represented the ''L'équipe de l'amitié'' in a posthumous testimonial game for his former Manchester City teammate,
Marc-Vivien Foé
Marc-Vivien Foé (1 May 1975 – 26 June 2003) was a Cameroonian professional footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder for both club and country.
Having initially played for Canon Yaoundé, Foé went on to play professionally in Ligue 1 ...
, versus the Cameroon national football team.
In addition to France, Distin is also eligible to play for the non-FIFA affiliated nation of
Guadeloupe as his father was born in Guadeloupe. Distin was approached to play in the
2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation.
The competition started on June ...
by the Guadeloupean Federation but rejected the advances as he didn't feel it would be beneficial for his pre-season routine with Everton.
In March 2013, Distin made his 402nd English Premier League appearance, the most of any foreign outfield player, but he never received any international call-ups. Despite this, Distin stated that he has no regrets over his career.
In May 2014, Distin humorously announced his international retirement on Twitter, calling his record of 0 caps for France a "wonderful experience".
Career statistics
Club
* Doesn't include
2008 FA Community Shield
The 2008 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 86th staging of the FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the reigning Premier League champions and ...
appearance.
Honours
Gueugnon
*
Coupe de la Ligue:
1999–2000
Portsmouth
*
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 ...
:
2007–08
Individual
*
Manchester City Player of the Year:
2002–03
*
Everton Players' Player of the Season:
2011–12
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Distin, Sylvain
1977 births
Living people
French people of Guadeloupean descent
Association football defenders
French footballers
US Joué-lès-Tours players
Tours FC players
FC Gueugnon players
Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players
Newcastle United F.C. players
Manchester City F.C. players
Portsmouth F.C. players
Everton F.C. players
AFC Bournemouth players
Ligue 1 players
Ligue 2 players
Premier League players
French expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in England
French expatriate sportspeople in England
FA Cup Final players