Tony Vairelles (born 10 April 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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

A much-travelled

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, the talented Vairelles started his professional career with hometown club

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), commonly known as AS Nancy Lorraine, or simply Nancy, is a French association football club founded in 1967 in Nancy, Grand Est and located in Tomblaine, in the inner suburbs of Nancy. The club currently ...

before moving to

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), come ...

in summer 1995. After four seasons with considerable success (one league and one cup title) he joined Olympique Lyonnais who sent him out on loan three times and finally sold him to

Stade Rennais 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 pl ...

. From then he changed clubs every season. Before the 2008

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

season he had a trial with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

but did not fit into their plans and was not signed. In 2009, he joined FC Gueugnon after a stint at

F91 Dudelange F91 Dudelange (; lb, F91 Diddeleng, italic=no, ) is a Luxembourger professional football club based in Dudelange which plays in the Luxembourg National Division. It was formed in 1991 as a merger between three teams in the town: Alliance Dud ...

. He also became the club's main investor.

International career

Vairelles represented France at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He made his senior debut for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in an August 1998 friendly match against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and went on to earn eight caps, scoring one goal. He played his final international game in April 2000 against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Personal life

Vairelles is the first player from the Gypsy community (through his maternal biological grandfather) to play for the France national team. He has one sister, Marilyn, and five brothers, Giovan, Diego, Jimmy, Gino, and Fabrice. His cousin David Vairelles and his younger brothers Giovan and Diego are all professional footballers. Tony Vairelles and his brothers Giovan, Jimmy, and Fabrice were held in pre-trial detention in Nancy from 25 October 2011 after a shooting in a discothèque in Essey-lès-Nancy. He was freed on 27 March 2012 and put on probation. In June 2015, the trial was still ongoing with Tony Vairelles and his brothers being charged with attempted murder. On 16 May 2022, Vairelles was sentenced to three years in prison for his part in the attack.

Career statistics

:''Score and result list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Vairelles goal.''

Honours

Lens *

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 ...

: 1997–98 *

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 ...

: 1999 Lyon *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: 2002–03 Dudelange *

BGL Ligue The National Division ( lb, Nationaldivisioun, french: Division Nationale, german: Nationaldivision) is the highest football league in Luxembourg. Until 2011, it was known as the BGL Ligue, after the Luxembourg Football Federation managed to se ...

: 2008–09 *

Luxembourg Cup The Luxembourg Cup () is the national knockout cup competition in Luxembourgian football. It was first held in 1922, and has been held annually since, with the exception of the four seasons during the German occupation during Second World War ...

: 2008–09

External links

* *
Career stats
- France Football *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vairelles, Tony 1973 births Living people Romani footballers French Romani people French footballers Association football forwards France international footballers France under-21 international footballers Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of France Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for France Mediterranean Games medalists in football AS Nancy Lorraine players RC Lens players Olympique Lyonnais players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players SC Bastia players Stade Rennais F.C. players Lierse S.K. players Tours FC players CA Bastia players F91 Dudelange players FC Gueugnon players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players Belgian First Division A players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Luxembourg Expatriate footballers in Luxembourg Sportspeople from Nancy, France Footballers from Grand Est