William Prunier (born 14 August 1967) is a French

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player who is currently the manager of

Bourges Foot 18 Bourges Foot 18 is a football club located in Bourges, France. It was created as a result of the merger between Bourges Foot and Bourges 18 in 2021. History In July 2020, the merger of the two most significant football clubs in Bourges, Bour ...

. As a player, Prunier was a

centre-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 ...

and spent most of his career in France, primarily with

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

where he spent nine years, but also played for clubs in England, Denmark, Scotland, Italy, Belgium and Qatar, where he finished his career. He also represented

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 ...

, gaining his only cap in 1992.

Playing career

Born in Montreuil, Prunier was a product of a famous

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division o ...

youth team that also included

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

Basile Boli Basile Boli (born 2 January 1967) is a Ivorian-born French former professional footballer who played as a defender, and a current television sports presenter. He spent the majority of his career with Auxerre and Marseille before ending his ca ...

Pascal Vahirua Pascal Vahirua (born 9 March 1966) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger. His career was intimately connected with AJ Auxerre. Vahirua appeared for the France natio ...

and Daniel Dutuel, all under the tutelage of

Guy Roux Guy Marcel Roux (; born 18 October 1938) is a French former football player and manager known for being in charge of AJ Auxerre for more than 40 years and for leading the team to national and worldwide prominence. Managerial career A native of C ...

. After spending many years at Auxerre, he was signed by

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 ...

holders

Olympique Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

in 1993. Marseille were relegated to Division 2 the following season due to match-fixing and financial irregularities, and Prunier moved on to

FC Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (de ...

where he won the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

in 1995 playing alongside

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...

. He also earned 1 cap for

in August 1992, a 2–0 loss to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In the 1995–96 season, Prunier had a fleeting and forgettable spell at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Having bought out his contract with Bordeaux, he joined the

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

club on a trial basis where he was reunited with Cantona. At the time, the manager

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

had been looking for a continental-style defender with good passing skills. However, his arrival coincided with an injury crisis that saw the three first-choice centre-backs

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...

Gary Pallister Gary Andrew Pallister (born 30 June 1965) is an English former professional footballer and sports television pundit. As a player, he was a defender from 1984 to 2001 and is most noted for his nine-year spell at Manchester United from 1989 unt ...

and David May all unavailable. Prunier was hastily drafted into the first team even though Ferguson had originally intended to use him in reserve team matches only during his trial. Prunier made his Manchester United debut against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

on 30 December 1995 partnering

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...

in defence. He generally impressed in the match and assisted a goal for

Andy Cole Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Briti ...

as well as hitting a powerful shot against the bar. His second game against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

on 1 January 1996, however, was a disaster for him and the club. With

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

injured during the game and

Denis Irwin Joseph Denis Irwin (born 31 October 1965) is an Irish former professional footballer and sports television presenter. As a player, he played as a full-back from 1983 to 2004. Irwin is best known for his long and successful stint at Manchester ...

unavailable, he was part of a makeshift defence that conceded four goals in a humiliating loss. Prunier has ever since been made something of a scapegoat for the defeat, culminating in his being voted the sixth worst Manchester United footballer of all time. Despite the defeat, Ferguson offered him an extended trial, but Prunier declined and decided he would look elsewhere. After leaving Manchester United, Prunier moved on to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in Denmark and also had spells at

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in Italy and

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

in Belgium before returning to France with

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

where he won the

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 ...

title in 2003. After a brief spell in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, he retired from football in 2004 and became a coach at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

. On 4 February 2007, he appeared on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

giving an intro and his point of view on the 4–1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur in 1996.

Managerial career

Prunier was named head coach of JS Cugnaux in 2010, followed by spells with

US Colomiers Football Union Sportive Colomiers Football, more commonly known as US Colomiers, is a French association football team founded in 1932. They are based in Colomiers, Haute-Garonne, France and play at the Stade Bertrand Andrieux in the town. They currently ...

GS Consolat GS may stand for: Businesses and organizations * Goldman Sachs, one of the world's largest global investment banks * Global Star Software, a former Canadian video game publisher * GS (Swedish union), a trade union in Sweden * GS Group, a Korea ...

Sporting Toulon Var Sporting Club Toulon is a football club from Toulon, France, that plays in the Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of the French football league system. The club was founded in 1944 and played under that name until the 1999–2000 season w ...

and

Canet Roussillon FC Canet Roussillon Football Club is an association football club based in Canet-en-Roussillon, France. It was founded in 1934. History The club was founded in 1934 as ''Club Olympique Perpignanais.'' In the 2020–21 Coupe de France, Canet Roussil ...

. In June 2021 he was appointed assistant coach to manager Cris at

Le Mans FC Le Mans Football Club (; commonly referred to as Le Mans FC, formerly referred as Le Muc) is a French association football club based in Le Mans. The club was founded in 1985 as a result of a merger under the name Le Mans Union Club 72. In 2010 ...

. The duo left the team in May 2022. On 29 October 2022, Prunier was appointed manager of

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 ...

side

.William Prunier nouvel entraîneur du Bourges Foot 18 : « C’est la survie du club qui est en jeu »
leberry.fr, 29 October 2022

Honours

Bordeaux *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Individual * Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2002–03

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prunier, William 1967 births Living people Men's association football defenders French men's footballers France men's international footballers AJ Auxerre players Olympique de Marseille players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Manchester United F.C. players F.C. Copenhagen players Montpellier HSC players SSC Napoli players Toulouse FC players K.V. Kortrijk players Premier League players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Serie A players Danish Superliga players Belgian Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium French expatriate men's footballers Al-Sailiya SC players Footballers from Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis French football managers French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Denmark French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Scotland French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Qatar SC Toulon managers Qatar Stars League players