François Jacques Clerc (born 18 April 1983) is a French former professional footballer 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 ...

Club career

Born in

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient province of Bresse ( frp, Brêsse, links=no). In 2018, ...

, Clerc joined Olympique Lyonnais at the age of 14. After spending his first years as a senior with the reserves, he was loaned to Toulouse FC with which he first appeared in Ligue 1, making his debut in the competition on 14 August 2004 in a 4–1 away win against RC Strasbourg. Returned to ''L'OL'' for the 2005–06 season, Clerc went on to become and important first-team member as the club won three national championships in a row, contributing with 62 league appearances combined in that timeframe. He battled with

Anthony Réveillère Anthony Guy Marie Réveillère (born 10 November 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He spent most of his professional career with Rennes and Lyon, amassing Ligue 1 totals of 426 matches and five goal ...

for first-choice status during his tenure, appeared in 20

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 competi ...

games but was also banned for four matches and fined €150,000 by the French Professional Football League, after he incurred in an illegal transfer agreement to Olympique de Marseille in 2006. In the fall of 2010,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Clerc joined OGC Nice also in the top division after convincing manager Eric Roy his knee injury problems were a thing of the past. He scored a career-best four goals in his second year with the Côte d'Azur side, but they could only rank 13th. On 9 July 2012, Clerc signed a three-year contract with AS Saint-Étienne. He scored his first and only goal of the campaign on 17 March 2013, helping the hosts come from behind for a 2–2 draw against Paris-Saint Germain FC. After two seasons with

Gazélec Ajaccio Gazélec Football Club Ajaccio ( co, Gazélec Football Club Aiacciu), commonly referred to as GFC Ajaccio, GFCA, Gazélec Ajaccio or simply Gazélec (), is a French football club from Ajaccio, Corsica. Founded in 1960, Gazélec plays in the Champ ...

in Ligue 2, the 35-year-old Clerc announced his retirement.

International career

Clerc earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on 11 October 2006, in a 5–0 win over

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

for the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

qualifiers. He was selected by coach

Raymond Domenech Raymond Manuel Albert Domenech (; born 24 January 1952) is a French football manager and former player. He managed the France national team from 2004 to 2010, reaching the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. He was dismissed after their elimination from ...

for the finals in

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 Switzerland, replacing longtime incumbent Willy Sagnol for the last and decisive group stage clash against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, which ended in a 2–0 loss and exit.

Honours

Lyon * Ligue 1: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

: 2007–08 *

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 ...

: 2006, 2007 * Coupe de la Ligue runner-up: 2006–07 Saint-Étienne *Coupe de la Ligue:

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 ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clerc, Francois 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Bourg-en-Bresse Footballers from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes French footballers France under-21 international footballers France international footballers Association football defenders Olympique Lyonnais players Toulouse FC players OGC Nice players AS Saint-Étienne players Gazélec Ajaccio players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players UEFA Euro 2008 players