Christian André (born 14 August 1950) 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 lea ...

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) ** Smal ...

Career

André, who is originally from

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, was recruited by

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

in 1972 with fellow Trinitaire

Jacques Laposte Jacques "Jacky" Laposte (born 24 March 1952) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent his entire senior career at Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain. Club career Laposte ...

, after the club had been relegated to the Division 3 following a split with

Paris FC Paris Football Club (French pronunciation: Help:IPA/French, aʁi futbol klœb, commonly referred to as Paris FC or simply PFC, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris, France. They will compete in Ligue ...

. In his first season with PSG, he quickly established himself as a key player in Robert Vicot's side. Nicknamed the "black panther", André scored 21 goals in 30 Division 3 games to help the Parisian club achieve promotion to the Division 2. He was PSG's top scorer during the 1972–73 season. In his second season at the club, André scored 14 goals in all competitions, as PSG was promoted for the second time in a row, this time to Division 1. André started in several matches, but was then relegated to the bench in favour of Mustapha Dahleb and

François M'Pelé François M'Pelé (born 13 July 1947) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years. Career M'Pelé played professional ...

. In the 1974–75 season, André suffered a knee ligament injury. He was loaned to

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

in January 1975, and returned from loan eighteen months later. Unable to establish himself in the squad, he signed for

Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

in 1977. After one season at Béziers he joined

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

in 1978, lasting one season before retiring.

Post-playing career

After retiring, André briefly coached in Martinique, then returned to metropolitan France where he coached young players in

Gagny Gagny () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Geography Gagny is located 10 km to the east of Paris. Until the law of 10 July 1964, the commune was part of the department of Sein ...

in 2003. He then became a groundskeeper at

football pitch A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is ty ...

es in the Paris area. André left Paris for

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

and

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Christian 1950 births Living people French men's footballers Martiniquais men's footballers French people of Martiniquais descent Black French sportspeople Men's association football forwards People from La Trinité, Martinique AS Samaritaine players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Red Star FC players AS Béziers Hérault (football) players Montpellier HSC players French Division 3 (1971–1993) players Ligue 2 players Ligue 1 players 20th-century French sportsmen