Grégory Sertic (; born 5 August 1989) is a French retired 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
defensive midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
.
Club career
Bordeaux
Born in
Brétigny-sur-Orge
Brétigny-sur-Orge (, literally ''Brétigny on Orge'') is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France, from the city center.
Origin of the city name
The name of the settlement is attested as ''Britiniacum'' in 1146, as ''Bretigniacum' ...
,
Essonne
Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.Croatian descent, Sertic joined
FC Girondins de Bordeaux
Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (department), Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitain ...
's youth system at the age of 15, from the famed
INF Clairefontaine
The INF Clairefontaine (), known as INF or simply Clairefontaine, is the national football centre that specialises in training French football players. The INF Clairefontaine is a section of the CNF Clairefontaine. The academy is one of sixtee ...
Championnat de France Amateur
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 French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...
with the senior reserves, he earned praise from first team manager
Laurent Blanc
Laurent Robert Blanc (; born 19 November 1965) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back and is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Club (J ...
.
Sertic made his debut in
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
on 29 April 2009, starting in a 3–2 away win against
Stade Rennais FC
Stade Rennais Football Club (SRFC, ), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais () or simply Rennes,''Rennais'' and ''Stade Rennes'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, are not grammatically correct names for the club. is ...
. His maiden competitive appearance had taken place on 11 November of the previous year, in the 4–2 home victory over
En Avant de Guingamp
En Avant Guingamp (, ), commonly referred to as EA Guingamp, EAG, or simply Guingamp (), is a French professional football club based in the commune of Guingamp, in France's Brittany region. The club was founded in 1912 and play in Ligue 2, ...
in the
round of 16
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
of the
Coupe de la Ligue
The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...
where he came on as a late substitute. His first goal in the former competition was scored in only his second appearance, helping the hosts defeat
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard (; commonly referred to as FCSM or simply Sochaux) is a Football in France, French association football club based in the city of Montbéliard. The club was founded in 1928 and currently plays in Championnat N ...
3–0.
For the 2010–11 season, Sertic was loaned to fellow league club
RC Lens
Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...
.
Marseille
On 30 January 2017, Sertic signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...
. During his spell at the
Stade Vélodrome
The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...
, he played sparingly due to an
anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...
injury.
In February 2019, Sertic moved to
FC Zürich
Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...
of the
Swiss Super League
The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...
until the end of the season. He announced his retirement in November 2020 at the age of 31, and immediately started working as a
pundit
A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...
for
Canal+
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
.
International career
On 25 May 2009, Sertic was called up for the first time to the France under-21 side which was due to participate in that year's
Toulon Tournament
The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...
. He made his debut in the competition on 6 June, playing 36 minutes in the 1–0 group stage defeat of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
.
Sertic was granted
Croatian citizenship
The Croatian nationality law dates back from June 26, 1991, with amendments on May 8, 1992, October 28, 2011, and January 1, 2020, and an interpretation of the Constitutional Court in 1993. It is based upon the Constitution of Croatia (Chapter I ...
in March 2013, as his paternal grandfather was a native of
Brinje
Brinje is a settlement and a municipality in Lika-Senj County, Croatia. It is located about east of Senj and north of Gospić.
Geography
The town is formed around a castle called ''Sokolac'', which contains one of the most well preserved G ...
who moved to the French capital. However,
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
did not allow him to play for that national team due to new rules about naturalisation of players : he did not have Croatian nationality when he represented France U-21, and neither did his parents.
Career statistics
Club
Honours
Bordeaux
*
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...
:
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
*
Coupe de la Ligue
The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...
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 cup, super cups found in many other count ...
:
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...