Ophélie Anne-Laure Meilleroux (born 18 January 1984) is a French former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. Meilleroux primarily plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, but can also play in the

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. ...

role. She is a member of the

France women's national football team The France women's national football team () represents France in international Women's association football, women's football. The team is directed by the French Football Federation (FFF). France competes as a member of UEFA in various interna ...

making her first major tournament appearance with her nation at

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

Club career

Early career

Meilleroux began her career playing for the women's section of amateur football club ÉDS Montluçon in her hometown. She spent several years with the club's youth setup before being selected to attend

CNFE Clairefontaine The Pole France feminin de Football (English: French Women's Football Pole), formally the Centre national de formation et d'entraînement de Clairefontaine (English: National Education and Training Center Clairefontaine) is a French training cen ...

, the women's section of the prestigious Clairefontaine academy. Meilleroux played one season with the academy scoring three goals, despite playing as a defender. After leaving the academy, she joined D1 Féminine club ASJ Soyaux. At Soyaux, Meilleroux played on the team alongside future international teammate Corine Franco and earned her first call up to the national team because of her consistent play with the club. She appearing in 20 or more matches in four straight seasons for Soyaux. Meilleroux also collected a career-high nine yellow cards in her first season with the club. In her final season (2007–08) with Soyaux, Meilleroux played in 19 matches and scored only one goal.

Yzeure

For the 2008–09 season, Meilleroux moved to Nord Allier Yzeure. Her debut season with the club was both positive and negative as Nord Allier finished in a respectable 5th-place position, however Meilleroux appeared in only ten matches. She returned to form at the start of the 2009–10 season appearing in the team's first seven matches of the season helping Yzeure reach as high as 4th position in the table. Meilleroux ultimately finished the campaign with the club appearing in 19 matches.

Montpellier

On 9 July 2010, Meilleroux announced that she would be departing Nord Allier Yzeure to join

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 ...

. She joined Montpellier as a replacement for the departed Sabrina Viguier who joined

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. Meilleroux was penciled in as a starter by coach Sarah M'Barek and made her club debut in the team's second league match of the season; a 2–0 win over

Rodez Rodez (, , ; , ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the communau ...

. She consistently appeared with the team for most of the campaign before suffering an injury on 9 January 2011 in the team's 2–1 return leg victory over Rodez in the league. Meilleroux missed four matches and returned to the team on 12 February in its 5–0 win over

Stade Briochin Stade Briochin, founded in 1904, is a French football club based in Saint-Brieuc, Brittany. As of the 2024–25 season, the club plays in the Championnat National 2, the fourth tier in the French football league system. Home matches are played a ...

International career

Meilleroux had previously starred with the women's under-19 team on two occasions. Her first time, she represented her nation at the 2002 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, held in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. She was among the few underage players at the tournament for France. In the tournament, France finished as runners-up to champions

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The next season at the

2003 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2003 Final Tournament was held in Germany between 25 July – 3 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 1984 were eligible to participate in this competition. The tournament is notable for featuring a penalty ...

, held in Germany, Meilleroux was installed as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the team and helped the team do one better winning the entire tournament. On 14 March 2003, she earned her first cap with the women's national team in a match against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Meilleroux was a regular participant in France's qualifying for

. With that in mind, coach Bruno Bini included her in the squad for the tournament, where France crashed out in the quarterfinals losing 4–5 on penalties to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Meilleroux in all four matches her nation contested.

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of 15 February 2012''

International

:''(Correct as of 24 October 2012)''MEILLEROUX Ophélie
,

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

, accessed 8 June 2011

Honours

International

France *

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is an annual competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belon ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

* Cyprus Cup:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

External links

* *
France player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meilleroux, Ophelie 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Montluçon Footballers from Allier French women's footballers France women's international footballers CNFE Clairefontaine players Montpellier HSC (women) players ASJ Soyaux-Charente players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for France Women's association football defenders Première Ligue players 21st-century French sportswomen