Pascal Édouard Cygan (born 29 April 1974) is a French former

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 defender. His favoured position was

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 he could also play as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. After starting out at

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

in his country, Cygan would play four years in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and three in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

with

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

, in a 17-year professional career.

Early life

Pascal Édouard Cygan was born on 29 April 1974 in

Lens, Pas-de-Calais Lens (; ) is a city in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is one of the main towns of Hauts-de-France along with Lille, Valenciennes, Amiens, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Arras and Douai. The inhabitants are called ''Lensois'' (). Metro ...

Career

Lille

Cygan started his senior career in the ranks of lowly

ES Wasquehal Wasquehal Football is a French football club based in the town of Wasquehal, Hauts-de-France. The club was founded in 1924 and plays in the National 2, the fourth tier of the French football league system. History and mergers The club was foun ...

before going professional with

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...

in 1995, making his Division 1 debut that year but also going on to also spend three seasons in Division 2. In 1999–2000 he was an instrumental defensive element for the champions and, in the subsequent top-flight campaign, helped them achieve a third-place finish, with

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. In this time, Cygan was also promoted to the

captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

, seen as a role model to help develop the younger players. He was also winner of the ''Etoile d'Or'' in his last year in France.

Arsenal

Cygan joined

in July 2002 for £2 million, making his debut in a 1–1 draw with Chelsea on 1 September after coming on as a late substitute for

Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Nigeria national team, and played for Nigerian club Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, a ...

. While he featured notably in some of the team's more important fixtures, he was mostly considered only a fringe player; he missed the 2003 FA Cup final through injury, but did pick up a

winners' medal in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

after contributing with 18 appearances. Cygan scored three goals for Arsenal in league action, including an unlikely brace in his first game of 2005–06 against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

(4–1 home win). Until then he had only netted once, against Everton in March 2003. Also that season, following injuries to both

Ashley Cole Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is considered by many critics and fellow professional players as one of the ...

and

Gaël Clichy Gaël Dimitri Clichy (born 26 July 1985) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He is currently the assistant manager of the France national under-21 team. Predominantly left-footed but naturally right-footed, he ...

, Cygan was drafted in as an emergency

, and was even named in the ''Opta'' team of the week on 9 January 2006. Overall, his side won 12 of the 20 matches he played in and kept 11

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

s in the process. He suffered a hamstring injury in January against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and was unable to play again that season as he was fourth choice behind

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. Widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, he spent 20 years playing in the Premier League and had a ...

Philippe Senderos Philippe Sylvain Senderos (; born 14 February 1985) is a Swiss retired professional footballer who played as a defender. Senderos began his career at Servette, before moving to England as a teenager with Arsenal. He made 116 appearances ov ...

and

Kolo Touré Kolo Abib Touré (born 19 March 1981) is an Ivorian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former player. He most recently managed then-Championship club Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic. Beginning his career as a ...

, with young

Johan Djourou Danon Issouf Johannes Djourou Gbadjere (; born 18 January 1987), known as Johan Djourou, is a Swiss former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), centre back. According to his profile on the ...

also competing for a place. Cygan played 98 competitive games during his spell at

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

, including 20 in the Champions League.

Spain

In August 2006, Cygan completed a transfer to

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

for a £2 million transfer fee, joining former Arsenal teammate and compatriot

Robert Pires Robert Emmanuel Pires (born 29 October 1973) is a French former professional footballer. He is widely regarded as one of Arsenal's greatest ever players and considered by some to be one of the best wingers in the history of the sport. Pires play ...

at the club. On 6 June 2008, after having been fairly used in his first two years, mainly due to consecutive serious injuries to Gonzalo Rodríguez, he signed a new one-year deal. However, following a lack of first-team opportunities in 2008–09, and with Villarreal unwilling to extend his contract for a further campaign, he left in July 2009; his

goals came on 5 November 2006 against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

(3–2 home win), and against

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

on 31 October 2007 (3–0, also at El Madrigal). On 10 August 2009, Cygan joined

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at '' Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 sp ...

, recently promoted to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, on a one-year deal. Aged 37, he was released by the Murcians and retired from professional football.

Career statistics

Honours

Lille * Division 2: 1999–2000 Arsenal *

: 2003–04 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Individual *Etoile d'Or: 2001–02

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cygan, Pascal 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Lens, Pas-de-Calais Footballers from Pas-de-Calais French men's footballers Men's association football defenders Wasquehal Football players Lille OSC players Arsenal F.C. players Villarreal CF players FC Cartagena footballers Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Premier League players La Liga players Segunda División players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Spain