Raphaël Calvet (born 7 February 1994) is a French 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 plays as a defender for club

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. Calvet is a product of the

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

and after failing to break into the first team squad, he moved to England to join

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in 2013. Again a fringe player, he returned to France in 2016 and entered lower-league football. Calvet represented France at youth level.

Club career

Auxerre

After beginning his youth career with CAV St. Georges, Calvet joined his hometown club

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in L ...

in 2004 and progressed through the youth teams. He made his debut for the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in the

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 ...

at the end of the

2010–11 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 ...

season. Calvet made his first team debut in a 1–1

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

draw at

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

in November 2012, starting the match and playing the full 90 minutes. He was an unused substitute on a further three occasions during Auxerre's 2012–13 campaign. Following a meniscus tear and the arrival of

Bernard Casoni Bernard René Michel Casoni (born 4 September 1961) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defender. In his playing career he played for Olympique Marseille and France at Euro 1992. Career Managerial career ...

as manager, Calvet was not called into the first team squad in 2013. He departed AJ Auxerre in September 2013.

Brentford

Calvet joined English League One club

on transfer deadline day in September 2013 and signed a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut in a 2–1

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

second round defeat to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on 8 October and played the full 90 minutes. Under new first team manager

Mark Warburton Mark Warburton (born 6 September 1962) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who is currently the Sporting Director and Head of Soccer for Sporting Club Jacksonville ...

, Calvet received his maiden call into a league squad on 1 March 2014 and remained an unused substitute during a 0–0 draw with

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

. Calvet finished the 2013–14 season with 15 appearances for the Development Squad and one first team appearance. Calvet spent the entire 2014–15

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

season out of first team contention and instead made 19 appearances for the Development Squad. Calvet was absent during Brentford's entire 2015–16

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

and he joined Sporting Gijón B on trial in August 2015, but failed to win a contract. Calvet departed

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

on 3 November 2015, after having made just one appearance in just over two years with the Bees.

Return to Auxerre

Calvet rejoined AJ Auxerre in a non-professional capacity in January 2016. After recovering his fitness, he made two appearances for the B team in what remained of the 2015–16 season.

Annecy

On 27 September 2016, Calvet joined Championnat de France Amateur club

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

on a two-year contract. He scored the first senior goal of his career on his eighth appearance, in a 3–1 victory over

Le Puy Foot 43 Auvergne Le Puy-en-Velay Football 43 Auvergne (; commonly referred to as Le Puy) is a French football club based in Le Puy-en-Velay in the Auvergne region. It competes in the Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of French football. History The club w ...

. He finished the 2016–17 season with 18 appearances, three goals and signed a new two-year contract in May 2017. Calvet made 27 appearances and scored one goal during the 2017–18 season, which culminated in a second-place finish behind the promoted team, Villefranche. He departed the club in July 2018, after making 45 appearances and scoring two goals during two seasons at the Parc des Sports.

Le Mans

On 4 July 2018, it was announced that Calvet had joined newly-promoted

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

club

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

on a one-year contract. He made just 14 appearances and departed by mutual consent at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Sedan

In July 2019, Calvet joined Championnat National 2 club Sedan on a free transfer and made 21 appearances during the truncated 2019–20 season. As a result of the 2020–21 season being declared null and void in April 2021, Calvet finished the season with 13 appearances. He was retained for the 2021–22 season and captained the club to a top-half finish. Despite being offered a new contract in December 2021, Calvet opted to allow his contract to expire. During three seasons with Sedan, he made 63 appearances.

Martigues

On 12 July 2022, Calvet transferred to Championnat National club

Martigues Martigues ( in classical norm, ''Lou Martegue'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune northwest of Marseille. It is part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the eastern end of the Canal de Caronte. A ...

. He made 58 appearances over the course of the 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons, with the latter campaign culminating in promotion to Ligue 2. Calvet was released at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Versailles

In July 2024, Calvet signed a two-year contract with Championnat National club

on a free transfer. He made 28 appearances and scored two goals during a 2024–25 season in which the club narrowly avoided relegation.

International career

Calvet captained the France U16, U17 and U18 squads and played in the 2011 European U17 Championship and the 2011 U17 World Cup. He received his first call up to the France U20 squad for the

2013 Jeux de la Francophonie The 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie, also known as ''VIIèmes Jeux de la Francophonie'' ( French for ''7th Francophone Games''), were held in Nice, France, from September 6–15. This was the second edition of the games to be hosted in France and the ...

and made his debut in a 3–0 group stage defeat to Congo. He went on to win three further U20 caps.

Career statistics

Honours

Martigues *

second-place promotion: 2023–24

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvet, Raphaël 1994 births Living people French men's footballers Men's association football defenders AJ Auxerre players Brentford F.C. players FC Annecy players Le Mans FC players CS Sedan Ardennes players FC Martigues players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England France men's youth international footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Sportspeople from Auxerre Footballers from Yonne FC Versailles 78 players 21st-century French sportsmen