Julien Rodriguez (born 11 June 1978) 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 ...

who played as a defender.

Career

Born in Béziers, France, Rodriguez started his career at

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...

, making 135 appearances for the club and helping them win the Coupe de la Ligue in 2002–03 and reach the 2004 Champions League final. He joined Scottish Premier League club Rangers in August 2005 for £1 million. He scored his first goal for Rangers on 11 March 2006 in Rangers' 4–0 victory over Kilmarnock at

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox, Glasgow, Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers F.C., Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest List of foot ...

and made a total of 30 appearances in his debut season with the club. Having been expected to be an important member of the Rangers team under the management of fellow Frenchman

Paul Le Guen Paul Joseph Marie Le Guen (, ; born 1 March 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Ligue 2 club Le Havre. During his playing career, Le Guen played as a midfielder, and enjoyed a su ...

in season 2006–07, Le Guen's reign as manager was short and unsuccessful. After the appointment of Le Guen's replacement

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

in January 2007, Rodriguez was transferred to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

. Rodriguez received a call-up to the

France national football team The France national football team (french: Équipe de France de football) represents France in men's international football matches. It is governed by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is ...

in 2007, but did not play.

References

External links

* 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Béziers French footballers French expatriate footballers French people of Spanish descent Association football defenders FC Istres players AS Monaco FC players Rangers F.C. players Olympique de Marseille players Ligue 1 players Scottish Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Scotland Footballers from Occitania (administrative region) {{france-footy-defender-1970s-stub