Antoine Sibierski (born 5 August 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 ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He started his career at hometown club Lille OSC, going on to play for

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division ...

, Nantes, with whom he won the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

twice, and

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...

. He then moved to England and played for Manchester City, Newcastle United, with whom he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup,

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. At international level, he made three appearances for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He is currently sporting director of his former club, RC Lens.

Career

Early career

Born in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

, Sibierski began his career at hometown club Lille OSC, where he moved up the ranks and played for four complete seasons in the first team before playing for

and

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a ...

, where he won the 2000 French Cup, in the final of which Sibierski scored both of Nantes' goals. He then joined

, and eventually became

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

during his three-year stay.

Manchester City

Sibierski moved to Manchester City for a fee of £700,000 in August 2003, where he scored on his debut against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. He was a regular substitute for the team, having started only eighteen of the thirty-three games he participated in, during an all important first season in which he scored seven goals. The 2005–06 season saw him fighting for a new contract at the club. Early on in the season he won a place up front due to the injury of Andrew Cole but was soon reverted to the bench. Antoine was subsequently released by the club that summer.

Newcastle United

Newcastle United signed Sibierski on 31 August 2006 on a one-year contract, just two hours and twenty minutes before the close of the

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

. He scored on his Newcastle debut in the UEFA cup first round tie against Levadia. His league debut for the club came at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 17 September, and he scored his first domestic goal for Newcastle on 7 November against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. He scored his first league goal for the club in a 1–0 win over Portsmouth. Sibierski then went on to score his second league goal for the Magpies against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

in a thrilling encounter in which the Magpies went on to win 3–2. His goal scoring form at the start of the season proved many doubters wrong, as Sibierski went on to be a key European figure. In Europe, Sibierski made 7 appearances and scored 4 essential goals against Levadia Tallinn, Fenerbahçe,

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

and Zulte-Waregem respectively. He quickly became a Newcastle favourite and an important member of the first team loved by the Newcastle faithful. Due to injuries on

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

, including

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

striker

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...

, Sibierski mainly played as a striker, where his partnership with Nigerian

Obafemi Martins Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins (born 28 October 1984) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is known for his speed on the ball. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he has since played for a number of top-d ...

proved successful. He also played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in a 4–5–1 formation. He played a part in an exciting 2–2 draw with Manchester United, later saying he was disappointed not to get on the scoresheet against his former club's main rivals. He scored his first European goal of 2007 with a brilliant individual effort against Zulte-Waregem in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

on 15 February. Sibierski nut-megged a defender, took it round another, took it round the keeper and tapped home the last goal in a 3–1 win. However, Newcastle were not willing to match Sibierski's wish of a new two-year contract at the club, instead offering just another one-year contract, which he rejected. Sibierski's agent

Willie McKay Willie McKay is a British football agent, based in Monaco. He was the agent of many top-level footballers, mainly based in England and France, specifically the Premier League His clients include James McFadden, Joey Barton Joseph Anthon ...

stated that whilst negotiations were still ongoing, it looked increasingly likely that Sibierski would be leaving the club as his contract came to an end, especially with newly appointed manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

bringing fresh ideas and tactics. Following his season with Newcastle, Sibierski described himself as a Newcastle fan. He is affectionately known among Newcastle United fans as 'Sib The Sexist' in homage to Tyneside's Silver Tongued Cavalier 'Sid The Sexist'.

Wigan Athletic

Sibierski agreed a two-year deal with

on a free transfer from Newcastle United on 4 June 2007 along with Titus Bramble, who played at Newcastle with Sibierski the previous season but was also released. He scored on his debut in the 2–1 defeat at Everton on 11 August 2007. He followed this up with a second goal for the Latics on his home debut at the

JJB Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...

on 15 August against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, and a third for Wigan's third game in a row, completing a 3–0 victory over Sunderland on 18 August. Subsequently, Sibierski suffered several injuries and his form slumped, as Wigan slipped from the top 4 to the relegation zone. However, on 12 January 2008, Sibierski scored a crucial winner within seconds of coming off the bench against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

with a low drive into the bottom left corner of the net from 25 yards out. He then followed this up with another spectacular goal against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. On 1 September 2008, Sibierski joined

on loan. He scored what proved to be the winning goal on his debut against Plymouth Argyle on 13 September 2008 from a free-kick. However, after this he made little impact and returned to Wigan in January when his loan ended. He was released by Wigan at the end of the 2008–09 season, after not being offered a new contract.

International career

. He represented France at the

, making 3 appearances.

Post-playing career

After finishing his playing career, Sibierski briefly became a football agent with his brother. He is currently the Sporting Director of Ligue 2 club RC Lens.

Personal life

Former Lille teammate

Frédéric Dindeleux Frédéric Dindeleux (born 16 January 1974) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. Dindeleux played for Lille, Kilmarnock, Zulte Waregem, Oostende and K.M.S.K. Deinze. Career After six years with French club Lill ...

, who had been his friend since the age of eight, was best man at Sibierski's wedding to Isabelle. The couple had three children together: two daughters and a son. Following the unfortunate passing of his 18-year-old elder daughter Sibylle on 1 February 2010, a charity "Fonds de Dotation Sibylle Sibierski" has been formed in her name with the support of football legends such as Real Madrid manager

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...

, former Arsenal captain and Manchester City midfielder

Patrick Viera Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one ...

striker Didier Drogba and Kevin Keegan of

and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and more.

Honours

Club

Nantes *

: 1998–99, 1999–2000 *

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 cups found in many other countries. His ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

Newcastle United * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2006

Individual

* Goal of the season for

: against

, 26 January 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sibierski, Antoine 1974 births Living people Footballers from Lille French footballers Olympic footballers of France French people of Polish descent AJ Auxerre players Expatriate footballers in England FC Nantes players Association football forwards Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics French expatriate footballers Ligue 1 players Lille OSC players Manchester City F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Premier League players RC Lens players English Football League players Wigan Athletic F.C. players French expatriate sportspeople in England