Yann Alain Kermorgant (born 8 November 1981) 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, rugb ...

who played as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who live ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, Kermorgant began his career with the

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais FC, Stade Rennais, Rennes, or simply SRFC, is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany. They compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and pla ...

Youth Academy, but aged 14 he was the victim of leukemia, and his career was halted for four years. He was signed for

after initially playing at district-level but impressed the manager on trial. He spent two seasons at Vannes before joining

Châtellerault Châtellerault (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Châteulrô/Chateleràud''; oc, Chastelairaud) is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France. It is located in the northeast of the former province Poitou, and the re ...

for the 2004–05 season. He scored an impressive 14 league goals and was consequently signed by

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

. After two full seasons with Grenoble, having scored 16 goals, he signed for Stade Reims in the summer of 2007. When new manager Luis Fernandez took charge in January 2009, he made Kermorgant the captain. He finished the season with a total of nine goals and nine assists.

Leicester City

Kermorgant became a free agent after leaving Stade Reims at the end of the 2008–09 season. He entered talks with

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 system ...

team Leicester City in July 2009, and was given a trial by the club. Kermorgant was given a second trial after impressing in his initial display. On 24 August 2009, Leicester signed Kermorgant on a short-term contract until January 2010, beating French club

Stade Malherbe Caen Stade Malherbe Caen (; commonly known as SM Caen, SMC, or simply Caen) is a French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy, that competes in the Ligue 2. The club was founded on 17 November 1913 by the merger of ''Cl ...

for his signature. He made his debut a day later as a 79th minute substitute in a 2–1

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 ...

defeat to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. On 17 December, Kermorgant signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Leicester, which would last until the end of June 2012. He made his first assist in a 2–1

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 compet ...

win over

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...

on 2 January 2010. Feeling the pressure of expectations since arriving, Kermorgant admitted at the end of January that he was still adjusting to life in England. He finally scored his first competitive goal for Leicester, in his 23rd game, in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

on 2 May 2010. Kermorgant missed a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in a 4–3 defeat on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in the Championship play-offs semi-final second leg on 12 May 2010. Kermorgant chipped his penalty, which was easily saved by Cardiff keeper David Marshall. On 23 July 2010, Kermorgant signed for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

club AC Arles-Avignon on loan for the rest of the 2010–11 season. He was told he was free to look for a new club on his return to Leicester in August 2011.

Charlton Athletic

On 13 September 2011, Kermorgant signed a two-year contract at

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 ...

, linking back up with his former first team coach at Leicester,

Chris Powell Christopher George Robin Powell (born 8 September 1969) is an English football coach and former player, who is currently head of coaching at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur's Academy and a coach for the England national team. As a left ...

. On 27 September 2011, he scored his first goal for the club in the away 1–1 draw with MK Dons. He then continued as the preferred striker to partner Bradley Wright-Phillips, and his aerial ability and consistent performances attracted interest from

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

in January 2012. Kermorgant won the League 1 title with Charlton Athletic on 5 May 2012, rounding off the season with a goal from an acute angle in a 3–2 victory against

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County D ...

. On 25 July 2012, Kermorgant signed a new contract with Charlton Athletic, keeping him at the club until at least 2014 with an option for a further 12 months. He scored his first Championship goal for them against his former club Leicester in a 2–1 win at The Valley. He repeated this feat, scoring in the reverse fixture at the

King Power Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...

in a win by the same score. Kermorgant finished the season with a double against Bristol City, finishing the year as joint top goalscorer shared with

Johnnie Jackson John Alec Jackson (born 15 August 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder or as a defender. He is the current manager of League Two club AFC Wimbledon. Club career Tottenham Hotspur Bor ...

with 12 league goals. Kermorgant scored his first goal of the 2013–14 season on the first day, with an acrobatic goal against

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

. He once again scored against Leicester along with fellow former Fox

Michael Morrison Michael or Mike Morrison may refer to: * Michael Morrison (author) (born 1970), American author, software developer, and toy inventor * Mike Morrison (baseball) (1867–1955), 19th-century Major League Baseball pitcher * Mike Morrison (basketball ...

in another 2–1 home win.

Bournemouth

On transfer deadline day 31 January 2014, Kermorgant signed for

on a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut as a second-half substitute against former club Leicester City. On 1 March 2014, Kermorgant celebrated his full debut for

by scoring his first goal for the club and his first ever hat-trick in a 5–0 win against Doncaster Rovers. In Kermorgant's first full season at

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as the Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England and the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. History In 1910, Boscombe F.C. was g ...

he helped them claim the

title winning promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for the first time in the club's history. Kermorgant scored 17 goals in all competitions and was nominated for the Championship goal of the season award for a bicycle kick in the 2–2 draw against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

Reading

On 20 January 2016, Kermorgant signed a one-and-a-half-year deal with

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 (spell ...

. On 2 January 2017, Kermorgant scored twice in Reading's 3–2 away win over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, including the 93rd-minute winner, with Reading being 2–0 down in the 70th minute. On 10 February 2017, Kermorgant signed a new one-year extension to his contract, keeping him at Reading until the summer of 2018. On 1 November 2017, Reading announced that Kermorgant had put off his retirement plans at the end of the season to sign with the club a new contract covering the summer of 2019. Reading announced on 10 July 2018 that Kermorgant's last year of his contract had been terminated by mutual consent.

Return to France

After training with Vannes OC since the start of the 2018–19 season, Kermorgant signed a contract with the French side

Championnat National 2 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 the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligu ...

on 2 October 2018. He announced his retirement on 22 April 2020.

International career

Kermorgant was included in the

Brittany national football team The Brittany national football team (, ) is the representative football team of Brittany, France. It is administered by the Breton Football Association (BFA). It is neither affiliated to FIFA nor UEFA but is characterised as one of the six Celtic ...

for the

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against FIFA member

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

on 28 May 2013. He was a 62nd-minute substitute and scored the only goal nine minutes later.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kermorgant, Yann 1981 births Living people French footballers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Association football forwards Vannes OC players SO Châtellerault players Grenoble Foot 38 players Stade de Reims players Leicester City F.C. players AC Arlésien players Charlton Athletic F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Reading F.C. players Premier League players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players English Football League players Sportspeople from Vannes Footballers from Brittany French expatriate sportspeople in England