Florent Balmont (born 2 February 1980) 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Career

Balmont began his career at

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

in the

2002–03 Ligue 1 For the 2002–03 season, the French Division 1 was renamed as Ligue 1 and was expanded to contain 20 clubs, which played 38 matches against each other, rather than the 34 matches in previous seasons. Lyon won the 2002–03 Ligue 1 season of the ...

season after coming through the junior ranks. In the 2003–04 season, Balmont was sent out on loan to

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club () is a French professional association football, football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France, French football. Toulouse plays it ...

making a total of 35 appearances. After returning from loan, Balmont signed with

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional association football, football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of Footb ...

. In his time with Lyon, Balmont won the 2002–03 championship and the

2004 Trophée des Champions The 2004 Trophée des Champions was a soccer, football match held at Stade Pierre de Coubertin (Cannes), Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Cannes on 31 July 2004, that saw 2003–04 Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais defeat 2003–04 Coupe de France w ...

, converting his penalty in the latter after the match went to a shoot-out. Balmont spent four seasons at Nice making 139 appearances before signing 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 ...

. Balmont won an historic double with the club during the 2010–11 season, making 39 appearances across all competitions as Lille won the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

title and the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

trophy. In July 2017, Balmont announced he had left Lille to join

Dijon FCO Dijon Football Côte d'Or (; ), commonly referred to as Dijon FCO or simply as Dijon, is a French Football in France, football club based in Dijon. The club was founded in 1998 as a result of a merger between two local clubs in the city, and co ...

, newly promoted to Ligue 1, on a two-year contract. On 11 May 2019, Balmont made his 500th Ligue 1 appearance in a 2–1 victory over

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. With the appearance, he moved up to 21st in the all-time Ligue 1 appearances and leads all active players in that category. Balmont announced his retirement from playing in May 2020 and stated his intention to go into coaching. In July 2020, after his retirement, Balmont began his training as a coach, as he was hired as a U-20 coach and member of the first team staff at

Championnat National 3 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

club FC Limonest Dardilly Saint-Didier. He left the club at the end of the season.L’ancien milieu du DFCO, Florent Balmont, décroche le BEF
bienpublic.com, 31 May 2021

Career statistics

Honours

Lyon *

: 2002–03 *

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 cup, super cups found in many other count ...

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 ...

Lille *

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 ...

References

External links

* * * 1980 births Living people People from Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon Footballers from Lyon Metropolis Men's association football midfielders French men's footballers Olympique Lyonnais players Toulouse FC players OGC Nice players Lille OSC players Dijon FCO players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 3 players Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for France Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games 21st-century French sportsmen {{france-footy-midfielder-1980s-stub