Florent Laville (born 7 August 1973) 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 defender.

Club career

Born in

Valence, Drôme Valence (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in southeastern France, the prefecture of the Drôme Departments of France, department and within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhô ...

, Laville spent the first ten years of his career with

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 ...

, and helped them win 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 in 2002 and 2003 as well as the

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 ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. Laville signed with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in 2003 and instantly slotted into the first team, forming a successful defensive partnership with

Guðni Bergsson Guðni Bergsson (born 21 July 1965) is an Icelandic former professional footballer and former president of the Icelandic Football Association from 2017 to 2021. As a player, he was a defender who notably played in the Premier League for Tott ...

, despite a sending off in a memorable game against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He later signed permanently for Bolton, but a serious leg injury suffered several games into the 2003–04 season, against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, put him out of action for over a year and effectively ended his top-level playing career as he struggled to regain fitness. After leaving Bolton at the end of the 2004–05 season, Laville eventually returned to fitness and briefly played for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

before returning to France, reuniting with former Bolton teammate,

Pierre-Yves André Pierre-Yves André (born 14 May 1974) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent most of his career playing for Bastia, and retired after the club suffered relegation to the French third tier following the 2009 ...

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastia (, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a French professional association football, football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football in France, ...

. His contract expired at the end of the 2006–07 season and he subsequently retired.

International career

Laville represented

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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, ...

Honours

Lyon *

: 2001–02, 2002–03 *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at FFF 1973 births Living people Footballers from Valence, Drôme French men's footballers Men's association football defenders France men's under-21 international footballers Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for France Ligue 1 players Premier League players Olympique Lyonnais players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players SC Bastia players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England English Football League players 20th-century French sportsmen {{France-footy-defender-1970s-stub