Franck Grandel (born 17 March 1978) is a

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

an 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Club career

Born in

Pointe-à-Pitre Pointe-à-Pitre (; , , or simply , ) is the second most populous commune of Guadeloupe (after Les Abymes). Guadeloupe is an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in the Lesser Antilles, of which it is a ''Subprefectu ...

, Grandel started his career with

Club Colonial Club Colonial is a professional football club of Martinique, playing in the town of Fort-de-France. They played in the Martinique's first division, the Martinique Championnat National in 2007, but in the end of the season they were relegated to M ...

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. He made his professional debut for

Racing Besançon Racing Besançon is a French football club based in Besançon. It was founded in 1904. They play at the Stade Léo Lagrange. The club currently competes in the Championnat National 3, the fifth tier of France Football. History Founded in 1904 by ...

in the

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

during the 1999–2000 season. After two seasons in the club from

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

, he joined

FC Libourne Football Club Libourne, formerly known as AS Libourne or Libourne Saint-Seurin-sur-L'Isle, is a French football team from the town of Libourne in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The club plays in the Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of French football. ...

, competing for the championship of the fourth-tier

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a Association football, football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system be ...

. He played there for two seasons before moving to Greek club

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

ahead of the 2003–04 season. During the 2004–05 season, he returned to France where he signed for

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

club

Troyes AC Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (ESTAC), commonly known as Troyes, is a football in France, French professional association football club based in Troyes that competes in Ligue 2. It plays its home matches at the Stade de l'Aube. Foun ...

. At the end of the season, the club finished in third place in the league and found themselves promoted to 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 ...

. After this feat was reached, he signed a three-year contract with Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

in 2005, where he was seen as the successor to

René Ponk René Ponk (born 21 October 1971 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Football career In a professional career which lasted 15 years Ponk appeared in Eredivisie games 120 over the course of eight seasons, with ...

who had left for

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

. Under the leadership of head coach

Foeke Booy Foeke Booy (born 25 April 1962) is a Dutch football manager, executive, and former player. He serves as the technical manager of Cambuur. Club career Booy played for eight clubs in sixteen seasons. After hometown club Cambuur Leeuwarden, De G ...

, he made his debut in the Eredivisie on 14 August 2005, when FC Utrecht drew 0–0 against

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion ...

. In the course of his first season, Grandel alternated between great saves and several blunders, which mockingly became known as ''Grandelletjes'' ("Grandels"). He was released from his contract with Utrecht in November 2007. He signed a two-year contract with French

side

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 ...

just before the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United Stat ...

. Lacking playing time, he left the club after two seasons. In 2011, he joined

USL Dunkerque Union Sportive du Littoral de Dunkerque () is a Association football, football club based in Dunkirk, France. It competes in Ligue 2, having achieved promotion from the Championnat National in the 2022–23 Championnat National, 2022–23 seas ...

in the fourth division with whom he won the

Championnat de France Amateur 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 French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

in 2013 and promoted to Championnat National. In 2013, he returned to Troyes AC, who had just been relegated to Ligue 2, to be the backup. In 2015, the club won the Ligue 2 title, but he failed to make any league appearances that season, or the following season in Ligue 1.

International career

During the

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States from J ...

, when Guadeloupe team surprisingly advanced to the tournament semifinals, Grandel was given top goalkeeper award and was also named to the tournament All-star team. He had to leave the 2009 Gold Cup squad because of injury.Grandel, three others out of Guadeloupe with injuries
- Gold Cup 2009

Honours

USL Dunkerque *

2012–13 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 ...

Guadeloupe * CONCACAF Gold Cup Top Goalkeeper:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

All-Tournament team:

References

External links

Weltfussball
* *

- Voetbal International * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grandel, Frack 1978 births Living people French men's footballers Guadeloupean men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Guadeloupe men's international footballers Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players Super League Greece players Eredivisie players FC Mulhouse players Racing Besançon players FC Libourne players Xanthi F.C. players ES Troyes AC players FC Utrecht players Dijon FCO players USL Dunkerque players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players US Boulogne non-playing staff French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands