François Affolter (born 13 March 1991) is a Swiss 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 plays as a defender for

Biel-Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

in the

Swiss Promotion League The Promotion League, named the Hoval Promotion League for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Swiss football league system. Eighteen clubs compete in the league, playing each other twice over course of the season. The champions are prom ...

. He was part of the Swiss team at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Career

Young Boys

Born in

Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, He made his senior debut for

BSC Young Boys Berner Sport Club Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation, ) is a Swiss professional sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 17 Swiss league championships and eight Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss footbal ...

at the age of 17 years on 14 September 2008 in a 2–1 victory over

AC Bellinzona AC Bellinzona is a Swiss football club based in Bellinzona. It was founded in 1904, and won the Swiss Super League in 1948. After being folded in 2013 declaring bankruptcy, the team played the Ticino Group of 2.Liga, the sixth tier of the Sw ...

, replacing Marc Schneider in the starting eleven due to suspension. Since that match, he was a regular starter for the club in their three-man defence, alongside Saif Ghezal and Miguel Alfredo Portillo. Before he played with the first team, he played with the under 18 team. They won the under 18 championship the same year. Then, he joined the first team for friendly matches in the summer of 2008 and the new Young Boys coach

Vladimir Petkovic Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

gave him his chance. He signed his first professional contract with Young Boys in November 2008. After three seasons with Young Boys, he was loaned to German club

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. After an unsuccessful half year at Young Boys, he decided to transfer to Swiss side

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (). It is best known for its professional association football, football team, which plays in the Swiss Super League, Super League, the top tier of the ...

for an undisclosed fee. His contract was set to expire in June 2018.

San Jose Earthquakes

On 21 July 2017,

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

announced it had signed Affolter to a multi-year contract on a free transfer from Luzern. He made his first appearance for San Jose on 9 August, starting in the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

semifinal against

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

and substituting out during extra time in the 103rd minute. He made his first MLS start and appearance on 12 August in a 3–0 loss to the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

BBVA Compass Stadium Shell Energy Stadium is an American multi-purpose stadium located in Houston, Texas, that is home to Houston Dynamo FC, a Major League Soccer club and the Houston Dash of the National Women's Soccer League and was the first soccer specific ...

FC Aarau

In February 2020, Affolter joined

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League (known as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the wi ...

side

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss professional football club based in Aarau. Founded in 1902, the club competes in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from the Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was form ...

until the end of the 2019–20 season.

Chiasso

In September 2020,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Affolter signed with

FC Chiasso FC Chiasso is a Swiss football club based in Chiasso. It was founded in 1905. Chiasso also played in the Italian first league between 1914 and 1923. The team currently play in 3. Liga, the seventh tier of Swiss football. History Between 1927 ...

, also of the Swiss Challenge League.

Return to Biel-Bienne

On 29 December 2021, Affolter returned to his youth club

on a 2.5-year contract.

Personal life

Affolter received his U.S. green card in July 2018, which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Affolter, Francois 1991 births Sportspeople from Biel/Bienne Footballers from the canton of Bern Living people Men's association football defenders Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Switzerland men's international footballers FC Biel-Bienne players BSC Young Boys players SV Werder Bremen players SV Werder Bremen II players FC Luzern players San Jose Earthquakes players FC Aarau players FC Chiasso players Swiss Super League players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Swiss Challenge League players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Switzerland Swiss expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Swiss expatriate sportspeople in the United States 21st-century Swiss sportsmen