Félix Brillant (born September 9, 1980, in

Brossard Brossard ( , , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal, Greater Montreal area. According to the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

) is a Canadian former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player 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 ...

and later became a soccer coach.

Career

Youth and amateur

Brillant began his career in the youth system of French team

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed in 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 2 ...

, but never appeared for the senior side. He returned to North America in 2002, and played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for at

Franklin Pierce College Franklin Pierce University is a private university in Rindge, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded as Franklin Pierce College in 1962, combining a liberal arts foundation with coursework for professional preparation. The school gained un ...

in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

, where he was named All-New England Region four times. In 2002 and 2003 he also played for

Cape Cod Crusaders The Cape Cod Crusaders was an American soccer team based in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Founded in 1994, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, when the franchi ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

, with whom he won back-to-back PDL championships.

Professional

Brillant was drafted 56th overall by the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

in the

2004 MLS Superdraft The 2004 MLS SuperDraft, held in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 16, 2004, was the fifth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft. The draft was most notable at the time for the selection of one of the younge ...

and scored a goal in the 2004 season for the Revs, but was released in June 2005 without making an appearance that season. Brillant played for the

Virginia Beach Mariners The Virginia Beach Mariners were an American soccer club, who formerly played in the USL First Division of the United Soccer Leagues, the second division in the US Soccer hierarchy behind Major League Soccer. On March 30, 2007 the team folded due ...

in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

in 2005 and 2006, and then played

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

for Sparta Sarpsborg of the

Adeccoligaen The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

in 2007. On July 30, 2008, Brillant signed a contract with the Montreal Impact of the United Soccer League. During the 2008 season Brillant helped the team move up in the USL First Division standings. In 11 games, including four starts, Brillant tallied five points, all on August 24, in a 3–1 win against

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

. He also took part in six of the eight games that the Impact played in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

. On December 2, 2008, the Montreal Impact announced the re-signing of Brillant to a two-year contract. During the 2009 USL season Brillant contributed by helping the Impact clinch a playoff spot under new head coach Marc Dos Santos. He helped the Impact reach the finals where Montreal would face the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

, this marking the first time in USL history where the final match would consist of two Canadian clubs. In the final Brillant helped the Impact win the series 6–3 on aggregate. The victory gave the Impact their third USL Championship and also the victory marked Brillant's first USL Championship. On November 30, 2009, Brillant was released by the Impact, and joined the reserve team Trois-Rivières Attak in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

International

Brillant played for the Canadian national U-17 team in the late 1990s. He was on the bench for Canada's

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

Qualifier against

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

on 13 October 2004, but did not play in the game.

Managerial career

In 2020, he was named the assistant coach under head coach Nicolas Gagnon for the Montreal Impact U-17 team. He was re-signed for the 2022 season and was also named the academy's senior educator of the cub's scouting and development centre.

Honors

Cape Cod Crusaders

Champions (1): 2003

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brillant, Felix 1980 births Living people AS Cannes players Black Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in France Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Canadian men's soccer players Cape Cod Crusaders players Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football midfielders Franklin Pierce University alumni Haitian Quebecers Haitian emigrants to Canada Major League Soccer players Naturalized citizens of Canada New England Revolution players Soccer people from Quebec Sportspeople from Brossard Sarpsborg 08 FF players USL First Division players Virginia Beach Mariners players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players USL League Two players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Trois-Rivières Attak players Canada men's youth international soccer players New England Revolution draft picks Canadian soccer coaches 21st-century Canadian sportsmen