Guy Roland Demel (born 13 June 1981) is an Ivorian 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. He has been assistant coach of the

Ivory Coast national football team The Ivory Coast national football team ( French: ''Équipe de football de Côte d'Ivoire'', recognized as the Côte d'Ivoire by FIFA) represents Ivory Coast in men's international football. Nicknamed ''the Elephants'', the team is managed by t ...

since January 2024. He could play in several positions including

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

and

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Demel started his career in France with

Nîmes Olympique Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was founded on 12 April 1937 and currently plays in the Championnat National, the third tier of French football. The Sta ...

before joining English club

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 ...

in 2000. He then played in Germany for ten years, signing for

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

in 2001 and then

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

in 2005. He returned to England with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in 2011, leaving the club in 2015 and subsequently joining

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

. Demel was born in France but represented the Ivory Coast national team from 2004 until his international retirement in 2012, making 35 appearances. He was in the Ivorian squad for the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

World Cups and the

2006 Africa Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split int ...

Club career

Born in

Orsay Orsay () is a Communes of France, commune in the Essonne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. A fortifie ...

, France, Demel started his professional career in the French

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 ...

with

. He was signed by

in August 2000 spending one season in London without making a first team appearance before being transferred to

. He made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut in 2003 winning the Bundesliga and making UEFA Cup Final in his first season. Demel left Dortmund to join Hamburg in 2005, after struggling to hold down a first team place. With Hamburg, Demel played regularly as both a

and 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 ...

. In May 2006, he signed a new contract with Hamburg, tying him to the club until 2010. Demel was released by Hamburg at the expiry of his contract in 2011. He made 199 appearances for Hamburg including 52 in European football in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

and the

2006–07 UEFA Champions League The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Milan ...

, scoring four goals.

West Ham United

He signed a two-year deal, with the option of a third, with West Ham on 31 August 2011. Due to injuries it was not until 29 November 2011, in a 2–0 away win 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 ...

, that Demel made his West Ham United debut. With West Ham playing in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

, Demel played 10 games in the 2011–12 season, eight of them after coming on as substitute. On 19 May 2012, he was a member of the team which won promotion to the

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 ...

after beating

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in the 2012 Football League Championship play-off final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. He played the first 57 minutes before being replaced by

Julien Faubert Julien Alex Thomas Faubert (born 1 August 1983) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right back. Born in France, he played in one match for the France national football team, France national team, in wh ...

. On 23 January 2013, Demel extended his contract with West Ham until 2015. Demel scored his only West Ham goal in a 2–1 home defeat by

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 6 April 2014. After West Ham striker,

Andy Carroll Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championnat National 2 club Bordeaux. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston No ...

challenged Liverpool goalkeeper,

Simon Mignolet Simon Luc Hildebert Mignolet (born 6 March 1988) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge KV, Club Brugge. Mignolet started h ...

, the goalkeeper dropped the ball and Demel scored from out. Demel was first-choice

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for the

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 ...

and 2013–14 seasons playing 31 and 32 games respectively. By the 2014–15 season,

Carl Jenkinson Carl Daniel Jenkinson (born 8 February 1992) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a right-back for side Bromley F.C., Bromley. Jenkinson began his career with Charlton Athletic F.C., Charlton Athletic before ...

was first-choice and Demel managed only six games all season. He was released at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Dundee United

In November 2015, Demel signed for

until the end of the 2015–16 season. He scored his first goal for Dundee United in a 2–1 win over Hearts on 20 February 2016. Following confirmation of the club's relegation from the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

, Demel was allowed to leave the club and return to France before the end of the season, despite still being under contract.

International career

In 2004, Demel, a French citizen, acquired an Ivorian passport. He has since been selected for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, playing at the

, and being named to the squad for the

and

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

finals. Demel announced his retirement from international football on 6 December 2012 confirming his wish to focus on his club career with West Ham United.

Career statistics

International

:Source:

Honours

Club

Borussia Dortmund *

: 2001–02 Hamburger SV *

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 ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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 ...

West Ham United *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

: 2011–12

International

Ivory Coast *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

runner-up:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Demel, Guy 1981 births Living people Footballers from Essonne Men's association football defenders French men's footballers Ivorian men's footballers Ivory Coast men's international footballers Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Nîmes Olympique players Arsenal F.C. players Borussia Dortmund players Borussia Dortmund II players Hamburger SV players Hamburger SV II players West Ham United F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Athlético Marseille players Red Star FC players Bundesliga players English Football League players Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany French sportspeople of Ivorian descent 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland 21st-century French sportsmen