Maxime Edouard Camille Blanchard, or just Maxi Blanchard, (born 27 September 1986) 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 defender and

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

and Newport County, in his native league

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 ...

for Laval,

L'Entente SSG The Entente Sannois Saint-Gratien is a French association football team based in the suburb of Saint-Gratien, Val-d'Oise, Saint-Gratien in Paris. The team was founded in 1989 and play in the Championnat National 3, the country's fifth tier of com ...

and Moulins, and in the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

Career

Maxime Blanchard began his career in

Alençon Alençon (, , ; ) is a commune in Normandy, France, and the capital of the Orne department. It is situated between Paris and Rennes (about west of Paris) and a little over north of Le Mans. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alen� ...

, a commune in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, before joining his first professional club – Laval. He spent two years in the youth team before being promoted to train with the senior squad during the 2005–06 season. Blanchard made his senior debut in

the following season and went on to appear in another 25 league matches for Laval over the next two years. He spent the 2008–09 campaign with

, where he scored his first league goal, and the next with Moulins – making 35 league appearances in both. He moved to England in the summer of 2010, signing for

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

and went on to make 24 appearances during the 2010–11 season. He left Tranmere at the end of the campaign. Blanchard signed a short-term contract with

in November. He made his debut in a 4–1 win against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

, and extended his contract in January 2012 until the end of the season. Blanchard scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

. Blanchard signed a new two-year contract in May, and won the club's

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

award for the 2011–12 season. He made 28 league appearances, in which he scored two goals and, according to '' The Herald'', had a "formidable partnership" with

Darren Purse Darren John Purse (born 14 February 1977) is an English former professional footballer who now coaches the Cardiff City U23s. A centre-back, he began his career at Leyton Orient before winning a £100,000 move to Oxford United in July 1996. H ...

. In 2015, he moved to Ireland and signed one-year contract with

. He left the club in July 2016 and joined the UK League Two side Newport County on a game-by-game contract.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Maxime 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Alençon French men's footballers Footballers from Orne Men's association football defenders Championnat National players English Football League players League of Ireland players Stade Lavallois players Entente SSG players AS Moulins players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland French expatriate sportspeople in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in Wales 21st-century French sportsmen