Valentin Noël (born 27 April 1999) is a French professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who plays 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 ...

for

Las Vegas Lights FC Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that plays in the USL Championship. The team made its debut in 2018 and plays its home games at Cashman Field. The team employs neon imagery in its crest a ...

of the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

Career

Youth and college

Noël was born and raised in

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; ; ) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the urban area. Geography T ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

playing for his hometown club

Chamois Niortais F.C. Chamois Niortais Football Club (; often referred to as ''Les Chamois'', Chamois Niortais, or simply Niort) are a Football in France, French association football club based in the commune of Niort, in the Deux-Sèvres department of Nouvelle-Aqui ...

as a youth player, earning a selection to the reserve team Niort II, earning 34 caps and 2 goals. In the 2018/2019 season, Noël was called up to

but only spent one game on the bench, without earning a cap. In 2019, Noël started attending

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

to play

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 ...

. Noël became a starter in his first year, going on to earn 77 starts, in which he scored 35 goals in addition to notching 13 assists over four years. Noel earned all-freshman team honors in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and all ACC first-team honors in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, in addition to all ACC second team honors in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. In Noel's standout season, he was selected as the

Offensive Player of the Year.

Professional

Austin FC

In December 2022, Noël was selected as the 20th selection in the First Round of the

2023 MLS SuperDraft The 2023 MLS SuperDraft was the 24th edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. It was held on December 21, 2022, becoming the first SuperDraft to be held in December, but retained the 2023 branding. The draft was conducted via ...

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

. In March 2023, Noêl signed with Austin FC's second team

Austin FC II Austin FC II is an American professional soccer team that is located in Austin, Texas. It is the reserve team of Austin FC and participates in MLS Next Pro. History On August 4, 2022, Austin FC was named as one of seven MLS clubs that would f ...

on a one-year contract. Noël quickly established himself as a team leader for Austin FC II, scoring a brace to help Austin FC II win their first every competitive match in

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

. Noël signed a short-term loan agreement and made his first appearance with

's first team in a 1–3 loss to

Mazatlán F.C. Mazatlán Futbol Club is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, that competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football league system, Mexican football. The club was established in June 2020 ...

in their first ever

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual soccer competition between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States, and Liga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in ...

match, coming on in extra time. Noël was a starting midfielder for Austin FC II, scoring their second goal, when they won the 2023 MLS Next Pro Cup, beating the Columbus Crew 2 by a score of 3–1. Noël was named the 2023 MLS Next Pro Cup

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

Las Vegas Lights FC

On March 8, 2024, Noël transferred to the

club

from Austin FC II.

Career statistics

;Notes

Honors

Austin FC II *MLS Next Pro Cup: Champions –

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual * 2023 MLS Next Pro Cup MVP * All-ACC First Team:

References

External links

*
Austin FC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noël, Valentin 1999 births Living people French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Austin FC draft picks Austin FC players Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer players Chamois Niortais FC players Major League Soccer players Austin FC II players Las Vegas Lights FC players MLS Next Pro players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States USL Championship players 21st-century French sportsmen