Youl Mawéné (born 16 July 1979) is a French

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 ...

coach and former professional player who is the strength and conditioning coach at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Club career

Early career in France

Born in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

, France to a Congolese father, Mawéné started his career at

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

. He featured in the Lens side that reached the semi-finals of the

1999–2000 UEFA Cup The 1999–2000 UEFA Cup season was the 29th edition of the UEFA Cup competition. The final took place at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen and was won by Galatasaray, who defeated Arsenal in the final. The game was scoreless through the first ninet ...

. However, Mawéné made only one appearance in the competition, the semi-final first leg defeat at

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

against

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 ...

, and just six more appearances in the league.

Move to England

In the summer of 2000, he signed for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

for a fee of £500,000. He played 60 games for the Rams, scoring one goal against Southampton. In the 2003–04 season, he was Derby's Player of the Season. In the summer of 2004, at the end of his contract with Derby, Mawéné moved to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

on a free transfer. This was despite a bid from Championship rivals

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, for whom he had played three trial games during that summer. An ever-present in his debut season, he formed a strong partnership with

Chris Lucketti Christopher James Lucketti (born 28 September 1971) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is assistant manager of Bradford City. He played as a central defender. In a playing career of over 600 games, Lucketti beg ...

. His good form that year was rewarded with the Player of the Season award. In the 2005–06 season, he formed another strong partnership with Claude Davis as Preston reached the play-offs for the second season in a row. In the 2008–09 season, Mawéné had another partnership with

Sean St Ledger Sean Patrick St Ledger-Hall (born 28 December 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in England, he played international football for the Republic of Ireland. He was part of the team that lost controversially ...

and occasionally Liam Chilvers, helping Preston to, again, reach the play-offs. Mawéné tore cruciate and

medial Medial may refer to: Mathematics * Medial magma, a mathematical identity in algebra Geometry * Medial axis, in geometry the set of all points having more than one closest point on an object's boundary * Medial graph, another graph that repr ...

knee ligaments in a pre-season match against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

and missed the entire 2006–07 season. Pronounced fit in June 2007, he returned to the first team, with only suspensions and a brief spell on the sidelines around Christmas time preventing him from being an ever present in the side, making 42 appearances in the season.

Move to Greece; then Scotland

On 7 July 2010, Mawéné could not agree contract terms with

, after they only offered him a one-year deal, when he wanted a two-year deal. On 6 August 2010, it was confirmed that Mawéné had signed a one-year contract, with newly promoted Greek side

Panserraikos Panserraikos Football Club (), the ''All-Serres Football Club'', is a Greece, Greek Association football, football club based in Serres in Central Macedonia, Greece. Panserraikos is one of the most important and well-supported clubs in northern G ...

, bringing an end to his 10 years in English football. On 3 June 2011, Mawéné signed a pre-contract agreement to move to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on a free transfer, where he played under his former Preston manager, Craig Brown. He made his debut against

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

in the opening game of the season. Near the end of the 2011–12 season, Mawene was advised that his contract with Aberdeen would not be extended.

Return to England

In July 2012, he began a trial with League Two club

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

, before joining

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

on trial, he featured in Morecambe's 2–0 pre-season victory over his former team

. On 27 July 2012, he signed for League Two newcomers Fleetwood Town. It was announced on 7 May 2013, that Mawéné would not be offered a new contract at Fleetwood, but would stay at the club as a

fitness coach A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing m ...

, a role he conducted towards the end of the 2012–13 season.

Personal life

Youl's younger brother, Samy, is also a retired footballer while son

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

is a current player for Preston North End . His younger son Theo is a youth player at Preston.

References

External links

Youl Mawéné
at pnefc.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mawene, Youl 1979 births Living people French men's footballers Footballers from Caen Men's association football defenders Ligue 1 players Premier League players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players RC Lens players Aberdeen F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Panserraikos F.C. players Super League Greece players Fleetwood Town F.C. non-playing staff Salford City F.C. non-playing staff Black French sportspeople French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland French sportspeople of Republic of the Congo descent