Lionel Charbonnier

Lionel Charbonnier

File:Lionel Charbonnier.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Lionel André Michel Charbonnier
Date of birth	(1966-10-25) 25 October 1966
Place of birth	Poitiers, Poitou-Charentes, France
Height
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1986–1987	Auxerre
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1987–1998	Auxerre	126	(0)
1998–2001	Rangers	18	(0)
2001–2002	Lausanne Sports	0	(0)
Total		144	(0)
International career
1997–1998	France	1	(0)
Managerial career
2002–2004	Stade Poitevin
2005–2007	FC Sens
2007–2009	Tahiti U20
2010–2011	Atjeh United F.C.
2012–2013	Indonesia (technical director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lionel André Michel Charbonnier (born 25 October 1966 in Poitiers) is a retired French footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After retiring, he became a football manager and managed Atjeh United of the Liga Primer Indonesia in the season before they folded along with their independent league.

He played for the AJ Auxerre side which won the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de France in the 1995-96 season under the management of Guy Roux. After eleven seasons with Auxerre from 1987 to 1998 he joined Rangers FC in Scotland, where he won the treble of Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup in his first season, 1998-99. They retained the League and Cup in his second season. He retired in 2002 after a season with Lausanne Sports of the Swiss Super League.

Charbonnier was selected 32 times to the French national team but earned his only full cap in 1997. He was a member of the squad which won the 1998 World Cup on home soil, although he did not play a game.

He also managed Tahiti, a French overseas colony, at under-20 level, winning the Oceania Football Confederation's championship in that age bracket. Charbonnier qualified the Under-20 team to the 2009 World Cup in Egypt, the first time that any island has qualified in this level of competition.

In December 2012 he was appointed general manager of Football Association of Indonesia.

Career

Auxerre Youth Team

Lionel Charbonnier trained at AJ Auxerre from the age of 16. He featured in their sides which won the Coupe Gambardella (a nationwide French competition for under-19 sides) twice in a row. In 1985 they beat Montpellier 3-0 and in 1986 Auxerre won on penalties after drawing 0-0 with Nantes.

Auxerre

Charbonnier was often a second-choice goalkeeper in his early seasons at Auxerre, kept out by Bruno Martini who had played for the club since 1981. One of Charbonnier's most important matches in the first team was a semi-final in the 1992-93 UEFA Cup against Borussia Dortmund, which he lost on sudden-death penalties after both teams won their home leg 2-0.

Following a serious injury to Martini at the beginning of the 1993-94 season, Charbonnier became the first choice goalkeeper, winning that season's Coupe de France final. His form caused Martini to transfer to Montpellier in 1995 in order to play first-team football. In 1995-96 Auxerre won the Ligue 1 title and the Coupe de France.

Rangers

On 16 July 1998, only four days after the World Cup Final, he joined Rangers FC of the Scottish Premier League, signed by Dutchman Dick Advocaat for £1.2 million. Charbonnier wore the number 1 shirt. He suffered a cruciate ligament injury soon after but made 19 appearances throughout the season. The German Stefan Klos made 23.

At the end of the season Rangers won the treble of Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.

The following season the number 1 shirt was handed to Klos who had impressed in Charbonnier's absence, and the German played 35 games compared to Charbonnier's 11. Rangers won the league and Cup again, but were beaten in the quarter-final of the League Cup 1-0, away to Aberdeen.

In his final season, he was fourth choice and did not play a single game in any competition. Klos played 47, Jesper Christiansen of Denmark played six while Mark Brown played in three games. Rangers won no trophies and finished second to Celtic F.C. in the league. Charbonnier's contract ended at the end of the season and he left Ibrox.

Lausanne

When his Rangers contract ended, he joined Lausanne Sports of Switzerland's top flight (then called Nationalliga A). They finished 11th out of 12 in the 2001-02 season but were relegated alongside FC Sion (8th) and AC Lugano (3rd) due to licensing regulations.

Management career

Poitiers and Sens

He became General Manager of his home-town team Stade Poitevin in 2002 shortly after retiring. He parted with them in 2004. In 2005 he became the manager of another French lower-league club, FC Sens, until leaving in 2007 for international management.

Tahiti Under-20

In 2007 became national coach of the Tahiti national football team's under-20 and under-17 sections. Charbonnier led the under-20 team to victory in the Oceania Football Confederation's championship of that age bracket. In 2009 he led the Under-17 team to the final of the same competition, and also the Under-20 team to their first World Cup at any level, in Egypt. At the World Cup Tahiti finished bottom of their group without scoring a goal and being beaten by Spain, Nigeria and Venezuela.

At the end of the year Charbonnier was in conflict with Reynald Temarii, a Tahitian who is President of the Confederation. They agreed that Charbonnier would leave his post.

In 2010 he signed a consulting contract with Eurosport and also got another managerial post, with Atjeh United F.C. of the Liga Primer Indonesia.

Honours

Management Honours

Tahiti U-20:

• Winner of the U-20 OFC Nations Championship 2008

International career

Charbonnier received one cap for France, against Italy on 11 June 1997. The match finished 2-2.

He was one of the three goalkeepers of the French national team that won the 1998 World Cup on home soil. Fabien Barthez was the goalkeeper who kept Charbonnier out.

Honours

He is an Official Ambassador of UNESCO.

Following the 1998 World Cup, he was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur.