David Ginola

David Ginola-Ceze (born 25 January 1967) is a French former professional footballer. A television personality, he has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit.

A forward, Ginola played for ten seasons in France with Toulon, Racing Paris, Brest and Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Newcastle United in the English Premier League in July 1995. He subsequently played for Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton before retiring in 2002. At international level, he made 17 appearances, scoring three goals, for the France national team between 1990 and 1995.

Since his retirement from football, he has become involved in football punditry and acting. Ginola is a regular contributor to BBC, BT Sport and CNN. He has hosted Match of ze Day, a program which broadcasts live Premier League matches on Canal+. In January 2015, Ginola attempted to run for the FIFA presidency but withdrew after failing to receive the required backing of at least five national football associations.

Early life

David Ginola-Ceze was born on 25 January 1967 Gassin, Var.

Club career

Ginola made his first senior appearance for Sporting Toulon as an eighteen-year-old in a 1985 2–0 victory away at Metz. He played fourteen times in his first season, and by 1986 he was a regular in the Toulon line-up. In 1988, he moved to Racing Paris, where he remained until signing for Brest in 1990. There, he began to impress with his flamboyant style of play. In 1991, he played a crucial role in a landmark victory (3–2) against the side who would go on to sign him, Paris Saint-Germain.

Paris Saint-Germain

Ginola joined Paris Saint-Germain in January 1992, at a time when it was pushing for major honours with the financial backing of TV channel Canal+. He quickly adapted to the club and became a fan favourite noted for his elegant first touch and pace. His popularity did not suffer any consequence even when he admitted that he supported Paris Saint-Germain's rivals Marseille as a boy and that he would have joined them rather than PSG. In his first full season (1992–93), Ginola won the Coupe de France (scoring in the final) and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. At the end of 1993, he was also won the French Footballer of the Year award from France Football.

In his second full season in 1993–94, PSG won the second league title of its history, losing only three times. Alongside Paul Le Guen, Bernard Lama and Antoine Kombouaré and coached by Artur Jorge, Ginola provided 13 goals in 38 games, which made him the top club goalscorer.

The following season, under new manager Luis Fernandez, proved to be less successful in the league, with Nantes being crowned champions. Ginola scored 11 times in 28 league appearances. Paris Saint-Germain did shine in the cup competitions though, winning another Coupe de France as well as the first edition of the new Coupe de la Ligue. In the UEFA Champions League, the Parisian club caused a major shock after knocking out 1994's finalists Barcelona in the quarter-finals, with Ginola playing particularly well. The club was eliminated at the next hurdle by defending champions AC Milan.

In the summer of 1995, Ginola decided to leave France. Known to be a Spanish football enthusiast, he was expected to be snapped up by Barcelona. Furthermore, between 1992 and 1995, his stellar displays in European competitions against the Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona had attracted media attention in Spain, with local media dubbing him "El Magnifico". However, a proposed transfer to Barcelona broke down, Ginola being told this was down to the Catalan club's inability to move on other foreign-registered players.

Newcastle United

In 1995, Ginola joined Premier League club Newcastle United for £2.5 million. He was signed at a time when manager Kevin Keegan was attempting to turn the club into one of the major forces in English football, and the board was prepared to offer strong financial backing to sign a number of European superstars. Ginola made his debut against Coventry City on 19 August 1995 in a 3–0 win. He scored his first league goal on 27 August against Sheffield Wednesday in a 2–0 away win, and went on to score five league goals in his first season, including Newcastle's second in their 4–3 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield – the latter considered one of the greatest games in Premier League history. In the 1995–96, Newcastle finished second, four points behind Manchester United. This was their strongest league performance in decades, and Ginola was an integral part of the team. However, it was a major disappointment that Newcastle had finished second in the Premier League as they had led by up to 12 points as late as January.

In 1996, Barcelona's English manager Bobby Robson attempted personally to sign Ginola, but Newcastle refused to allow the transfer. To add to their line-up, Newcastle paid £15m, breaking the transfer record, to sign Alan Shearer. Despite this, they finished second again behind Manchester United. Halfway through the season, Kevin Keegan suddenly resigned as manager to be succeeded by Kenny Dalglish. Ginola fell out of favour and sought a transfer elsewhere.

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur signed Ginola in July 1997 for £2.5 million, where he was joined by Newcastle teammate Les Ferdinand. During the 1998–99 season, Ginola scored one of his most notable goals, when Spurs played Barnsley in the FA Cup sixth round; Ginola weaved past several Barnsley players and finished calmly in the left side of the net for the only goal of the game. In 1999, he was named PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, becoming the first player in Premiership history to win the award while at a club who finished the season outside of the top four. He also won his only English domestic trophy with Spurs, the 1999 League Cup with a 1–0 victory over Leicester City at Wembley . Ginola is fondly remembered by Tottenham fans for his extravagant forward play and personality off the pitch. He was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame on 11 December 2008.

Aston Villa

In July 2000, Ginola joined Aston Villa for a transfer fee of £3 million. He expressed his disappointment that Tottenham had sold him, saying the news that they had accepted the offer was a "bombshell". Villa manager John Gregory challenged Ginola to prove he could still perform in the Premiership, rather than move to a less demanding league abroad, as Ginola was now in his 33rd year and seemed unlikely to continue at professional level for much longer. After being accused by Gregory of being overweight, Ginola celebrated a goal against Manchester City by taking off his jersey to unveil his toned physique.

In January 2002, he was banned for two matches and fined £22,000 for stamping on an opponent and disputing his dismissal with the fourth official.

Everton

In February 2002, Ginola signed for Everton, playing five games for the club before retiring in May 2002, just after David Moyes took over as manager: Ginola was deemed surplus to requirements by Moyes, and made only one substitute appearance from March onwards. His contract was not renewed and, without a club, decided to retire. He announced his intention to move into either acting or football coaching.

International career

Although Ginola was a very prominent French player, he did not see much action with the France national team, being capped only 17 times in his career. In 1987, Ginola played for the France under-21 team at the Toulon Tournament. He was named the tournament's best player after France beat England 4–3 in the final.

Ginola is infamous in France for his mistake in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Bulgaria. France needed only a draw in their final group qualifying match on 17 November 1993 to qualify for the finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup and Ginola had come on as a late substitute for Jean-Pierre Papin. With the score level at 1–1 in the last minute of the match, Ginola overhit a cross intended for Eric Cantona. The ball was collected by Emil Kremenliev, who launched a quick Bulgarian counterattack which resulted in Emil Kostadinov scoring the winning goal. Bulgaria thus won the match 2–1 and qualified for the 1994 World Cup finals at the expense of France.