Mickaël Debève

Mickaël Debève

Personal information
Full name	Mickaёl Debève
Date of birth	December 1, 1970 (1970-12-01)
Place of birth	Abbeville, France
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Retired
Youth career
	Toulouse
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1987–1994	Toulouse	139	(14)
1994–2002	Lens	198	(14)
1999–2000	→ Le Havre (loan)	27	(2)
2002	Middlesbrough	4	(0)
2002–2004	Amiens	60	(1)
2004–2008	Abbeville
Total		428	(31)
Teams managed
2004–2008	Abbeville
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Mickaël Debève (born December 1, 1970 in Abbeville) is a former French footballer. He currently plays as a midfielder.

Football career

Debève began his career at Toulouse FC; after a slow start - only four first-team appearances in three seasons, he became an important main squad member. His first match in the top level came on June 5, 1987, in a 1–0 home win against RC Lens.

However, the most important part of Debève's career was spent at precisely Lens, which he helped win the national league in 1998, adding the league cup the following year. In 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, he scored the game's only at Wembley, against Arsenal FC, making Lens the first club from France to win at that ground.

After having totalled already more than 400 official matches in his country, Debève moved to England with Middlesbrough FC in February 2002, arriving for free and rejoining former Lens mate Franck Queudrue. He left in the summer, and closed out his career in France's second level, with SC Amiens.

Immediately after retiring, Debève became a manager, starting with hometown side SC Abbevillois Football, in the capacity of player-coach.

External links

• Mickaël Debève French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• L'Équipe stats (French)
• Mickaël Debève career stats at Soccerbase