William Prunier

William Prunier

Personal information
Full name	William Prunier
Date of birth	14 August 1967 (1967-08-14)
Place of birth	Montreuil, France
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
	Auxerre
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1984–1993	Auxerre	221	(21)
1993–1994	Marseille	35	(4)
1994–1995	Bordeaux	37	(0)
1995–1996	Manchester United	2	(0)
1996	Copenhagen	11	(0)
1996–1997	Montpellier	27	(0)
1997–1998	Napoli	3	(0)
1998	Hearts	0	(0)
1998–1999	Kortrijk	14	(3)
1999–2004	Toulouse	142	(5)
2004	Al-Siliya
National team
1992	France	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

William Prunier (born 14 August 1967 in Montreuil) is a French former footballer. He played in the centre back position.

Career

Prunier was a product of a famous AJ Auxerre youth team which also included Eric Cantona, Basile Boli, Pascal Vahirua and Daniel Dutuel, all under the tutelage of Guy Roux. After spending many years at Auxerre, he later moved on to Olympique Marseille and FC Girondins de Bordeaux. He also earned 1 cap for France in August 1992, a 2-0 loss to Brazil.

In the 1995-96 season, Prunier had a fleeting and forgettable tenure at Manchester United. Having bought out his contract with Bordeaux, he joined the Old Trafford club on a trial basis where he was reunited with Cantona. At the time, the manager Alex Ferguson had been looking for a continental-style defender with good passing skills. However, his arrival coincided with an injury crisis that saw the three first-choice centre-backs Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister and David May all unavailable. Prunier was hastily drafted into the first team even though Ferguson had originally intended to use him in reserve team matches only during his trial.

Prunier made his Manchester United debut against Queens Park Rangers on 30 December 1995 partnering Gary Neville in defence. He generally impressed in the match helping set up a goal for Andy Cole and hitting a powerful shot against the bar. His second game against Tottenham Hotspur on 1 January 1996, however, was a disaster for him and the club. With Peter Schmeichel injured in the warm-up and Denis Irwin also unavailable, he was part of a makeshift defence which conceded 4 goals in a humiliating loss. Prunier has ever since been made something of a scapegoat for the defeat, culminating in his being voted the sixth worst footballer of all time. Despite the defeat, Ferguson offered him an extended trial, but Prunier declined and decided he would look elsewhere.

After leaving Manchester United, Prunier moved on to FC København in Denmark and also had spells at Napoli in Italy and K.V. Kortrijk in Belgium before returning to France with Toulouse FC where he won the Ligue 2 title in 2003. After a brief spell in the United Arab Emirates, he retired from football in 2004 and is currently a coach at AS Cannes. On 4 February 2007, he appeared on Sky Sports giving an intro and his point of view on the 4-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur in 1996.