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Sacha Opinel

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Sacha Opinel
Opinel after winning the 2008 FA Trophy Final with Ebbsfleet United
Personal information
Full name Sacha Fernand Henri Opinel[1]
Date of birth (1977-04-09) 9 April 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth Bourg-Saint-Maurice, France
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1997 Cannes ? (?)
1997–1998 Lille 2 11 (0)
1998–1999 Ajaccio 7 (0)
1999–2000 Raith Rovers 22 (0)
2000–2001 Plymouth Argyle 0 (0)
2001 Leyton Orient 11 (1)
2001–2002 Billericay Town 24 (2)
2003–2005 Farnborough Town 56 (2)
2005–2006 Crawley Town 31 (2)
2006–2009 Ebbsfleet United 104 (0)
2009–2010 Farnborough 11 (1)
2010 → Eastbourne Borough (loan) 2 (0)
2010 → Burgess Hill Town (loan)
2010–2011 Harlow Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sacha Fernand Henri Opinel (born 9 April 1977) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He made over 200 appearances across France, Scotland, and England, and won an FA Trophy winners' medal in 2008.

Career

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Opinel began his career with French clubs Cannes, Lille and Ajaccio before joining Scottish club Raith Rovers in December 1999, where he made over 20 league and cup appearances.[2] He was released by Rovers in December 2000 by mutual consent after a series of on and off-the-field problems.[3] After training with Third Division club, Plymouth Argyle,[4] Opinel was given a short-term contract so that manager Paul Sturrock could take a closer look at him over the 2000 Christmas and New Year period.[5] He made only one appearance for Plymouth in a Football League Trophy tie against Bristol Rovers[6] and was not offered a contract. After a trial at AFC Bournemouth,[7] he joined Leyton Orient in February 2001, where he made eleven appearances in the remainder of the 2000–01 season,[2] scoring one goal against Cardiff City,[8] and helped Orient towards the Third Division play-offs in May 2001.[9]

Opinel then dropped into non-league football, joining Billericay Town at the beginning of the 2001–02 season.[10] He joined Farnborough Town in July 2003,[11] signing a two-year contract in May 2004,[12] but requested a transfer for personal and professional reasons and joined Crawley Town in January 2005 in a deal that saw Farnborough receive a substantial transfer fee as well as having Robert Traynor move from Crawley to Farnborough.[13] Opinel had started over 50 games for Farnborough.[14] Opinel agreed a contract until May 2006 with Crawley and in July 2006, he joined Gravesend & Northfleet (now Ebbsfleet United).[15] He signed a new contract in May 2007 and collected a winners' medal when Ebbsfleet won the FA Trophy at Wembley Stadium in May 2008.[16] On 4 June 2009, Opinel re-joined Farnborough.[17]

Personal life

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Opinel is the cousin of former professional footballer Eric Cantona and actor Joël Cantona.[18]

Honours

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Ebbsfleet United

References

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  1. ^ "M.J.L.S". BFM Verif (in French). NextInteractive. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
    "Sacha Opinel". BFM Business (in French). NextInteractive. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Sasha Opinel". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  3. ^ "Not got Opinel". The Mirror. 19 December 2000. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  4. ^ "Opinel for Plymouth". The Mirror. 21 December 2000. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  5. ^ "Pilgrim's Progress". The Mirror. 29 December 2000. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  6. ^ "Bristol Rovers 3–0 Plymouth". BBC Sport. 9 January 2001. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  7. ^ "Purches returns for Cherries". BBC Sport. 8 February 2001. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Cardiff 1-1 Leyton Orient". BBC. 6 March 2001. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Blackpool pip Orient to promotion". BBC Sport. 26 May 2001. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
  10. ^ "Foreign influence at Billericay". Non League Daily. 29 November 2001. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ "Taylor add three more to Boro squad". Non League Daily. 28 July 2003. Archived from the original on 17 August 2003. Retrieved 14 June 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ "Opinel boost for Seare". Non League Daily. 14 May 2004. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ "Crawley and Farnborough in swop deal". Non league Daily. 15 January 2005. Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "Crawley complete Opinel signing". BBC Sport. 14 January 2005. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  15. ^ "Frenchman Opinel joins Gravesend". BBC Sport. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  16. ^ a b "Ebbsfleet 1–0 Torquay". BBC Sport. 10 May 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  17. ^ "Sacha – It's good to be back". Farnborough Official website. 4 June 2009. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  18. ^ "Former Orient defender Sacha Opinel wants kids to learn football the way France used to play it". Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
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