William Prunier
Personal information
Full name William Prunier
Date of birth (1967-08-14) 14 August 1967
Place of birth Montreuil, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Bourges (manager)
Youth career
Auxerre
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1993 Auxerre 221 (21)
1993–1994 Marseille 35 (4)
1994–1996 Bordeaux 37 (0)
1995–1996 → Manchester United (trial) 2 (0)
1996 → Copenhagen (loan) 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
Total 492 (33)
International career
1992 France 1 (0)
Managerial career
2007–2008 Cannes (assistant)
2010–2011 Cugnaux
2011–2014 Colomiers
2014 GS Consolat
2017–2018 Toulon
2018–2020 Canet Roussillon
2021–2022 Le Mans (assistant)
2022– Bourges
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Prunier (born 14 August 1967) is a French football coach and former player who is currently the manager of Bourges Foot 18.

As a player, Prunier was a centre-back and spent most of his career in France, primarily with Auxerre where he spent nine years, but also played for clubs in England, Denmark, Scotland, Italy, Belgium and Qatar, where he finished his career. He also represented France, gaining his only cap in 1992.

Playing career

Born in Montreuil, Prunier was a product of a famous AJ Auxerre youth team that 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 was signed by UEFA Champions League holders Olympique Marseille in 1993. Marseille were relegated to Division 2 the following season due to match-fixing and financial irregularities, and Prunier moved on to FC Girondins de Bordeaux where he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1995 playing alongside Zinedine Zidane.[1] He also earned 1 cap for France in August 1992, a 2–0 loss to Brazil.[2]

In the 1995–96 season, Prunier had a fleeting and forgettable spell 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.[3] He generally impressed in the match and assisted a goal for Andy Cole as well as 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 during the game and Denis Irwin unavailable, he was part of a makeshift defence that conceded four 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 Manchester United footballer of all time.[4] Despite the defeat, Ferguson offered him an extended trial, but Prunier declined and decided he would look elsewhere.[5]

After leaving Manchester United, Prunier moved on to Copenhagen in Denmark and also had spells at Napoli in Italy and Kortrijk in Belgium before returning to France with Toulouse 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 became a coach at 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.

Managerial career

Prunier was named head coach of JS Cugnaux in 2010, followed by spells with US Colomiers Football, GS Consolat, Sporting Toulon Var and Canet Roussillon FC. In June 2021 he was appointed assistant coach to manager Cris at Le Mans FC.[6] The duo left the team in May 2022.

On 29 October 2022, Prunier was appointed manager of Championnat National 2 side Bourges Foot 18.[7]

Honours

Bordeaux

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Bordeaux-Karlsruhe 1995". uefa.com. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  2. ↑ Histoire de l'AJ Auxerre, William PRUNIER
  3. ↑ Nixon, Alan (1 January 1996). "Prunier offers United a missing cutting edge". The Independent. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Hamilton, Fiona (4 July 2007). "The 50 worst footballers | Football - Times Online". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 12 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Nixon, Alan (3 January 1996). "Prunier quits United". The Independent. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "National. William Prunier nommé adjoint de Cris au Mans FC !" (in French). footamateur.fr. 9 June 2021.
  7. ↑ William Prunier nouvel entraîneur du Bourges Foot 18 : « C’est la survie du club qui est en jeu », leberry.fr, 29 October 2022
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