Emmanuel Petit

Emmanuel Laurent Petit (born 22 September 1970) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder at club level for Barcelona, Monaco, Arsenal and Chelsea. He represented France at international level in two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships; he scored the third goal in France's 3–0 victory in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final and was also a member of the French squad that won UEFA Euro 2000.

For the French sport shooter, see Emmanuel Petit (sport shooter).

Emmanuel Petit
Petit in 2005
Personal information
Full name Emmanuel Laurent Petit[1]
Date of birth (1970-09-22) 22 September 1970[2]
Place of birth Dieppe, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Arques-la-Bataille
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1997 Monaco 222 (4)
1997–2000 Arsenal 85 (9)
2000–2001 Barcelona 23 (1)
2001–2004 Chelsea 55 (2)
Total 385 (16)
National team
1990–2003 France 63 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Petit was born in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime.[4]

Club career
Petit (centre) in 2000

Petit began his career at minor club ES Arques-la-Bataille before being signed by Arsène Wenger's Monaco side at the age of 18. He made his debut soon after and played in the 1989 Coupe de France final. Petit became a regular at Monaco, playing as a left-sided or central midfielder. In 1991, he won the Coupe de France with Monaco and also played in the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup final (which Monaco lost to Werder Bremen). In 1996–97, his final season at Monaco, he captained his side to the Ligue 1 title.

Petit joined Arsenal in June 1997 for £2.5 million, where he was reunited with his former Monaco manager Arsène Wenger. Wenger switched Petit from central midfielder to defensive midfielder, and partnered him with fellow Frenchman Patrick Vieira. The French duo formed a midfield partnership which brought instant success, as Petit won the double with Arsenal in his very first season, clinching both the Premier League title and the FA Cup. Altogether, in the three seasons in his Arsenal career, Petit made 118 appearances and scored 11 goals, including a stunning drive from outside the area against Derby County (which was also the winning goal), during the 1997–98 season.

Petit moved to Barcelona (together with Arsenal teammate Marc Overmars) in the summer of 2000 for £7 million (€14 million). At Barcelona, he was moved back into defence and suffered a rash of niggling injuries. As a result, he failed to settle and could not hold down a regular place. In his biography, published in 2008, the midfielder gave his time at Barcelona a special chapter in which he exposed that coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer did not even know what position he played when he joined the team. His only goal for Barcelona came on 13 May 2001 at home to Rayo Vallecano in a 5–1 win.[5]

After his first season at the Camp Nou, Petit was linked with moves back to England with Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea, joining the latter in 2001 in a £7.5 million transfer deal.[6][7] He initially was a first-team regular for the Blues in a largely disappointing first season and played in the 2002 FA Cup final [8] which Chelsea lost to his old club, Arsenal. He scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 2–1 win over Derby on 30 March 2002.[9] His second season saw a significant improvement, as he formed an impressive midfield partnership with Frank Lampard as Chelsea impressed in the winner-takes-all final game of the season against Liverpool as Chelsea secured the fourth UEFA Champions League berth. He also scored twice throughout the season: against Everton in the League Cup,[10] and former club Arsenal in the league.[11] After a series of knee injuries, however, he spent much of his final season of his career on the sidelines, and he was released on a free transfer in the summer of 2004, his final appearance for the club coming against Blackburn Rovers on 1 February 2004.[12]

After being released by Chelsea, Petit rejected the chance to sign for Bolton Wanderers,[13][14] and he announced his retirement on 20 January 2005 after failing to fully recover following knee surgery.[15][16][17]

International career

Playing for the France national team, Petit earned 63 caps and scored six international goals in his career and won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He scored twice in the 1998 World Cup, the first from a powerful shot from just outside the box against Denmark, which turned out to be the match winner, and a second in the final against Brazil. The goal he scored in the final was particularly memorable, as he had embarked on an optimistic run across field before calmly slotting in the goal in the final minute of regular time. That same goal happened to be the 1,000th goal in the history of the French Football Federation, and the last World Cup goal of the 20th century. France won the match 3–0. An earlier Petit corner kick had set up Zinedine Zidane's header for France's first goal.[18] Petit was also part of the 2002 World Cup squad, though France failed to advance past the group stages and failed to score a single goal in three matches during their defence of the trophy.

Petit retired from international football in September 2003.[19]

Personal life

Petit married French actress Agathe de La Fontaine,[20] in 2000, but later divorced her in 2002 after having one child, Zoe. He now shares a life with Maria Servello, with whom he had another child, Violet, in 2007. He has often appeared on French TV as a football analyst. His brother Olivier was an amateur footballer when Petit was a teenager. While playing for his club Arques in 1988, Olivier collapsed and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead due to a blood clot of the brain.[21] In his biography, Petit explained that this event shocked him to such an extent that it almost made him quit football. He viewed his brother as a gifted young man who had good looks and did well in all his endeavours, whether it was football or education.

He starred as himself, in a Christmas special episode of British police show The Bill in 1998.[22]

Petit has been an ambassador for the Homeless World Cup movement since the tournament was hosted by Paris in 2011.[23]

Career statistics

Club
Source:[24]
Club performance League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
France League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
1988–89MonacoDivision 19091-00181
1989–9028010-70360
1990–9127160-50381
1991–9228040-70390
1992–9325120--271
1993–9428020-100400
1994–952511010-271
1995–96231300010271
1996–97290103070400
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
1997–98ArsenalFA Premier League322703020442
1998–99264320030326
1999–20002733000100403
Spain League Copa del Rey Supercopa de España Europe Total
2000–01BarcelonaLa Liga23150-100381
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2001–02ChelseaFA Premier League271602030381
2002–03241501110312
2003–044010002070
Total France 2224291403702925
England 140112526121019214
Spain 2315000100381
Career total 3851659310168052220

International
Source:[25]
France national team
YearAppsGoals
199010
199100
199250
199370
199410
199500
199610
199720
1998102
199951
2000141
200171
200291
200310
Total636

Honours

Monaco

Arsenal

France

Individual

Orders

References
  1. "Entreprise Masky à Paris (75004)" [Company Masky in Paris (75004)]. Figaro Entreprises (in French). 7 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
    "Emmanuel Petit". BFM Business (in French). NextInteractive. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  2. "Emmanuel Petit". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  3. "Emmanuel Petit: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  4. "Emmanuel Petit". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  5. "Barcelona Statistics". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  6. Brodkin, Jon (27 June 2001). "Sensitive Petit finds a friend in Ranieri". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  7. Johnson, Simon (27 June 2001). "Petit warns Vieira after sealing Chelsea deal". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  8. Webster, Rupert. "Petit's Big Cup Final Role". Sky Sports.
  9. "Chelsea defeat battling Derby". BBC Sport. 30 March 2002. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  10. "Awesome Chelsea thrash Everton". BBC Sport. 4 December 2002. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  11. "Arsenal edge past Chelsea". BBC. 1 January 2003. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  12. "Blackburn 2–3 Chelsea". BBC. 1 February 2004. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  13. "Petit: 'I rejected Bolton approach'". ESPN. 21 August 2004. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  14. "Petit snubs Bolton". Sky Sports. 21 August 2004. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  15. "Petit calls time on his career". The Guardian. 21 January 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  16. "Petit career ended by knee injury". BBC Sport. 21 January 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  17. "Injury forces Petit to retire". The Daily Telegraph. 21 January 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  18. "France plays perfect host; hoists World Cup in Paris". Soccer Times. 12 July 1998. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  19. "Petit quits France with Santini blast". ESPN. 8 September 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  20. http://www.purepeople.com/people/emmanuel-petit_p996
  21. www.telegraph.co.uk – "Moment of quiet reflection for Arsenal's flexible friend
  22. "When Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit appeared in a Christmas special of The Bill" Talksport
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. Emmanuel Petit at Soccerbase
  25. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/petit-intl.html
  26. "Monaco 1996-97". bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  27. "France - Footballer of the Year". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
  28. "Décret du 24 juillet 1998 portant nomination à titre exceptionnel" [Decree of 24 July 1998 appointing on an exceptional basis]. Official Journal of the French Republic (in French). 1998 (170). 25 July 1998. PREX9801916D. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
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