 Delpierre celebrating the league title in 2007. | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthieu Delpierre | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1981-04-26)26 April 1981 (age 44) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Nancy, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre back | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1993 | AC St-Brévin | ||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Saint-Nazaire PFC | ||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Nantes | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1999 | Lille | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2004 | Lille | 83 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | VfB Stuttgart II | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2012 | VfB Stuttgart | 162 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | 23 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014 | FC Utrecht | 14 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Melbourne Victory | 41 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 329 | (8) | |||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| France U18 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||
| France U20 | 11 | (0) | |||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | France U21 | 15 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008 | France B | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 27 March 2016 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 May 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
Matthieu Delpierre (born 26 April 1981) is a French former professionalfootballer who played as acentre back.
Delpierre's professional career started withLille OSC, before a move toVfB Stuttgart inGermany where he eventually became the club captain. Delpierre spent eight years at Stuttgart before moving on toTSG 1899 Hoffenheim, thenFC Utrecht and ended his career inAustralia withMelbourne Victory FC
He represented France at U18, U20 andunder-21 level, making appearances during the2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
In his first season with Lille, Delpierre made few appearances but helped in the club's promotion toLigue 1. Delpierre played more regularly in his second season, helping Lille finish third and thereby qualify for theUEFA Champions League. Delpierre continued to perform well for Lille though the club finished at a lower position in the league every season.
Delpierre was signed byVfB Stuttgart on a free transfer after Lille refused to grant him a contract extension. Stuttgart struggled during the2004–05 and2005–06 seasons, but Delpierre began to improve under the tutelage of coachArmin Veh.
The following season, during which he missed only one game through illness, the French defender formed an almost impenetrable barrier alongsideFernando Meira at the heart of the Stuttgart defence. Matthieu has also been a vital cog in Stuttgart's success in the2006–07 DFB-Pokal, in which the team conceded only three goals before losing the final toNürnberg. On 19 May 2007, Delpierre won the GermanBundesliga with Stuttgart, playing a significant part in their success.
His defensive performances attracted the attention ofArsenal andBayern Munich[2] and also French clubsMarseille andSaint-Étienne. However, he remained at Stuttgart, extending his contract until the summer of 2012.[3]
On 1 December 2009, Delpierre was appointed the new captain of VfB Stuttgart byMarkus Babbel.[4] On 12 January 2012 he askedBruno Labbadia to appoint another player.[5]
In April 2012, it was announced that Delpierre would join Hoffenheim on a free transfer at the end of the season, on a two-year contract.[6] He was demoted to the under-23 squad during the2013–14 season.[7]
Delpierre signed forFC Utrecht in January 2014.[8]
On 7 July 2014,A-League clubMelbourne Victory announced the signing of Delpierre on a one-year deal.[9]
On 10 October 2014, Delpierre scored the first goal of the2014–15 A-League season in the Victory's first round match against theWestern Sydney Wanderers, scoring from aGuilherme Finkler free kick in just the 8th minute of the match. The Victory eventually won the match 4–1.
On 1 May 2015, Delpierre extended his contract with Melbourne Victory for one more year.[10]
Delpierre made 53 appearances in all competitions for the Victory during his two seasons in the A-League, scoring once.[11]
On 26 April 2016, Delpierre announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 35, having completed 17 seasons since his debut with Lille in 1999.
Delpierre was called up to the seniorFrance team in March 2008[12] but was ultimately never capped at that level.
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Lille | 1999–2000 | Division 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |
| 2000–01 | Division 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Division 1 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7[c] | 0 | 34 | 0 | |
| 2002–03 | Ligue 1 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[d] | 0 | 40 | 3 | |
| 2003–04 | Ligue 1 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | ||
| Total | 83 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 105 | 3 | ||
| VfB Stuttgart | 2004–05 | Bundesliga | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[e] | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| 2005–06 | Bundesliga | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[e] | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | Bundesliga | 33 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 39 | 1 | |||
| 2007–08 | Bundesliga | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[f] | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | Bundesliga | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 7[g] | 0 | 31 | 1 | ||
| 2009–10 | Bundesliga | 27 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 9[f] | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Bundesliga | 18 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 4[h] | 0 | 23 | 2 | ||
| 2011–12 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 162 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 214 | 5 | ||
| VfB Stuttgart II | 2004–05 | Regionalliga Süd | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2007–08 | Regionalliga Süd | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2011–12 | 3. Liga | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | 2012–13 | Bundesliga | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 1 | ||
| FC Utrecht | 2013–14 | Eredivisie | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||
| Melbourne Victory | 2014–15 | A-League | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 1 | ||
| 2015–16 | A-League | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8[i] | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| Total | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 50 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 329 | 8 | 22 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 55 | 0 | 413 | 10 | ||
Individual
