| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1961-09-28)28 September 1961 (age 64) | ||
| Place of birth | Algiers,French Algeria | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1972–1978 | FC Tarascon | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1978–1980 | Arles | ||
| 1980–1982 | Nîmes | ||
| 1982–1984 | Arles | ||
| 1984–1987 | Sète | ||
| 1987–1991 | Avignon | ||
| 1991–1994 | Stade Beaucairois | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1991–2002 | Stade Beaucairois | ||
| 2002–2003 | Martigues | ||
| 2004 | Martigues | ||
| 2005–2010 | Arles-Avignon | ||
| 2010–2011 | Boulogne | ||
| 2012–2015 | Fréjus Saint-Raphaël | ||
| 2016–2017[1] | Châteauroux | ||
| 2017–2019 | UMS Montélimar | ||
| 2019 | Tours | ||
| 2021– | Arles | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Michel Estevan (born 28 September 1961) is a Frenchfootball manager and former player.[2]
Estevan spent his playing career as amidfielder in the lower ranks of French football, making his professional debut in 1980 withArles. After several years around France, he joined amateursStade Beaucairois in 1991 as a player-manager.
After three years with amateursStade Beaucairois as a player-manager (from 1991 to 1994), Estevan focused solely on his coaching duties, and managed to guide his club to win promotion to theChampionnat National (third tier) in 2002. He left thereafter to joinMartigues with little success (also because of financial issues), and in 2005 he was appointed head coach of his former clubArles, who were playing amateurs in theChampionnat de France amateur 2 at the time of his signing.
Estevan ledAC Arles-Avignon from theChampionnat de France amateur 2, the fifth division ofFrench football, to the first divisionLigue 1 before being relieved from his position on 30 June 2010.[3] On 7 July, after meeting with the club's chairmen, Estevan was retained by the club despite being sacked the previous week.[4] Eventually he was sacked by the club on 17 September.[5]
With Arles, Estevan achieved an incredible feat of winning four promotions in his five seasons in charge, of which the latest one was probably the most surprising, as he achieved third place in the club's first season inLigue 2 (with the club now named AC Arles-Avignon), thus winning promotion to the French top flight despite having the lowest budget in the league.[6] Such results awarded him comparisons to French managing legendsGuy Roux andMichel Le Milinaire, the only ones who had managed to win four promotions in five seasons before Estevan.[7]