| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mickaël Antoine-Curier[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1983-03-05)5 March 1983 (age 42)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Orsay, France | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[3] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Paris Saint-Germain | |||
| Nice | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001 | Preston North End | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2003 | Nottingham Forest | 0 | (0) |
| 2003 | →Brentford (loan) | 11 | (3) |
| 2003 | Oldham Athletic | 8 | (2) |
| 2003 | Kidderminster Harriers | 1 | (0) |
| 2003 | Rochdale | 8 | (1) |
| 2003–2004 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1 | (0) |
| 2004 | Notts County | 4 | (1) |
| 2004 | Grimsby Town | 5 | (0) |
| 2004–2006 | Vard Haugesund | 37 | (33) |
| 2006–2007 | FK Haugesund | 39 | (15) |
| 2007–2008 | Hibernian | 13 | (3) |
| 2008 | →Dundee (loan) | 11 | (8) |
| 2008–2010 | Dundee | 32 | (14) |
| 2009–2010 | →Hamilton Academical (loan) | 26 | (7) |
| 2011 | Hamilton Academical | 14 | (5) |
| 2011 | Ermis Aradippou | 0 | (0) |
| 2011 | Ethnikos Achnas | 8 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Felda United | 20 | (13) |
| 2013 | FC Atyrau | 13 | (0) |
| 2013–2015 | Hamilton Academical | 51 | (20) |
| 2015 | Burton Albion | 5 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Dunfermline Athletic | 9 | (2) |
| 2016–2017 | Union SG | 1 | (0) |
| 2017 | →Eendracht Aalst (loan) | ||
| 2017–2018 | FC Mulhouse | 22 | (9) |
| Total | 339 | (136) | |
| International career | |||
| 2008–2015 | Guadeloupe | 16 | (6) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Mickaël Antoine-Curier (born 5 March 1983) is a former professionalfootballer who played as astriker from 2001 until 2018. Born in metropolitan France, he represented Guadeloupe at international level.
Antoine-Curier played in seven countries for twenty two different sides. InEngland withPreston North End,Nottingham Forest,Brentford,Oldham Athletic,Rochdale,Kidderminster Harriers,Notts County,Grimsby Town andBurton Albion, InNorway forVard Haugesund andFK Haugesund, inScotland withHibernian,Dundee,Hamilton Academical andDunfermline Athletic, inCyprus forErmis Aradippou andEthnikos Achnas, inMalaysia forFelda United, inKazakhstan forFC Atyrau, inBelgium forUnion SG andEendracht Aalst and finally in his native France forFC Mulhouse. Antoine-Curier was capped by theGuadeloupe national team competing in theCaribbean Cup and theCONCACAF Gold Cup.
Antoine-Curier was born inOrsay, Essonne.[4]
Antoine-Curier began his career as a youth in France withParis Saint-Germain andNice.[5] Eager to play in the United Kingdom, he signed forPreston North End and thenNottingham Forest as a youth. He initially played academy football, finish top scorer for the Forest academy team with 22 goals in 19 games. He won the trophy for the academy player of the year and was selected as man of the match of the Charity Vase final byBrian Clough, but he never made it for the first team. During the2002–03 season, the Forest managerPaul Hart loaned him out toBrentford, where he made 11 starts, scoring threegoals.[6][7] This included a brace in an important 2–0 victory atChesterfield.[7]
He came to prominence at the start of the2003–04 season in the third tier of Englishfootball, having signed forOldham Athletic. He grabbed his first cup goal in a 2–1 defeat atScunthorpe United, then scored his first league goal for the "Latics" four days later in a 2–2 draw atSheffield Wednesday'sHillsborough Stadium.[8] He grabbed another goal in a 3–2 home defeat toBlackpool the following week.[8] He made a total of six starts and three substitute appearances for theBoundary Park club, scoring three goals, before being released.[9]
Antoine-Curier then joinedKidderminster Harriers, before joiningRochdale on a non-contract basis. He made five starts and five substitute appearances for Rochdale, scoring on his debut in a 1–1 draw atLincoln City.[9] He then left Rochdale to joinSheffield Wednesday, a club he had scored against earlier on in the season. He made just one substitute appearance for Wednesday, in a 0–0 draw againstLuton Town at Hillsborough.[9]
He then joinedNotts County, where he made four starts, scoring in a 3–1 win overGrimsby Town, whom he signed for shortly afterwards.[9] He also made five appearances for Grimsby, but could not score.[8] Both Grimsby and Notts County wererelegated at the end of the season.
After an unsettled time in the UK, Curier joinedNorwegian First Division sideVard Haugesund in 2004. In his first season, he scored seven goals in 16 appearances, but the club was relegated. He scored 27 goals in 21 games in the2005 season, winning the Norwegian golden boot and theNorwegian Second Division player of the year award. He then transferred toFK Haugesund, and scored eight goals in 24 appearances in the2006 season and seven goals in 15 appearances in the2007 season.[citation needed] His time at Norway was a positive one, where he was nicknamed asBatigol andDavid Trezeguet.[10]
Antoine-Curier was invited by managerJohn Collins toScottish Premier League sideHibernian for a trial period in 2007.[11] He starred in a friendly match againstFirst Division sideLivingston, scoring four goals in a 5–2 victory.[11]FK Haugesund captainKevin Nicol, a former Hibernian player, was full of praise for Antoine-Curier, expressing his belief that the French striker "would do really well" if he was signed by Hibs.[12] Curier signed a one-year contract withHibernian, who paid FK Haugesund a nominal transfer fee, on 31 August 2007.[11] Antoine-Curier scored againstMotherwell in theScottish League Cup andKilmarnock in theSPL.[13] Despite scoring four goals in nine appearances,[13] Antoine-Curier fell out of favour after Hibs signedColin Nish.
Curier was loaned by Hibs toDundee in January 2008.[14] Curier scored six goals in his first four Dundee appearances, including ahat-trick in a 6–1 win overStirling Albion.[13] On 7 May 2008, Curier signed a three-year deal withDundee.[14]
Dundee loaned out Antoine-Curier at the end of the 2009 summer transfer window to SPL sideHamilton Academical. Antoine-Curier made his debut against Hibernian in the SPL and marked it with a goal after 12 minutes.[15] On 15 October 2010, Antoine-Curier had his contract terminated by Dundee, a victim of the club enteringadministration.[16] On 11 January 2011, following a battle with injury, Antoine-Curier re-signed for Hamilton until the end of the season.[17]
In July 2011 he signed a two-year deal with Cypriot sideErmis Aradippou,[18] however his contract was terminated due to financial difficulties at the club and he joined Ermis' former president and a host of the club's former players atEthnikos Achnas in August, just days before the2011–12 season.[19]
In April 2012, he joinedFelda United FC with his fellow countrymanEddy Viator.[20] He made his league debut on 8 April 2012, scoring a goal in a 2–0 home win overKedah FA.[21]
In February 2013, Antoine-Curier joinedKazakhstan Premier League clubFC Atyrau. However, his time in Kazakhstan was overshadowed where he was an outcast by his team-mates, spat on by opposing fans and refused accommodation because of the colour of his skin.[22] However, the manager at the time,Miodrag Radulović, denies Antoine-Curier, claiming "he never told me these things while in Atyrau FC."[23]
He re-signed for Hamilton in August 2013.[24] In theScottish League Cup, Antoine-Curier scored his first goal, in a 1–0 win overKilmarnock.[25] After scoring nine goals in the league, Antoine-Curier scored four goals for the first time in his professional career, as Hamilton thrash 10–2 againstGreenock Morton in the last game of the season.[26] However, the win did not guarantee automatic promotion to Scottish Premiership after his former club, Dundee, won at the same day.[27] After the match, Antoine-Curier expressed disappointment not to become Champions, though the scoreline showed Hamilton's desire to reach the Scottish Premiership.[28] Antoine-Curier was released from his contract at Hamilton on 2 February 2015, by mutual consent.[29]
Antoine-Curier joinedBurton Albion on 18 February 2015, until the end of the 2014–15 season.[30] Antoine-Curier made his Burton Albion debut, where he came on as a substitute forStuart Beavon in the 88th minute, in a 3–1 win overDagenham & Redbridge on 21 February 2015.[31] Following Burton Albion's promotion toLeague One, Antoine-Curier was released after making five appearances.[32]
In August 2015, Antoine-Curer had a trial with Scottish League One teamDunfermline Athletic,[33] subsequently signing for theScottish League One side in September 2015.[34] Chances with the Pars, however, were limited and after only four months with the club, Antoine-Curier was released.[35]
Following his releaseDunfermline, Antoine-Curier subsequently signed forBelgian Second Division sideRoyale Union Saint-Gilloise on an 18-month contract.[36] His time with the club was hindered by a recurring knee-injury, and in January 2017 he was loaned out to Belgian Fourth Division sideEendracht Aalst.[37]
In September 2017, Antoine-Curier signed forNational 3 sideFC Mulhouse on a one-year deal.[38]
Antoine-Curier now resides inBelgium where he owns his ownchauffeur andVIP transportation company called MAC Transport.[39]
Curier was selected byGuadeloupe for the Caribbean Cup 2008, scoring 6 goals in 8 games. He also participated in the2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup for Guadeloupe, in which they reached the quarter-finals.
