| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1972-02-29)29 February 1972 (age 53) | ||
| Place of birth | Manosque, France | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1991 | AC Digne | ||
| 1991–1994 | Marseille B | ||
| 1994–1995 | Gap | ||
| 1995–1997 | Évry FC | ||
| 1997–1999 | Saint-Georges | ||
| 1999–2000 | Gap | ||
| 2000–2002 | Manosque | ||
| 2002–2004 | Gap | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2004–2005 | Gap (assistant) | ||
| 2005–2008 | Gap | ||
| 2008–2012 | Amiens (assistant) | ||
| 2012–2016 | Dunkerque | ||
| 2016–2017 | Tours | ||
| 2017–2018 | Paris FC | ||
| 2018–2019 | Caen | ||
| 2019 | Cercle Brugge | ||
| 2020–2021 | Dunkerque | ||
| 2022 | Quevilly-Rouen | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Fabien Mercadal (born 29 February 1972) is a French former professionalfootball manager and former player who played as adefender.
After an amateur playing career, he began managing in thefourth tier withGap, going on to spend one season inLigue 1 withCaen in2018–19. He also ledTours,Paris FC,Dunkerque andQuevilly-Rouen inLigue 2 and had a brief spell in theBelgian First Division A withCercle Brugge.
Mercadal was born inManosque,Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, to aCorsican father who had played inDivision 3 forAJ Auxerre. Mercadal himself was in the youth ranks ofOlympique de Marseille but suffered an injury that limited him to playing in the third and fourth divisions.[1]
Mercadal began his managerial career as an assistant at his final playing club,Gap FC, before being their head coach between 2005 and 2008 in the fourth-tierChampionnat de France Amateur. For the next four years he was assistant atAmiens SC inLigue 2 and theChampionnat National;[2] he was interim manager on 23 October 2009 in a 1–0 loss atES Troyes AC. Known for his passion, he vomited after defeat in his early career.[3]
In June 2012, Mercadal was hired at fourth-tierUSL Dunkerque, winning promotion in his first season.[4] After coming 5th, 6th and 6th in the third tier, he was appointed atTours FC in Ligue 2 in June 2016.[5] He drew 0–0 at home to Ajaccio on his professional career debut on 29 July, and was dismissed on 18 February 2017 with his team in last.[6]
Mercadal found another job in Ligue 2 in June 2017, being hired byParis FC, who had been restored to the division after the administrative relegation ofSC Bastia.[7] He came 8th in his one season at theStade Charléty, and was eliminated from the eighth round of theCoupe de France 3–2 at third-tierEntente SSG.[8]
On 8 June 2018, Mercadal was announced as the manager ofLigue 1 sideStade Malherbe Caen on a three-year deal, with Paris FC being compensated for the last year of his contract.[9] His top-flight debut on 12 August was a 3–0 loss at reigning championsParis Saint-Germain FC.[10] His team reached the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France via a 7–5 win at Bastia on 5 February 2019.[11] He left by mutual consent on 25 May, after a 1–0 home loss toFC Girondins de Bordeaux on the final day and relegation to Ligue 2.[12]
In July 2019, Mercadal was hired in the first foreign job of his career, atCercle Brugge K.S.V. in theBelgian First Division A.[13] He was fired on 7 October after losing nine of ten league games and losing 1–0 at home to fourth-tierR.U.S. Rebecquoise in the sixth round of theBelgian Cup.[14]
On 16 May 2020, Mercadal returned to Dunkerque on a two-year contract, with the team newly promoted to Ligue 2.[15] Having avoided the relegation play-off on goal difference in his one season back at theStade Marcel-Tribut, he left by mutual consent.[16]
Mercadal returned to work in Ligue 2 on 4 January 2022 atQuevilly-Rouen, signing an 18-month deal at the 11th-placed club.[17] In May he received a four-match ban, of which two were suspended, for an obscene gesture on his return to Caen.[18] He left for personal reasons at the end of the month.[19]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2021) |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Gap |  | 1 July 2005 | 1 July 2008 | 104 | 42 | 38 | 24 | 150 | 110 | +40 | 040.38 |
| Dunkerque | | 3 June 2012 | 7 June 2016 | 155 | 73 | 45 | 37 | 227 | 142 | +85 | 047.10 |
| Tours | | 13 June 2016 | 18 February 2017 | 27 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 30 | 45 | −15 | 014.81 |
| Paris FC | | 21 June 2017 | 2 June 2018 | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 51 | 41 | +10 | 040.48 |
| Caen | | 8 June 2018 | 25 May 2019 | 43 | 9 | 13 | 21 | 40 | 62 | −22 | 020.93 |
| Cercle Brugge |  | 19 June 2019 | 7 October 2019 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 8 | 28 | −20 | 009.09 |
| Total | 382 | 146 | 119 | 117 | 506 | 428 | +78 | 038.22 | |||