Franck Pascal Paul Tabanou (born 30 January 1989) is a French professional footballer who last played for Guingamp as a left-back.[2] Tabanou is a French youth international having starred at under-20 and under-21 level. He played with the under-20 team at the 2009 Mediterranean Games.[3]

Franck Tabanou
Personal information
Full name Franck Pascal Paul Tabanou[1]
Date of birth (1989-01-30) 30 January 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Thiais, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left-back, left midfielder
Youth career
1998–2002 Choisy-le-Roi
2002–2005 Le Havre
2005–2006 CFF Paris
2006–2008 Toulouse
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2013 Toulouse 138 (15)
2013–2015 Saint-Étienne 82 (6)
2015–2017 Swansea City 0 (0)
2016Saint-Étienne (loan) 11 (0)
2016–2017Granada (loan) 6 (0)
2017–2019 Guingamp 17 (0)
International career
2009 France U20 3 (1)
2009–2010 France U21 12 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:15, 14 September 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:55, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

Club career edit

Early career edit

Tabanou began his football career at AS Choisy-le-Roi, a club located in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. Growing up in the greater Paris area, he supported Paris Saint-Germain during his childhood. After four years at the club, in June 2002, he signed with professional club Le Havre.[4] While in the club's youth academy, Tabanou was supervised by club coaches Thierry Uvenard and Luc Bruder.[5] After three years at the club, he departed and returned to Paris joining the Centre de Formation de Paris, a youth sporting club designed to cater only to football players under the age of 19.[6]

Toulouse edit

Upon his arrival to the club, Tabanou was inserted onto the club's under-18 team for the 2006–07 season and had a successful campaign. Midway through the season, he was called up to the club's Championnat de France amateur team in the fourth division. Tabanou appeared in five matches with the team.[7] Ahead of the 2007–08 season, he was promoted to the reserve team on a permanent basis and featured in 20 matches.[8]

In the ensuing season, Tabanou began training with the senior team under manager Alain Casanova. He appeared in several pre-season matches, but endured criticism for some of his performances as the pre-season wore on. Tabanou, himself, admitted that the criticism was justified stating that he relied too much on his technical skills.[4] As a result, prior to the start of the season, he was demoted back to the reserve team. In January 2009, Tabanou was called back into the senior team by Casanova who was impressed by the player's performance with the reserve team. After appearing on the bench in several matches, he made his professional debut on 2 May 2009 in a league match against Marseille.[9] Tabanou appeared as a substitute in the match, which ended 2–2. Two days later, he signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a one-year deal with the club. Tabanou, subsequently, appeared in the final four matches of the season. One of those matches including his first professional start against Saint-Étienne.[10]

Tabanou was officially promoted to the senior team for the 2009–10 season and assigned the number 27 shirt. He featured as a substitute in the first two matches of the season and, by mid-September, had permanently taken over as starter on the left side of midfield. In January 2010, with the player's contract due to expire in June, Toulouse signed Tabanou to a three-year contract extension.[11] On 16 January, Tabanou rewarded the club's decision to extend him by scoring a double in a 3–1 victory over Valenciennes.[12] On 10 April, he repeated this feat by netting another two goals in a 4–0 home win over Grenoble.[13]

Due to injuries to incumbent left back Cheikh M'Bengue, Casanova tasked Tabanou with the job of deputizing for him for the 2010–11 season. Tabanou started in the position for the majority of the fall campaign and assisted on his first two goals of his career in a 2–0 win over Nancy and a 3–1 loss to Rennes.[14][15]

Saint-Étienne edit

On 28 July 2013, Tabanou trains with Ligue 1 club Saint-Étienne, on the verge of signing a new contract with them following a transfer from Toulouse. He scored his first goal against Esbjerg in the Europa League.[16]

Swansea City edit

On 19 June 2015, Tabanou joined Swansea City for a reported £3.5 million.[17] Tabanou then went on to make his debut in English football in the EFL Cup vs York City where he played his first full 90 minutes for the club.[18]

Saint-Étienne (loan) edit

On 15 January 2016, Tabanou returned to Saint-Étienne on loan from Swansea for the rest of the season.[19]

Granada (loan) edit

On 31 August 2016, Tabanou joined Spanish club Granada on a season-long loan deal.[20]

Guingamp edit

On 1 August 2017, it was announced that Tabanou was released by Swansea City at the end of the 2016–17 season and joined French club Guingamp.[21][22]

Career statistics edit

As of 5 September 2019[23]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Toulouse 2008–09 Ligue 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
2009–10 33 4 1 0 2 0 5 0 41 4
2010–11 34 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 35 4
2011–12 32 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 34 3
2012–13 34 4 1 1 2 0 0 0 37 5
Total 138 15 4 1 5 0 5 0 163 16
Saint-Étienne 2013–14 Ligue 1 34 3 0 0 1 0 4 1 39 4
2014–15 31 1 4 1 2 0 6 0 43 2
Total 65 4 4 1 3 0 10 1 82 6
Swansea City 2015–16 Premier League 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 0
Saint-Étienne (on loan) 2015–16 Ligue 1 11 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 14 0
Granada (on loan) 2016–17 La Liga 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Guingamp 2017–18 Ligue 1 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0
2018–19 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 0
Total 17 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 19 0
Career total 247 19 11 2 12 0 17 1 287 22

Honours edit

Guingamp

References edit

  1. ^ "Player shirt numbers for 20 Barclays Premier League clubs released". Premier League. 8 August 2015. Archived from the original on 9 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Franck Tabanou, sans complexe". 20 Minutes (in French). 14 September 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  3. ^ "Franck Tabanou en équipe de France" (in French). AS Choisy-le-Roi. 26 May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Franck Tabanou: "Je me suis cru arrivé trop vite..."" (in French). Foot 31. 2 April 2009. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  5. ^ "Biographie: Franck Tabanou" (in French). Toulouse FC. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  6. ^ "Histoire du CFFP" (in French). Centre de Formation de Paris. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Toulouse Effectif CFA 2006/2007" (in French). Stat 2 Foot. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  8. ^ "Toulouse Effectif CFA 2007/2008" (in French). Stat 2 Foot. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  9. ^ "Marseille v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 2 May 2009. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  10. ^ "Saint-Étienne v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 16 May 2009. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  11. ^ "Tabanou jusqu'en 2013" (in French). L'Equipe. 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  12. ^ "Valenciennes v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 16 January 2010. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  13. ^ "Toulouse v. Grenoble Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 10 April 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  14. ^ "Nancy v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 28 August 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  15. ^ "Rennes v. Toulouse Match Report" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 3 October 2010. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  16. ^ "Franck Tabanou est arrivé à ses fins" (in French). Le Progrès. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  17. ^ "Swansea sign Franck Tabanou from St Etienne for £3.5m". The Guardian. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  18. ^ "Swansea City 3–0 York City". 25 August 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  19. ^ "Tabanou back on loan" (in French). AS Saint-Étienne. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  20. ^ "Swansea City defender Franck Tabanou makes Granada loan move". Swansea City A.F.C. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  21. ^ "Tabanou leaves Swans". Swansea City Official Site. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "Former Swansea defender Franck Tabanou moves to Guingamp". ESPN. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  23. ^ "F. TABANOU". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  24. ^ Kezzouf, Youmni (31 March 2019). "Strasbourg remporte la Coupe de la Ligue aux tirs au but". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 5 November 2023.

External links edit