Gaël Andonian (Armenian: Կաէլ Անտոնեան; born 7 February 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Championnat National 3 club EUGA Ardziv in Marseille.

Gaël Andonian
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-02-07) 7 February 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Marseille, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
EUGA Ardziv
Youth career
2001–2003 AS Gemenosienne
2003–2004 Aubagne
2004–2014 Marseille
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2018 Marseille II 71 (3)
2014–2018 Marseille 1 (0)
2015–2016Dijon (loan) 6 (1)
2015–2016Dijon II (loan) 6 (0)
2017Veria (loan) 10 (0)
2019 Ajaccio 0 (0)
2020 Martigues 1 (0)
2020–2021 Aubagne 0 (0)
2021–2022 Marseille Endoume 16 (0)
2022– Ardziv 9 (0)
International career
2011 France U16 2 (0)
2015–2018 Armenia 23 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:40, 20 April 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:40, 20 April 2022 (UTC)

He began his career with hometown club Marseille, making one substitute appearance in Ligue 1 and playing mostly for the reserves.

Born in France, Andonian represented France at under-16 level in 2011. In 2015, he debuted at senior level for Armenia, his ancestral country.

Club career edit

Born in Marseille, Andonian is a youth exponent from hometown club Marseille. He was first called into a matchday squad for their 1–0 win away at Nancy on 16 September 2012, remaining an unused substitute.[1] His only other call-up that season was on 6 December, again unused as Marseille lost 3–0 away to AEL Limassol in the UEFA Europa League, both teams already eliminated.[2]

He made his professional debut in a 2–1 Ligue 1 home win against Lens on 2 November 2014, replacing Florian Thauvin for the last 10 minutes.[3]

On 21 October 2015, having taken no part in Marseille's season, Andonian was loaned to Ligue 2 club Dijon for the remainder of the season.[4] He made six appearances in Ligue 2 as the team from Burgundy won promotion, scoring his first professional goal as a last-minute equaliser in a 2–2 draw at Niort on 8 January 2016, and contributing to the own goal that was their other strike in the game.[5] Additionally, Andonian made two appearances in the Coupe de la Ligue, and two appearances in the Coupe de France.[citation needed]

On 27 January 2017, Andonian was loaned to Superleague Greece club Veria for the remainder of the season.[6] He made 10 appearances for Veria,[7] and was sent off on 12 March in a 1–0 loss at Platanias.[8]

In September 2018 following his release from Marseille, Andonian had a spell on trial at EFL League One side Sunderland, and played an under-23 match against West Bromwich Albion.[9] Manager Jack Ross did not sign him due to wage issues, as the club were involved in protracted situations regarding Papy Djilobodji and Didier Ndong.[10]

On 18 July 2019, Andonian signed a one-year contract with Ajaccio of Ligue 2.[11] He was an unused substitute eight days later in a 2–2 home draw against Le Havre.[12] Hampered by a shoulder injury, he took no part in the rest of the season and his contract was terminated at its midway point.[13]

Andonian signed for Martigues of the Championnat National 2 on 1 February 2020.[14] That September, he signed for Aubagne of the same league.[15]

International career edit

In 2011, Andonian played two friendlies for France under-16, both goalless draws against Slovenia on 5 and 7 April.[16]

On 26 February 2015, the president of the Armenian Football Federation Ruben Hayrapetyan announced that Andonian would arrive in the Armenian capital Yerevan on 21 March to receive Armenian citizenship and officially join the Armenia national football team.[17]

Eight days later he received his first international cap, playing the full 90 minutes against Albania in a 2–1 defeat at the Elbasan Arena in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.[18]

Career statistics edit

Club edit

As of match played 17 April 2022[19]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Marseille II 2012–13 Championnat de France Amateur 2 18 1 18 1
2013–14 Championnat de France Amateur 2 5 0 5 0
2014–15 Championnat de France Amateur 2 21 2 21 2
2015–16 Championnat de France Amateur 2 0 2 0
2016–17 Championnat de France Amateur 13 0 13 0
2017–18 Championnat National 2 12 0 12 0
Total 71 3 71 3
Marseille 2014–15 Ligue 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Dijon (loan) 2015–16 Ligue 2 6 1 2 0 2 0 10 1
Dijon II (loan) 2015–16 Championnat de France Amateur 2 6 0 6 0
Veria (loan) 2016–17 Super League Greece 10 0 0 0 10 0
Ajaccio 2019–20 Ligue 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Martigues 2019–20 Championnat National 2 1 0 0 0 1 0
Marseille Endoume 2021–22 Championnat National 3 12 0 0 0 12 0
Career total 107 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 111 4

International edit

As of 4 June 2018[20]
Armenia
Year Apps Goals
2015 6 0
2016 7 0
2017 7 0
2018 3 0
Total 23 0

References edit

  1. ^ "NANCY VS. OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE 0 - 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  2. ^ "AEL beat Marseille to finish on a high". UEFA. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Marseille vs. RC Lens - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
  4. ^ "Le défenseur marseillais Gaël Andonian prêté à Dijon" [Marseille defender Gaël Andonian loaned to Dijon] (in French). L'Equipe. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Prêtés : Andonian héros dijonnais, Doria retrouve le terrain" [Loanees: Andonian Dijon's hero, Doria returns to the pitch] (in French). Le Phocéen. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Gaël Andonian (OM) prêté à Veria (Grèce)" [Gaël Andonian (OM) on loan to Veria (Greece)] (in French). L'Equipe. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  7. ^ "OM 2-0 Toulouse: tactics & players" (in French). Foot Marseille. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  8. ^ Kaperonis, Sarantos (12 March 2017). "Cretans win to stay in playoff picture". Agona Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Who is Gael Andonian? The international defender on trial at Sunderland". Evening Chronicle. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  10. ^ Hunter, James (15 September 2018). "Sunderland end Gael Andonian interest due to uncertainty over Papy Djilobodji and Didier Ndong". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Gaël Andonian est Acéiste" [Gaël Andonian is an ACA player] (in French). AC Ajaccio. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  12. ^ "Football - Ligue 2 : le HAC ramène le nul d'Ajaccio" [Football - Ligue 2: HAC bounce back to a draw with Ajaccio] (in French). Paris Normandie. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Ligue 2 : Andonian résilie avec l'AC Ajaccio" [Ligue 2: Andonian terminated by AC Ajaccio]. Corse Matin (in French). 2 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Football - N2 : l'ancien olympien Gaël Andonian au FC Martigues" [Football - N2: former Olympique de Marseille player Gaël Andonian to FC Martigues]. La Provence (in French). 1 February 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Football - Mercato : Gaël Andonian se relance à Aubagne" [Football - Transfer market: Gaël Andonian relaunches himself at Aubagne] (in French). La Provence. 15 September 2020.
  16. ^ "GAËL ANDONIAN". FFF. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  17. ^ "Գաել Անդոնյանը վաղը կդառնա Հայաստանի քաղաքացի եւ մարտի 21-ին կժամանի Հայաստան" [Gaël Andonian will become a citizen of Armenia on 21 March and will arrive in Armenia]. Football 365 (in Armenian). Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  18. ^ "Albania head off Armenia threat". UEFA. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  19. ^ "France - G. Andonian - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  20. ^ "Andonian, Gaël". National Football Teams. Retrieved 27 July 2019.

External links edit