This article's introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (May 2009)

Steed Malbranque
Personal information
Full name	Steed Malbranque
Date of birth	January 6, 1980 (1980-01-06) (age 29)
Place of birth	Mouscron, Belgium
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder or Winger
Club information
Current club	Sunderland
Number	8
Youth career
1995–1997	Lyon
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997–2001 2001–2006 2006–2008 2008–	Lyon Fulham Tottenham Hotspur Sunderland	078 0(5) 172 (32) 062 0(6) 046 0(1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:25, 25 July 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Steed Malbranque (born 6 January 1980 in Mouscron) is a Belgian-born French footballer, currently playing for Sunderland.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Lyon 1.2 Fulham 1.3 Tottenham 1.4 Sunderland 2 International career 3 Career statistics 4 Honours 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] Lyon

He was a trainee at Lyon youth academy between the years of 1995–97 during which time he won the Under-15 championship twice, the Under-17 Cup and the reserve team championship. He also captained the French Under-18 side.

He made his professional debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against Montpellier on 21 February, 1998 aged 18. He went on to play a total of 96 games for the club which included 12 appearances and 2 goals in the Champions League and 7 appearances in the UEFA Cup.

Malbranque was an unused substitute in the final as Lyon won the 2001 French Coupe de la Ligue^[1].

During his time at the club there was a chance to join Arsenal after impressing in a Champions League tie at Highbury and the following tie, a 3–0 victory over Bayern Munich at Stade de Gerland but he rejected the move as he felt he wasn't ready to play in the Premiership.^[2]

[edit] Fulham

He eventually made his move to the Premier League in 2001 joining Fulham for a fee believed to be £4.5million making his debut in a 3–2 defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United and went on to score 10 goals in his first season.

He became a firm favourite during his 5 years at the club playing a total of 211 games and scoring 44 goals including 6 appearances and 3 goals in Fulham's short-lived UEFA Cup campaign during the 2002–03 season. He was the top scorer during the 2002–03 season with 13 goals that helped save Fulham from relegation and was offered the chance to play for Belgium towards the end of the campaign, having not represented the full France side, however he turned it down with the hope that he would eventually break into the full French squad.^{[citation needed]} He scored in Fulham's 3–1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in October 2003.^[3]

On 13 May 2006, after extensive contract talks with the club failed, Malbranque was placed on the transfer list at Fulham after he declared his intentions to leave at the end of his contract. There was rumoured interest from Reading, Middlesbrough, West Ham United, Manchester City, Everton and Newcastle United but he opted to sign for Tottenham Hotspur on the deadline day of the transfer window (31 August) for a fee believed to be £2million despite an injury that would keep him out for approximately 10 weeks.

[edit] Tottenham

Malbranque made his debut for Tottenham almost ten weeks after signing for the club on 8 November at White Hart Lane playing 63 minutes in a League Cup 3–1 victory over Port Vale. He scored his first goal for Spurs in an emphatic 5–1 victory over Charlton Athletic at White Hart Lane on 9 December. Malbranque became a fan favourite at Tottenham because of his hard work ethic. Malbranque finished the 2007–08 season in the top 5 in the Premier League for tackles made and tackles per minute, which demonstrates his work ethic and tackling ability.^[4]

He scored Tottenham's 150th goal in European competition with his goal in the second leg of the UEFA Cup last 16 vs Sporting Braga on 14 March 2007 at White Hart Lane. On the 12 April 2007, during the 2nd Leg of the UEFA Cup Quarter-Final against the then-defending champions Sevilla FC, Malbranque famously scored an anomalous own goal. A Sevilla corner was met with a header from Christian Poulsen. The ball appeared to be going wide of the goal until Malbranque took a wild lash at the ball to clear it and keep it in play. The ball was sliced backwards into Spurs' own net. The match ended in a 2-2 draw, but Sevilla went through to the next round on 4-3 aggregate.

He started for Spurs as they won the 2008 Football League Cup Final against Chelsea.

[edit] Sunderland

Malbranque followed teammates Pascal Chimbonda and Teemu Tainio to Sunderland. Malbranque signed a four year contract on 30 July 2008. He left Spurs as a fan favourite.^[5]

He went on to score his first goal for the club with a fantastic effort in the top corner, opening the scoring in Sunderland's 4–1 victory over Hull City at the KC Stadium.

[edit] International career

Although born in Belgium, he was called up to the French Under 21's and was part of the squad of Les Bleuets that lost to Czech U21 in the final of the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Malbranque was called into the senior France squad in February 2004 but did not make an appearance during any matches.

[edit] Career statistics

^[6]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
France			League		Coupe de France		Coupe de la Ligue		Europe		Total
1997–98	Olympique Lyonnais	Division 1	2	0
1998–99			21	0
1999–00			28	3
2000–01			26	2
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2001–02	Fulham	Premier League	37	8	6	1	3	1	0	0	46	10
2002–03			37	6	4	4	0	0	5	3	46	13
2003–04			38	6	6	2	0	0	0	0	44	8
2004–05			26	6	1	0	4	1	0	0	31	7
2005–06			34	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	35	6
2006–07	Tottenham Hotspur	Premier League	25	2	6	1	4	0	0	0	35	3
2007–08			37	4	3	0	0	0	8	1	48	5
2008–09	Sunderland	Premier League	18	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	20	1
Total	France		77	5
	England		252	38	23	8	14	2	13	4	293	52
Career Total			313	43

[edit] Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

• Carling Cup: 2007–08

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Steed Malbranque career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Sunderland A.F.C. – current squad 1 Gordon · 2 Bardsley · 3 McCartney · 4 Turner · 5 Ferdinand · 6 Nosworthy · 7 Zenden · 8 Malbranque · 9 Campbell · 10 Richardson · 11 Bent · 12 Mensah · 14 Murphy · 16 Henderson · 17 Jones · 18 Meyler · 19 Cana · 20 Reid · 22 Da Silva · 23 Healy · 24 Carson · 25 O'Donovan · 27 Anderson · 32 Fülöp · 39 Cattermole · Manager: Bruce