david ginola - fact file

1997 - 2000        winger

Born on 25th January 1967 in Gassin, France.

Height : - .m  (6' 1")

Weight : -  - kgs    (11st 10lbs)

 
Flamboyant and stylish winger, who gave Spurs fans a taste of the old days of classic dashing, dribbling wing-play and carved a career outside of the game with his dashing good looks.

David Ginola worked his way up from his local side in Nice to play for Paris St. Germain before he was brought to England by Kevin Keegan, where he became part of the adventurous Newcastle United side that challenged at the top of the table.  When Keegan left the club after failing to deliver, Ginola was surprisingly snapped up by Spurs manager Gerry Francis, who was not renowned for his attacking sides.  The Frenchman was always "the fantasy" in the side and his skills were often not matched by those on the receiving end of his service and there were times when his exasperation showed.

Looking like a million dollars and worth five times that much, Ginola was an enigma. Often frustrating, when he failed to provide a killer pass, he could be sublime in his finishing and crossing.  His dribbling was a delight to watch and if he could have melded that into the team's play, it could have meant very good news all round.  Ginola put in lots of work, despite fears that he was not interested in tacking back, but needed to put aside the Gallic shrugs if something went wrong and get back to close down space.

Ginola's supply line fed fellow ex-Newcastle United star Les Ferdinand and he showed a more pragmatic side to his game in the year when Christian Gross came in and his efforts helped Spurs stay up, while others profited from his chasing back and good service from wide positions.

He scored a whole host of classic goals for Spurs ... the slaloming run against Barnsley at Oakwell; the crashing volley against Leeds United at home in the FA Cup and any number of fine finishes from someone who was not a noted goal-scorer.

A great entertainer, but was accused of not staying on his feet, although for many defenders, it was the only way to stop him, although he enhanced his reputation while playing in England.  He had a mercurial 1998-1999 season, exemplified by his PFA and Football Writers "Player of the Year" awards.  Despite having a quiet game at Wembley, his presence is enough to tie up at least a couple of opponents and make them forget their own game-plan to concentrate on him. 

David was one of the first rumoured departures after George Graham came to Tottenham, but he played and showed a new level of commitment to the team.  Graham tried to channel his talent into producing an end result and he scored and set up goals following that time.  He attracted more than his fair share of attention from the media because of his spectacular "falls", but having signing an extension to his contract, it was hoped he will be the creative heart of Spurs for a number of years to come.

The 1998-99 season was a hard act to live up to and David was a shadow of his 1998-99 self.  He still had the highest number of assists and scored a couple of goals, but his regular substitutions caused uproar amongst the Spurs crowd.  He is the mercurial entertainer, but his effectiveness and sometimes overindulgence lead to him being discarded by the Tottenham management.  

His only medal in England came in the League Cup Final of 1999, when his determined performance, despite being man-marked for the whole game, saw him help ten-man Spurs to a 1-0 victory over Leicester City. 

In 2000, he left under GG's reign to join Aston Villa, before being shipped out to Everton and then Ginola faded out of the football spotlight to adopt a career in acting and film, before moving into wine production in 2008 (when he turned up on BBC 1's "One Show" with some of the Tottenham Hotspur Ladies FC first team as wine tasters).

Ginola had had won a number of honours PSG and his skilful performances won him a place in the French side, but it turned sour for him, when Gerard Houllier was in charge of the national side.  During a 1994 World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria, David came on as a late substitute and tried to hit a cross to Eric Cantona on the far side of the box, when his side were winning and there were just a minute left.  The pass was intercepted and the home side broke away to score and knock France out of the competition and Houllier blamed Ginola "a criminal" for being responsible for the goal that cost the team a place in the finals in the USA.  Despite Ginola's fine form following that match, he was never selected for Les Bleus again.

Moved back to France with his family, but in late 2009 returned to England to live in West London.  David had an interest in a coaching TV channel called "Footschool" and has a vineyard back in France that produces award winning wine.
 

NICKNAME :  Gin

MIDDLE NAMES :   Desire Marc

Career Record
 
Club Signed Fee Debut Apps Goals
OGC Nice (France) ?? ?? ??  ?? ??
Toulon (France) ?? ?? ??  ?? ??
Matra Racing  (France) ?? ?? ??  ?? ??
Brest Amorique  (France) ?? ?? ??  ?? ??
Paris St. Germain (France) ?? ?? ??  ?? ??
Newcastle United ?? ?? ??  ?? ??
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR August 1997 £2,500,000 10th August 1997  v Manchester United (League) (home) lost 0-2 148 (3 as a sub 24
Aston Villa July 2000 £3,000,000 ??  19 ??
Everton 9th February 2002 Free ??  5 0

Spurs career
League - 100 games;  13 goals
FA Cup - 11 games;  5 goals
League Cup - 13 games;  4 goals
UEFA Cup - 2 games (1 as a sub);  0 goals
League - 22 games (2 as a sub);  2 goals

Honours
France international
17 full caps;  3 goals
Under-21 caps; goals
French Championship 1993-94 (Paris St. Germain)
French Cup in 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95 (Paris St. Germain)
French League Cup 1994-95 (Paris St. Germain)
League Cup winners medal 1998-1999
Football Writers Player of the Year and PFA Player of the Year 1998-1999

Milestones
- appearance

           

What they said about David Ginola
Johann Cruyff ...  (Dutch master)

"On his day he is as good as anybody.  He is a tremendous talent and it is easy to see why people in England have taken him to their hearts."

Gerard Houllier ...  22.08.2000 (the Bulgaria v France World Cup qualifier)

"He has distorted totally what was said and the reasons why it was said.  He knows the truth, but to protect himself he pretends I was attacking his cross during the game.  I actually said he committed a crime against the team spirit, but in France the actual word 'crime' simply means a serious mistake. I never used the word 'murder' or 'murderer' or 'assassin' in connection with what happened in a football match."

Duncan McKenzie (former Everton star) ... 09.02.2002 (on Ginola signing for Everton) (The Independent on Sunday)

"I nearly crashed my car when I heard the news. That's fantastic, that will bring the whole place a real boost. Walter smith's a shrewd man. He's given Ginola three months to prove what sort of a footballer and what sort of an athlete he is. Ginola will be dying to prove people wrong.  But it's not the conventional way out of trouble, is it? "
Aston Villa John Gregory ... on his view that Ginola was a bit over-weight

"He's carrying a bit of timber."

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30 July 2006 - Guardian newspaper interview
Click here to read.

 

What David Ginola said about ...
... leaving Aston Villa ... 10.02.2002 (The Independent on Sunday)

"I felt humiliated at Villa," he said. "I think they destroyed my name, they destroyed the image I tried to build in England. It was only a couple of people, but sometimes that is enough when you've got the power. At least I can walk away knowing I conducted myself in the right way.
 

I was there every day at training, I never turned up late, I always smiled in the dressing room and I always did the job I was asked to do. I wanted to respond to criticism in the right way, not in the newspapers. I didn't want to play their game and I always wanted to set an example to the young lads. Most of them came to me with tears in their eyes because they didn't understand what was going on."
... the comments by Gerard Houllier after the France v Bulgaria World Cup qualifier ...  19.07.1998 (Sunday Mirror)

"A journalist friend phoned me at home and told me to switch on the television to watch what Houllier was saying," Ginola revealed. "I saw him claim: 'David Ginola is a criminal. I repeat, he is a criminal.'  I over-hit my pass to a team-mate. Did this warrant the manager branding me a criminal ?"
 

"I am not a criminal. I have never stolen anything, I have never killed anyone. Everybody makes mistakes and people should be honourable enough to forgive them. Houllier's words caused national hysteria.  It was like the sky had fallen in on my head. I had absolutely no idea he would say anything so vindictive. It shocked me.  But what really tore me apart was seeing my immediate family - my wife, my parents, my grandparents - hurting for me. That's the hardest thing to take.

"That's what really killed me. It's impossible to deal with it when the people you love phone you up in tears, saying: 'What has this moron said about you ?'"

Ginola claims he was whistled and jeered in his next club match, but responded by scoring with a header after five minutes.
"I cried on the pitch, not crying like a baby, but crying as a way of letting out all my frustration," Ginola admits. "I had so much pent up inside me and I just wanted to scream it all away. 'Here I am ! I've done it ! I've scored - I can still play football.'

"If Houllier was there in front of me, I think I would have wanted to smash him to bits.  I could have killed him from hate, not for what he did to me, but because he made the people I love cry."

... how the game should be played ...  .. ()

"Football is a game you play with the ball, not the legs."

... on his best moment in English football ...  .11.2009 (Sunday Times)

"Winning the Football Players' Player of the Year award in 1999 when I was at Tottenham."

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2010 in the Sunday Times
The best moment of your career ...

Winning the Football Players' Player of the Year award in 1999.  It was a special achievement after a 10 year career. When you reach 32 or 33 years old, people are looking at you as if you are a luxury and an old player, so it was really nice to receive voted for by the players.  It was also the season that Manchester United won the Trebble, so it was flattering.

When my son went to school, one of his teachers told him that he was a Spurs supporter and a big fan of mine and that every time I got the ball I provided value for money.  That was a very good compliment.

What was your worst moment ...

When France failed to qualify for the World Cup in the United States in 1994.  We were eliminated by Bulgaria and I took the whole thing on my shoulders.  Gerard Houllier, the France manager, went on TV to say that we were not going to America because of me.  From the age of eight, I was taught that football was about the team, about 11 players winning or 11 players losing and not about one player.  All of a sudden I realise this wasn't true any more.

After that World Cup qualifier in November 1993, I played for my club Paris St. Germain and at away games I was booed and whistled at wherever I played.  I kept working on my game and had a great season, even though I had been made the scapegoat for not reaching the World Cup finals.  At the end of the season, the journalists voted me Player of the Year in France.

 

Who was the best defender you faced ... 

Lee Dixon of Arsenal.  I played against him for Newcastle.  He was tough, on my back all the time, tackling me and doing everything to try and annoy me.  He was pulling my shirt and I tried to get him off me and my elbow hit his cheek, he fell over and the referee gave me a red card.  I couldn't believe it.  I was banned for two or three games.  He was a tough, sharp player with a strong presence.

 

Who was the best manager you played under ...

I had many managers who worked and acted in different ways : Kevin Keegan, Gerry Francis, David Pleat, Christian Gross, George Graham.  Each has given me something.  I would take a bit of them all and you would have the perfect manager.

 

What is the worst thing about being a footballer ... 

Some people who are not in football believe you cannot hold a conversation regarding other aspects of life, that you cannot talk or think.

 

Who was the best manager you played under ...

I had many managers who worked and acted in different ways : Kevin Keegan, Gerry Francis, David Pleat, Christian Gross, George Graham.  Each has given me something.  I would take a bit of them all and you would have the perfect manager.

 

What was your most embarrassing off-field moment ...

I posed naked for the great photographer Mario Testino, for a French magazine.  I did not realise that the magazine would appear all over the country with me naked on the front page and it took a while for things to settle down.  When I arrived in England, Testino held an exhibition of all his photos and I was there between pictures of the Princess of Wales and Madonna, three metres by two, naked and in the middle of the art gallery surrounded by very famous people.  That was a little embarrassing, because I was the only one naked.

 

What was your worst hair day ...

People talked so much about my hair when I was doing the L'Oreal shampoo adverts.  Then I went back to France to act in a short movie about the French Foreign Legion and I had to shave my head.  At the age of 36, it was the first time in my life that I had my head shaved.  When I did my 12 months national service in the French Army, I went to the army hairdresser and he said, "Oh my god David, I can't touch your hair."  So he cut a little, then a little more, but he couldn't cut any after that.  So even in the Army, I had long hair.

 

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