French former professional footballer (born 1982)
Vincent de Paul Pericard
(born 3 October 1982) is a former professional
footballer
who played as a
forward
in France with
Saint-Etienne
and in Italy with
Juventus
before moving to England, where he played for several clubs. Born in Cameroon, he played for the
France U21 team
.
Early life
[
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]
Pericard was born in
Efok
,
Cameroon
, but moved to France aged 4. He holds
citizenship of both
countries.
[2]
Club career
[
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]
Saint-Etienne and Juventus
[
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]
Pericard started his career at
Saint-Etienne
in France at the age of six. In 1999, he advanced to the first team and played two league matches.
He soon came to the attention of Italian
Serie A
club
Juventus
, who signed him in 2000. Promised by the media to a bright future,
Julien Courbet
made a documentary on Pericard entitled "the man who will be worth billions". Pericard made only one appearance for the club in two seasons, as a 61st-minute substitute for
Tomas Guzman
in a
UEFA Champions League
match against
Arsenal
on 20 March 2002.
[3]
Portsmouth
[
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]
Despite only making one appearance for Juventus, he attracted the attention of
Portsmouth
manager
Harry Redknapp
.
[4]
Pericard initially moved to Portsmouth on loan for the
2002?03 season
.
[5]
Pericard began his Portsmouth career in superb fashion, scoring on his debut in a 2?0 win over
Nottingham Forest
,
[6]
although he struggled with injury in the latter half of the season. Despite this, he impressed enough to earn a permanent switch in July 2003, having scored nine times in 32 games as they won the
First Division title
.
Pericard was a regular in the squad at the start of the
2003?04 season
, but broke down with a torn thigh muscle in late September. He returned to the first team in December, but then badly damaged a cruciate ligament in a reserve comeback game. The injury ended his season. He had an operation on the injury in France in the summer of 2004, and spent the whole of the
2004?05
season in rehabilitation following the surgery. In August 2005, following his recovery, he attended a
Cameroon national team
training camp for a friendly match against French amateur team Villemomble.
In
2005?06
Pericard returned to the first-team squad at
Fratton Park
. In order to gain match fitness he spent a three-month loan spell with
Sheffield United
,
[7]
scoring twice against
Millwall
[8]
and
Luton
,
[9]
before joining
Plymouth Argyle
in a loan deal in February 2006 for the remainder of the season.
[10]
He scored his first English League hat-trick for Plymouth Argyle in a 3?1 win over
Coventry City
on 18 February 2006.
[11]
He was recalled to Portsmouth in May 2006.
Stoke City
[
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]
Pericard was released by Portsmouth at the end of the
2005?06 season
, signing a three-year contract with
Stoke City
on a
free transfer
on 19 June 2006.
[12]
Pericard was
Tony Pulis
' first signing as manager of Stoke City, in Pulis' second spell at the club. At first, Pericard impressed at Stoke, scoring against eventual promotion winners
Derby County
on his home debut.
[13]
He also scored in the
League Cup
against
Darlington
,
[14]
and again in the league against Sunderland.
[15]
However, his performances later in the season were relatively poor and his place was taken by another former Portsmouth player,
Ricardo Fuller
.
On 24 August 2007, Pericard was sentenced to four months in prison after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
[16]
This came after he lied about being the driver of a car caught
speeding
at 103 mph near
Plymouth
. He was released from prison on 20 September 2007
[17]
but, following problems with his
electronic tag
, he was rearrested on 12 October 2007,
[18]
although he was subsequently re-released later that month.
[19]
On 14 March 2008,
Southampton
confirmed the loan signing of Pericard until the end of the season.
[20]
Upon his return to Stoke, he scored against
Reading
in a
League Cup
tie in September 2008.
[21]
Pericard made his first
Premier League
appearance in 0?0 draw with
Fulham
on 13 December 2008, coming on as a substitute for
Danny Pugh
. His first start in the Premier League came against
Blackburn Rovers
. Pericard, after seeing his first team opportunities disappear at Stoke following their promotion to the Premier League, signed a 93-day loan on 20 February 2009 with
Millwall
.
[22]
Following the 2008?09 season, Pericard was released from his contract at Stoke.
[23]
Carlisle United
[
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]
Following his release, he had short trials with
Championship
sides
Bristol City
,
Cardiff City
and
Blackpool
.
[24]
On 13 October 2009 Pericard signed for
Carlisle United
on a contract until January 2010, making his debut on 17 October against
Yeovil Town
. Pericard scored his first goal for the
Cumbrians
on his home debut against
Southend United
.
[25]
On 24 November 2009, Pericard scored twice in a 4?3 thrilling goal against
MK Dons
.
The next game on 28 November 2009 against
Norwich City
, Pericard scored the first goal in the match in a 3?1 win. On 12 December 2009, Pericard scored the only goal in the game in a 1?0 win over
Wycombe Wanderers
and before the match, Pericard required an injection in his Achilles tendon before scoring the winner.
[26]
His goalscoring performance and helping the club turn from relegation candidates to play-off contenders led manager
Greg Abbott
keen to extend Pericard's stay until the end of the season, with a number of clubs interested in giving him a chance to play at a higher level once again.
[27]
In Response, Pericard is happy to sign a contract extension at Carlisle which end on 12 January.
[28]
However, Pericard rejected a new contract at Carlisle and left the club.
[29]
Swindon Town
[
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]
On 14 January 2010,
Swindon Town
signed Pericard on a free transfer until June 2011 after the forward had rejected a new deal from
Carlisle United
where Pericard has decided opted to try his luck elsewhere.
[30]
He made his debut two days later in a 3?1 win over
Gillingham
, coming on in the 68th minute for
Charlie Austin
. He made a forceful run into the penalty area and was bundled to the floor gaining a penalty, which
Billy Paynter
scored.
Pericard scored his first goal for Swindon in the
Football League Trophy
match against
Southampton
on 31 August 2010, hitting a 30th minute volley into the back of the net, followed by his second goal in injury time to make it 3?0 and also received a booking.
[31]
On 18 September 2010, Pericard scored first goal for Swindon which turns out to be a winning goal in a 2?1 win over
Walsall
. Scoring three goals in the last four games, Pericard believes he is finally winning over the boo-boys feels his performances have started to silence his critics. he told the Swindon Advertiser
"I thought the fans were quite harsh to me but Saturday was the first time they have really appreciated what I have done and hopefully now they are going to be behind me and give me even more belief and confidence to play better, I think everyone can see I'm growing in confidence and hopefully some people are starting to see that they were wrong about me."
[32]
On 11 October 2010, Pericard scored first goal for Swindon which turns out to be a winning goal in a 2?1 win over
Bristol Rovers
. On 6 November 2010, Pericard scored his last professional career goal in a 4?0 win over
Plymouth Argyle
in the First Round of the FA Cup. On 15 January 2011, Pericard made his last professional appearance for Swindon in a 1?0 loss against
Yeovil Town
before been sidelined with a knee injury for the past four weeks and upon his recovering, Pericard play his part in Swindon's survival scrap as he nears his return to fitness.
[33]
However, Pericard hadn't featured for the rest of the season.
Following Swindon Town's relegation to
League Two
, Pericard (along with
Jakub Jesionkowski
) were both released by the club on a free transfer as their contracts expired on 30 June 2011.
Non-League
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After his release from Swindon, Pericard trained with
AFC Bournemouth
in a bid to revive his career
[34]
but could not earn a contract. He then signed for
Conference South
side
Havant & Waterlooville
,
[4]
but retired from football in February 2012. In January 2015 he came out of retirement to play for
Wessex League
club
Moneyfields
, making his debut on 27 January in a 1?0 win over
Folland Sports
, which put Moneyfields top of the league.
[35]
Personal life
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Pericard set up his own company, Elite Welfare Management, which aims to help "foreign players adapt to their new climate and prevent them from suffering stress, loneliness and depression".
[36]
He is also involved with
Kick It Out
, and is a student at
Portsmouth University
on a business studies course.
[35]
International career
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]
Pericard represented the
French U21 side
at international level.
[22]
Career statistics
[
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]
Honours
[
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]
Portsmouth
Stoke City
References
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]
External links
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]