David Ginola

David Ginola-Ceze (born 25 January 1967) is a French former professional footballer who has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit.

Ginola made his first senior appearance for Sporting Toulon as an eighteen-year-old in a 1985 2–0 victory away at Metz.

He played fourteen times in his first season, and by 1986 he was a regular in the Toulon line-up.

In 1988, he moved to RC Paris, where he remained until signing for Brest in 1990.

There, he began to impress with his flamboyant style of play.

At international level, he made 17 appearances, scoring three goals, for the France national team between 1990 and 1995.

Since his retirement from football, he has become involved in football punditry and acting.

Ginola is a regular contributor to BBC, BT Sport and CNN.

He has hosted Match of ze Day, a program which broadcasts live Premier League matches on Canal+.

In 1991, he played a crucial role in a landmark victory (3–2) against the side who would go on to sign him, Paris Saint-Germain.

Ginola joined Paris Saint-Germain in January 1992, at a time when it was pushing for major honours with the financial backing of TV channel Canal+.

He quickly adapted to the club and became a fan favourite noted for his elegant first touch and pace.

His popularity did not suffer any consequence even when he admitted that he supported Paris Saint-Germain's rivals Olympique Marseille as a boy and that he would have joined them rather than PSG.

In his first full season (1992–93), Ginola won the Coupe de France (scoring in the final) and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.

Furthermore, between 1992 and 1995, his stellar displays in European competitions against the Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona had attracted media attention in Spain, with local media dubbing him "El Magnifico".

At the end of 1993, he was also won the French Footballer of the Year award from the France Football magazine.

In his second full season in 1993–94, PSG won the second league title of its history, losing only three times.

Alongside Paul Le Guen, Bernard Lama and Antoine Kombouaré and coached by Artur Jorge, Ginola provided 13 goals in 38 games, which made him the top club goalscorer.

The following season, under new manager Luis Fernandez, proved to be less successful in the league, with Nantes being crowned champions.

Ginola scored 11 times in 28 league appearances.

Paris Saint-Germain did shine in the cup competitions though, winning another Coupe de France as well as the first edition of the new Coupe de la Ligue.

In the UEFA Champions League, the Parisian club caused a major shock after knocking out 1994's finalists Barcelona in the quarter-finals, with Ginola playing particularly well.

The club was eliminated at the next hurdle by defending champions AC Milan.

A forward, Ginola played for ten seasons in France with Toulon, RC Paris, Brest and Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Newcastle United in the English Premier League in July 1995.

In the summer of 1995, Ginola decided to leave France.

Known to be a Spanish football enthusiast, he was expected to be snapped up by Barcelona.

In 1995, Ginola joined Newcastle United for £2.5 million.

He was signed at a time when manager Kevin Keegan was attempting to turn the club into one of the major forces in English football, and the board was prepared to offer strong financial backing to sign a number of European superstars.

Ginola made his debut against Coventry City on 19 August 1995 in a 3–0 win.

He scored his first league goal on 27 August against Sheffield Wednesday in a 2–0 away win, and went on to score five league goals in his first season.

In the 1995–96, Newcastle finished second, four points behind Manchester United.

This was their strongest league performance in decades, and Ginola was an integral part of the team.

However, it was a major disappointment that Newcastle had finished second in the Premier League as they had led by up to 12 points as late as January.

In 1996, Barcelona's English manager Bobby Robson attempted personally to sign Ginola, but Newcastle refused to allow the transfer.

To add to their line-up, Newcastle paid £15m, breaking the transfer record, to sign Alan Shearer.

Despite this, they finished second again behind Manchester United.

Halfway through the season, Kevin Keegan suddenly resigned as manager to be succeeded by Kenny Dalglish.

He subsequently played for Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton before retiring in 2002.

In January 2015, Ginola attempted to run for the FIFA presidency but withdrew after failing to receive the required backing of at least five national football associations.

David Ginola was born in Gassin, Var.