William Vainqueur


William Jacques Vainqueur is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He mostly played as a central or defensive midfielder position.

Club career

FC Nantes

Born in Neuilly-sur-Marne, a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, Vainqueur joined Noisy-le-Grand FC at the age of 8. In 2001, he moved to the youth system of AJ Auxerre and spent one year there, before being released. After his release by Auxerre, Vainqueur continued to train, to work on himself, leading to re–join Bussy-Saint-Georges FC. There, he was discovered at the age 14 by FC Nantes's scout team. However, moving to Nantes in Pays de la Loire saw Vainqueur move away, as he saw his family once every month.
Having progressed through the youth system at Nantes, Vainqueur made his senior debut during the 2006–07 Ligue 1 season, where he started the match before coming off in the 69th minute for Miloš Dimitrijević, in a 0–0 draw against Olympique de Marseille on 18 February 2007. Vainqueur soon become involved in a number of matches following an absent of Alioum Saidou, though he faced setback with injury. However, the club were eventually relegated to Ligue 2 at the end of the season after losing 1–0 against Bordeaux on 9 May 2007. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Vainqueur went on to make ten appearances for FC Nantes. Shortly after, he signed his first professional contract with the Ligue 1 club shortly.
However, ahead of the 2007–08 season, Vainqueur was out for six months after rupturing his cruciate ligaments on his right knee while on duty for France U19. By January, he returned to training after being on the sidelines. However, he suffered another injury with a broken cruciate ligament. On 10 March 2008, Vainqueur made his first appearance of the season, coming on as a substitute, in a 1–0 win over Grenoble Foot. He went on to make five appearances in the 2007–08 season, as FC Nantes were promoted back to Ligue 1 at the first attempt.
Vainqueur had to wait until 20 September 2008 to make his first appearance of the 2008–09 season, coming on as a substitute, in a 2–0 win over Valenciennes. However, he struggled for most of the season on the substitute bench, as well as, his own injury concerns. By the second half of the season, Vainqueur soon regained his first team place, in the defensive midfield position. He later faced further absence later in the 2008–09 season that saw FC Nantes were relegated back to Ligue 2 after finishing 19th on the table. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Vainqueur went on to make eighteen appearances in all competitions.
In the 2009–10 season, Vainqueur began to feature more in the first team and started in a number of matches. However, he was sent–off for a second bookable offence, in a 5–0 win over FC Istres on 21 August 2009. After serving a two match suspension, Vainqueur returned to the first team on 18 September 2009, in a 1–1 draw against SC Bastia. On 1 October 2009, he signed a contract with FC Nantes, keeping him until 2013. Three weeks later on 23 October 2009, Vainqueur scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 win over Dijon FCO. However, he was out on four more occasions later in the 2009–10 season. Despite this, this did not affect Vainqueur's place in the first team, as he remained on the first team spotlight throughout the 2009–10 season. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Vainqueur went on to make twenty–nine appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
After missing the start of the 2010–11 season, due to injury, Vainqueur made his first appearance of the season, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 loss against Le Mans in the opening game of the season. Shortly after, he suffered a thigh strain that saw him miss two matches. Vainqueur returned to the first team on 20 September 2010, where he started and played 58 minutes, in a 2–1 loss against Reims. In a match against Le Havre on 10 December 2010, he was involved in a goal that led to opposition player Loïc Nestor scoring an own goal, which was the only goal of the game. A month later on 29 January 2011, Vainqueur was sent-off for the in the 62nd minute for a professional foul, in a 3–0 loss against Évian Thonon Gaillard. Despite being on the sidelines over injuries and suspensions, he continued to remain in the first team for the remainder of the season. At the end of the season, he went on to make twenty–nine appearances in all competitions.
In the 2011–12 season, Vainqueur continued to feature in the first team for Nantes and appeared in every match by the end of August.

Standard Liège

On 30 August 2011, Vainqueur was transferred to Belgian Pro League side Standard Liège, signing a five-year contract with the Belgian club. The transfer move reportedly cost 1.7 million euros. He was previously linked a move to clubs, such as, Olympiacos, AS Nancy and FC Lorient before he joined Standard Liège.
After starting out on the substitute bench, Vainqueur made his Standard Liège debut on 15 September 2011, starting the whole game, in a 0–0 against Hannover 96 in the UEFA Europa League Group Stage. Three days later, on 17 September 2011, he made his league debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 3–0 loss against Genk. Since joining Standard Liège, he quickly established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the defensive–midfield position. In the second–leg of the quarter–finals of Belgian Cup against Lierse, Vainqueur scored his first goal for the club, in a 4–2 loss, as Standard Liège were unable to overturn the deficit, losing 5–4 on aggregate. However, he was sent–off for a second bookable offence, in a 2–0 win over Lierse on 4 February 2012, resulting a one–man ban. His performance saw Vainqueur being named Nieuwsblad's Team of the Season in March 2012. Despite missing several matches during the 2011–12 season, he finished his first season at Standard Liège, making thirty–five appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
In the 2012–13 season, Vainqueur continued to remain in the first team, playing out in the defensive midfield position at the start of the season. On 4 November 2012, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–0 win over OH Leuven. His performance attracted interest from Premier League side Fulham, who wanted to sign him. Despite the transfer speculation, Vainqueur scored two goals in two matches on 2 December 2012 and 7 December 2012 against Waasland-Beveren and Charleroi. In a 0–0 draw against Gent, he was sent–off for a second bookable offence, resulting a one match ban. On 12 April 2013, Vainqueur scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 4–3 win over Zulte Waregem. After the match, his goal against Zulte Waregem was voted number for the Goal of the Week by newspaper Nieuwsblad following a vote. Towards the end of the 2012–13 season, he was given a captaincy, including a 7–0 win over Gent on 26 May 2013 to help the club qualify for the Europa League next season. Having played down claims that Standard Liege would not win the league, the club went on to finish fourth place. He was also nominated for the player of the Year in Belgium but lost out to Club Brugge's Carlos Bacca. Despite being sidelined during the 2012–13 season, Vainqueur went on to make thirty–nine appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Vainqueur spoken out that he wanted to leave Standard Liège, citing delays of contract negotiations. This led interests from foreign clubs, including rivals, Anderlecht. Vainqueur was considering having his contract with Standard Liège terminated by using a law of 78. In an unexpected turn of an event, he made a U-turn by signing a new contract, keeping him until 2016. Vainqueur made his first appearance of the season, where he started and played 73 minutes, in a 3–1 win over KR Reykjavík in the first leg of UEFA Europa League Second Round. During the match, however, he suffered a thigh injury and was sidelined for several weeks. On 1 September 2013, Vainqueur returned to the first team from injury, in a 2–0 win over K.V. Kortrijk. After returning to the first team, he established himself in the starting eleven for the side. Vainqueur was then sent–off on 27 October 2013, in which he was involved an incident with Luka Milivojević, in a 1–1 draw against Anderlecht. After the match, the Disputes Committee of the KBVB decided not to take further action against Vainqueur and allowed him to play in the next match. After being suspended for one match, he scored on his return on 1 December 2013, in a 5–0 win over Lierse. However, near the end of a league game against Lierse, Vainqueur received a red card when he accidentally kicked an opponent in the face. During a 2–0 win over Oostende on 18 January 2014, Vainqueur made a tough tackle on Sébastien Siani but wasn't booked; after the match, the Disputes Committee of the KBVB, again, decided not charge any actions against him despite proof claims on television. After finishing second place in the league, he hinted about leaving the club in the summer of 2014. Despite being suspended on two occasions later in the 2013–14 season, Vainqueur continuously remained in the starting eleven for the side and went on to make thirty–six appearances and scoring once in all competitions. For his performance at the end of the 2013–14 season, he was awarded UGH Ecarlate trophy, a Player of the Year award voted for by Standard Liège fans.

Dynamo Moscow

On 27 June 2014, Dynamo Moscow announced signing Vainqueur on a long-term deal. Upon joining the club, he revealed that he consulted his former teammate Mehdi Carcela, who moved to Russia to play for Anzhi Makhachkala three years ago before returning to Standard Liège, about moving to Russia and insisted of not being afraid facing competitions at Dynamo Moscow.
Vainqueur made his Dynamo Moscow debut, starting the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League third round. In the return leg, he started the whole game to help the club beat the opposition team 2–1 at away to advance to the next round. Vainqueur made his league debut for Dynamo Moscow, where he played 63 minutes before being substituted, in a 7–3 win over FC Rostov in the opening game of the season. Vainqueur played in both leg of the UEFA Europa League play–offs round against AC Omonia but he was sent–off in the second leg for second bookable offence, as the club went through by beating 4–3 on aggregate. Throughout the UEFA Europa League Group Stage, Vainqueur was featured five out of the six matches in the group stage to help Dynamo Moscow win all the matches to reach the knockout stage. On 4 April 2015, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–2 draw against Lokomotiv Moscow. A month later on 25 May 2015, Vainqueur scored his second goal of the season, in a 2–2 draw against Arsenal Tula. Throughout the 2014–15 season, he was a first team regular, playing in the defensive–midfield position and finished his first season at Dynamo Moscow, making forty–one appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. However, during the season, Vainqueur received criticism from Manager Stanislav Cherchesov for committing several fouls and received a warning as a result.
However, in the 2015–16 season, Vainqueur made his only appearance for Dynamo Moscow, coming on as a substitute, against Mordovia Saransk on 25 July 2015. This was partly because he spent the number of matches on the substitute bench. Towards the end of August, his future at the club was in doubt following their expulsion from playing European Football this season. It came after when Dynamo Moscow was keen on selling him.