Laurent Courtois

Laurent Courtois (born 11 September 1978) is a French former professional footballer.

Laurent Courtois
Personal information
Date of birth (1978-09-11) 11 September 1978
Place of birth Lyon, France
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1996–1998 Lyon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Ajaccio 30 (5)
1999–2001 Toulouse 53 (4)
2001–2002 West Ham United 7 (0)
2003–2005 Istres 74 (9)
2005–2008 Levante 73 (4)
2008–2011 Grenoble 62 (5)
2011–2013 Chivas USA 33 (3)
2013 LA Galaxy 6 (0)
2014 LA Galaxy II 11 (2)
Total 349 (32)
Teams managed
2014 LA Galaxy II (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Laurent Courtois began his career in the youth ranks of top French club Olympique Lyonnais. In the 1998–99 season he moved to AC Ajaccio in Ligue 2, where he gained his first experience. After a fine season with Ajaccio he transferred to Toulouse, where he helped the club gain promotion to Ligue 1. After a successful second season with Toulouse he was transferred to West Ham United in England. After 18 unsuccessful months with only seven Premier League appearances, Courtois left England and returned home.

He signed with FC Istres to restart his career. In two years at the club, he appeared in 74 league matches and scored 9 goals. In 2005, he joined Spanish La Liga side Levante. He remained at the club for three years. In 2008, he returned to France joining Grenoble. He helped the club gain promotion to Ligue 1 during the 2008–09 season.

During the second half of the 2011 Major League Soccer season, Courtois signed with Chivas USA.[1] He was released on 30 June 2013, just a day after scoring a goal against the New England Revolution in a 1–1 draw.[2]

After a brief trial, Courtois signed with Chivas USA's city rivals Los Angeles Galaxy on 19 July 2013.[3]

Courtois made his debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy on 20 July 2013 against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

After signing for the Galaxy's reserve squad as a player/coach, he announced his retirement on 15 August 2014 in order to obtain his coaching credentials from the FFF.[4]

References
  1. Courtois eager to play for Chivas Archived 14 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Chivas USA announce departures of Giovani Casillas, Miller Bolanos, Laurent Courtois, Joaquin Velazquez | MLSsoccer.com". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  3. "LA Galaxy officially sign former Chivas USA midfielder Laurent Courtois | MLSsoccer.com". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  4. http://www.lagalaxy.com/blog/beat/2014/08/15/la-galaxy-ii-player-coach-laurent-courtois-announces-his-retirement-professiona
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