Damien Perquis

Not to be confused with Damien Perquis, a French goalkeeper.

Damien Albert René Perquis (born 10 April 1984)^[3] is a former professional footballer and current assistant coach of Gazélec Ajaccio's B-team.

Damien Perquis

Perquis with Gazélec Ajaccio in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Damien Albert René Perquis[1]
Date of birth	(1984-04-10) 10 April 1984 (age 41)
Place of birth	Troyes, France
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Gazélec Ajaccio B (assistant)
Youth career
	INF Clairefontaine[2]
	Troyes
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2003	Troyes B	2	(0)
2003–2005	Troyes	62	(3)
2005–2008	Saint-Étienne	23	(1)
2007–2008	→ Sochaux (loan)	23	(1)
2008–2012	Sochaux	123	(10)
2012–2015	Real Betis	32	(0)
2015–2016	Toronto FC	37	(2)
2016–2017	Nottingham Forest	17	(2)
2017–2019	Gazélec Ajaccio	42	(0)
International career
2005	France U21	3	(0)
2011–2013	Poland	14	(1)
Managerial career
2020–	Gazélec Ajaccio B (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A defender, he represented France at youth level, before acquiring Polish citizenship and playing for Poland at senior level. He retired in June 2020, after an 18-year professional career.^[4]

Personal life

Perquis was born in Troyes, France. He is of Polish descent by way of his grandmother, Józefa Bierła.^[5][6] His Polish ancestors were from Strzyżewko, in central Poland.^[7] He is married, and has two children.^[8]

Club career

Troyes

Perquis came up through the Troyes AC youth system. He played in Ligue 2 with Troyes AC for 2 years, where he was rated as one of the best defenders of the league.

Saint-Étienne

In 2005, he signed for Ligue 1 club AS Saint-Étienne as a free agent. In two seasons, he failed to impress with the club and was loaned to Sochaux. After some initial troubles, he finally found his form and became a regular in the starting line-up.

Sochaux

In 2008, Sochaux bought the player outright. He made a total of 146 appearances for the club, scoring eleven goals, before leaving the club in the summer of 2012.

Real Betis

In the summer of 2012, Perquis joined Real Betis in Spain. He suffered through various injury problems while in Spain, and was limited to 32 league matches in his three years with Betis.

Toronto FC

Perquis was released by Betis and signed with Toronto FC of Major League Soccer on 26 January 2015. He mutually agreed to part ways with the club on 12 July 2016.^[9]

Nottingham Forest

On 22 July 2016, Perquis signed a two-year deal with Nottingham Forest.^[10] On 27 August 2016, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 home win against Leeds United.^[11] On 24 July 2017, Perquis and Nottingham Forest agreed to mutually terminate his contract at the club.^[12]

Gazélec Ajaccio

In 2017, Perquis moved to Gazélec Ajaccio in the Ligue 2, where he played for two years.^[13]

International career

In December 2008, he declared his interest in playing for the Poland national team.^[14] Franciszek Smuda, manager of Poland, confirmed that information in July 2010.^[15] In January 2011, it was reported that Perquis had filed his application for confirmation of citizenship.^[16] However, his family had lost some required documents, and Perquis resigned for applying for confirmation of citizenship.^[17] Smuda had to request that the Polish president Bronislaw Komorowski approve his application for citizenship.^[18] Perquis received Polish citizenship on 1 September 2011.^[7]

On 6 September 2011, Perquis made his international debut during a 2–2 friendly draw against Germany in Gdańsk. He scored his first goal on 26 May 2012, in a 1–0 friendly win against Slovakia. He was selected to the final squad for the UEFA Euro 2012.

Coaching career

After announcing his retirement from football on social medias on 15 June 2020, Perquis was appointed assistant coach of Gazélec Ajaccio's reserve team.^[19]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[20][a]

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Saint-Étienne	2005–06	Ligue 1	15	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		15	0
	2006–07	Ligue 1	8	1	0	0	0	0	—		—		8	1
	2007–08	Ligue 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	Total		23	1	0	0	0	0	—				23	1
Sochaux (loan)	2007–08	Ligue 1	23	1	0	0	0	0	—		—		23	1
Sochaux	2008–09	Ligue 1	36	2	0	0	0	0	—		—		36	2
	2009–10	Ligue 1	34	3	3	0	0	0	—		—		37	3
	2010–11	Ligue 1	35	5	3	0	0	0	—		—		38	3
	2011–12	Ligue 1	18	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	—		22	0
	2012–13	Ligue 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	Total		123	10	7	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	133	10
Real Betis	2012–13	Primera División	10	0	4	0	—		—		—		14	0
	2013–14	Primera División	13	0	1	0	—		8	0	—		22	0
	2014–15	Segunda División	9	0	3	2	—		—		—		12	2
	Total		32	0	8	2	0	0	8	0	0	0	48	2
Toronto	2015[21]	MLS	25	1	1[22]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	1
	2016	MLS	12	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	1
	Total		37	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	38	2
Nottingham Forest	2016–17	Championship	17	2	0	0	2	0	—		0	0	19	2
Gazélec Ajaccio	2017–18	Ligue 2	22	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	24	0
	2018–19	Ligue 2	20	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	1[b]	0	24	1
	Total		42	0	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	48	1
Career total			297	16	20	3	4	0	10	0	1	0	332	19

1. Soccerway does not provide any statistics for Perquis' career before the 2005–06 season.
2. Appearance in relegation play-offs

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[20]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Poland	2011	6	0
	2012	8	1
	2013	1	0
Total		14	1

Score and result list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Perquis goal.

International goal scored by Damien Perquis

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 May 2012	Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt, Austria	Slovakia	1–0	1–0	Friendly