Bruno Ngotty (born 10 June 1971) is a French former professional footballer. He played as a centre-back from 1988 until 2008, however he came out of retirement briefly in 2011.
As well as his native country he has played in the top flight divisions in both Italy and England. He has notably played for Olympique Lyonnais, Paris Saint Germain, AC Milan, Olympique Marseille and Bolton Wanderers as well as earning six caps for France. He has also played for Venezia, Birmingham City, Leicester City and Hereford United. He came out of retirement to join French 6th tier side l'AS Lattes in 2011.
Early life
Ngotty was born in
Lyon.
Club career
Lyon
Ngotty started his career with Olympique Lyonnais from the opening of the 1988–89 season to the close of the 1994–95 season. Ngotty played 237 league games, scoring 13 goals during his time at Lyon.
Paris Saint-Germain
Ngotty scored the winning goal which defeated Austrian club Rapid Wien in the 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final, giving Paris Saint-Germain their only cup triumph in the tournament. He was also included in the squad that reached the final again the next year, losing to
FC Barcelona 1–0 at Feyenoord Stadion.
AC Milan
Ngotty was part of the
AC Milan team that won the
Serie A title in 1999, making 25 league appearances for the club. He played alongside the likes of
Paolo Maldini during his time there. He was sent on loan to Venezia during 1999 where he played 16 matches.
Marseille
After his relatively short spell at Milan he returned to France with Olympique Marseille. This turned out to be an even shorter spell than his stay in Milan which lasted for one season. He managed to play in 32 games during his only season at the club.
Bolton Wanderers
Ngotty originally rejected Bolton Wanderers' loan offer, but later agreed to spend the rest of the season with the club. The move eventually became a permanent deal. He made his Bolton debut against rivals Blackburn Rovers, in a match which finished in a 1–1 draw, on 19 September 2001. He scored his debut goal for the club seven months later, his only goal of the season coming in a 3–1 defeat at Everton.
In January 2002, this move became permanent, Ngotty being cited as one of the prime chances for Bolton success. His first full season for the club started in unfortunate style, as he received two yellow cards and one red card in his first six games. After this rather disappointing start he became a regular part of the first team and was voted supporters player of the year for the 2005 season. He originally wanted to end his career at the Reebok Stadium,
Birmingham City
Ngotty was signed by Birmingham City on a one-year deal on 6 July. The team achieved promotion to the
Premier League that same season, finishing as runners up. He decided not to take up the option of another year at Birmingham. He scored two goals during his stay at Birmingham, against QPR in the league
and Newcastle in the FA Cup.
Leicester City
On 4 June 2007, Ngotty moved to Leicester City on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract.
Chairman Milan Mandarić revealed on 27 September that Ngotty was signed by him, and not then-manager
Martin Allen, during a face-to-face meeting with the club's fans.
Ngotty was named in the Championship Team of the Week following the club's 1–1 draw against Stoke City on 29 September, together with teammate Márton Fülöp.
He played his 500th competitive game in an M69 Derby on 12 January 2008, in which Leicester won 2–0.
Ngotty played a total of 38 league games as Leicester were relegated from the
EFL Championship.
When Nigel Pearson replaced Ian Holloway as the club's new manager, Ngotty played in only one pre-season game and was neither in the squad's tour of Slovenia nor the opening match of the season. On 25 September 2008, Ngotty joined Hereford United on loan for a month.
In January 2011, Ngotty joined French 6th-tier side l'AS Lattes.
International career
Ngorry was born in France and is of Cameroonian descent.
Though many observers predicted that Ngotty's international career was to be successful, he made only six appearances with
Les Bleus, making his debut on 17 August 1994 against the Czech Republic alongside
Zinedine Zidane and
Lilian Thuram, but while the two were soon able to secure their places in the national team, Ngotty failed to impress Aimé Jacquet and played only five more matches until 1997, never being called up for a major event.
Career statistics
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |
|
|
| Lyon | 1988–89 | Division 2 | 1 |
1989–90 | Division 1 | 0 |
1990–91 | Division 1 | 2 |
1991–92 | Division 1 | 1 |
1992–93 | Division 1 | 3 |
1993–94 | Division 1 | 3 |
1994–95 | Division 1 | 3 |
|
| Paris Saint-Germain | 1995–96 | Division 1 | 2 |
1996–97 | Division 1 | 4 |
1997–98 | Division 1 | 3 |
|
| AC Milan | 1998–99[ Appearances by competition via Seleziona una competizione button.] | Serie A | 1 |
1999–2000 | Serie A | 0 |
|
| Venezia FC (loan) | 1999–2000 | Serie A | 0 |
| Marseille | 2000–01
| Division 1 | 0 |
2001–02 | Division 1 | 0 |
|
| Bolton Wanderers | 2001–02 | Premier League | 1 |
2002–03 | Premier League | 1 |
2003–04 | Premier League | 4 |
2004–05 | Premier League | 0 |
2005–06 | Premier League | 1 |
|
| Birmingham City | 2006–07 | Championship | 2 |
| Leicester City | 2007–08 | Championship | 0 |
2008–09 | League One | 0 |
|
| Hereford United (loan) | 2008–09 | League One | 0 |
|
Honours
Paris Saint-Germain
-
Coupe de France: 1997–98
-
Coupe de la Ligue: 1997–98
-
Trophée des Champions: 1995
-
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1995–96
AC Milan
Bolton Wanderers
-
Football League Cup runner-up: 2003–04
External links
