Gaëtan Bong

Gaëtan Bong
Bong in 2018
Personal information
Full name Thomas Gaëtan Bong[1]
Date of birth (1988-04-25) 25 April 1988
Place of birth Sackbayeme, Cameroon
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current team
 Brighton & Hove Albion
Number 3
Youth career
2002–2006 Metz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2009 Metz 16 (0)
2008–2009 → Tours (loan) 34 (0)
2009–2013 Valenciennes 109 (3)
2013–2015 Olympiacos 19 (0)
2015 Wigan Athletic 14 (0)
2015– Brighton & Hove Albion 71 (0)
National team‡
2009 France U21 1 (0)
2010– Cameroon 12 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:06, 23 September 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:11, 2 July 2015 (UTC)

Thomas Gaëtan Bong (born 25 April 1988) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a defender for English club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Cameroon national team. He previously played club football for Metz, Tours, Valenciennes, Olympiacos and Wigan Athletic, and represented France at under-21 level before switching to his native Cameroon.

Personal life

Born in Cameroon, Bong grew up in France.

Career

Early career and Valenciennes

Bong began his career in the youth side for Metz and was loaned out for the 2008–09 season to Ligue 2 club Tours. On 29 July 2009, the 21-year-old left Metz to sign a four-year deal with Valenciennes for £595,000, where he made 117 overall appearances for the club and scored 4 goals.

2013–14 with Olympiacos

On 19 of August 2013 he signed a contract with Olympiacos for £850,000, where he played 19 games and scored 1 goal against Asteras Tripoli in the Greek Cup. Bong helped Olympiacos win their 41st Superleague Greece title this season. Bong also made 4 appearances in the UEFA Champions League.

Wigan Athletic

On 2 February 2015, Bong signed for English club Wigan Athletic on a short-term contract.[2] He was released at the end of the season following Wigan's relegation from the Championship.[3]

Brighton & Hove Albion

2015–16

In June 2015, Bong joined EFL Championship side Brighton on a free transfer, signing an initial two-year contract with the south coast club.[4] He appeared regularly for the club until tearing his tendon in October 2015, ruling him out for 21 games throughout the season. He would only appear as a substitute for the rest of the season, making three appearances. He also played in the playoffs, as the club lost to Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-finals 3–1 on aggregate.

2016–17

In the 2016–17 season, Bong was again a regular for the first half of the year, however due to persistent injuries he was not included in the squad for much of the second half apart from three games: a victory against Birmingham City, another against Wigan, and a loss to Bristol City. Brighton finished the season as runners up to Newcastle United, gaining automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Bong's contract was due to expire at the end of the season, however he signed a new one-year contract with the club as Brighton aim to survive their first Premier League season.[5]

2017–18

Bong played two matches for Brighton in the EFL Cup, the second a 1–0 away defeat against A.F.C. Bournemouth. He made his Premier League debut in a 2–0 away defeat against Arsenal on 1 October 2017.[6] He started for Albion in their next five league games as they embarked on an unbeaten run that saw the club reach as high as 8th place in the Premier League.[7]

On 25 November, Bong was involved in an incident with Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku in Brighton's 1–0 league defeat at Old Trafford, where Lukaku attempted to kick Bong twice in Brighton's penalty area. Lukaku ultimately did not face retrospective action for the incident, with referee Neil Swarbrick's report confirming that he had not seen the incident, but the FA panel could not reach a unanimous verdict.[8]

Bong accused Jay Rodriguez of making a racist remark during a 2–0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on 13 January 2018.[9] The West Brom forward was charged by the Football Association on 8 February in relation to the incident.[10] The charges were later found not proven by the F.A. due to lack of evidence, but the FA was "completely satisfied" Bong's complaint was "made in absolute good faith" and "there has been no suggestion that this was a malicious or fabricated complaint".[11][12]

On 28 February, Bong signed a one-year contract extension, committing him to Brighton until 30 June 2019.[13]

International career

Bong was eligible to play for either France, where he grew up, or Cameroon, where he was born. He played one international match for the France U21, before opting to play for Cameroon.

Bong played one match for Cameroon in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Cameroon's last group match against the Netherlands, where Cameroon lost 2–1. Cameroon lost all three group games, finishing bottom of Group E of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 1 September 2018
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Metz 2005–06[14] Ligue 1 301000—40
2006–07[14] Ligue 2 202000—40
2007–08[14] Ligue 1 1100010—120
Total 1603010—200
Tours (loan) 2008–09[14] Ligue 2 3401010—360
Valenciennes 2009–10[14] Ligue 1 2921010—312
2010–11[14] Ligue 1 2211011—242
2011–12[14] Ligue 1 2802000—300
2012–13[14] Ligue 1 2901010—310
2013–14[14] Ligue 1 10———10
Total 10935031—1174
Olympiacos 2013–14[15] Superleague Greece 19051—4[lower-alpha 1]0281
Wigan Athletic 2014–15[16] Championship 140———140
Brighton & Hove Albion 2015–16[17] Championship 16000102[lower-alpha 2]0190
2016–17[18] Championship 2400000—240
2017–18[19] Premier League 2501020—280
2018–19[20] Premier League 400000—40
Total 690103020750
Career total 261315181602905
  1. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ↑ Appearance in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 29 May 2014[21]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Cameroon 201040
201150
201210
201310
201410
Total120

Honours

Olympiacos

Brighton & Hove Albion

References

  1. ↑ "Retained List 2015–16" (PDF). English Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Gaëtan Bong joins Wigan Athletic". Wigan Athletic F.C. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Players' contract update". Wigan Athletic F.C. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  4. ↑ "Gaetan Bong: Brighton sign Cameroon international left-back". BBC Sport. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Hilsum, James (30 May 2017). "Bong signs new contract". Brighton & Hove Albion. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Abraham, Timothy (1 October 2017). "Arsenal 2–0 Brighton & Hove Albion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Bysouth, Alex (20 November 2017). "Brighton & Hove Albion 2–2 Stoke City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Manchester United's Romelu Lukaku facing no disciplinary action for Gaetan Bong clash". Sky Sports. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "Albion defender requests 'full investigation' of allegations against West Brom player". Brighton and Hove News. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  10. ↑ "Jay Rodriguez charged". The Football Association. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Fifield, Dominic (13 April 2018). "FA finds allegations of racial abuse by Jay Rodriguez 'not proven'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  12. ↑ "Jay Rodriguez: Charge of racially abusing Gaetan Bong 'not proven'". BBC Sport. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  13. ↑ le Duc, Frank (28 February 2018). "Brighton and Hove Albion defender signs contract extension". Brighton and Hove News. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Gaëtan Bong". L'Équipe. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  15. ↑ "G. Bong". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  16. ↑ "Games played by Gaëtan Bong in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  17. ↑ "Games played by Gaëtan Bong in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  18. ↑ "Games played by Gaëtan Bong in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  19. ↑ "Games played by Gaëtan Bong in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  20. ↑ "Games played by Gaëtan Bong in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  21. ↑ "Gaëtan Bong". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
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