François Affolter
François Affolter (born 13 March 1991) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender.
 Playing for San Jose Earthquakes in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | François Jacques Affolter | ||
| Date of birth | 13 March 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Biel/Bienne, Bern, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2001 | Etoile Biel | ||
| 2001–2007 | Biel-Bienne | ||
| 2007–2008 | Young Boys | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008 | Young Boys II | 2 | (0) |
| 2008–2014 | Young Boys | 100 | (2) |
| 2012 | → Werder Bremen (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2012 | → Werder Bremen II (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 2014–2017 | Luzern | 101 | (4) |
| 2017–2019 | San Jose Earthquakes | 16 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2008 | Switzerland U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2009 | Switzerland U19 | 3 | (0) |
| 2009–2012 | Switzerland U21 | 17 | (2) |
| 2012 | Switzerland U23 | 1 | (0) |
| 2010– | Switzerland | 5 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 October 2019 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 October 2012 | |||
Career
Young Boys
Born in Biel/Bienne, Bern, He made his senior debut for BSC Young Boys at the age of 17 years on 14 September 2008 in a 2–1 victory over AC Bellinzona, replacing Marc Schneider in the starting eleven due to suspension.[1] Since that match, he was a regular starter for the club in their three-man defence, alongside Saif Ghezal and Miguel Alfredo Portillo.[2]
Before he played with the first team, he played with the under 18 team.[3] They won the under 18 championship the same year. Then, he joined the first team for friendly matches in the summer of 2008 and the new Young Boys coach Vladimir Petkovic gave him his chance.
He signed his first professional contract with Young Boys in November 2008. After three seasons with Young Boys, he was loaned to German club Werder Bremen.[4]
After an unsuccessful half year at Young Boys, he decided to transfer to Swiss side FC Luzern for an undisclosed fee. His contract was set to expire in June 2018.[5]
San Jose Earthquakes
On 21 July 2017, Major League Soccer side San Jose Earthquakes announced it had signed Affolter to a multi-year contract on a free transfer from Luzern.[6] He made his first appearance for San Jose on 9 August, starting in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Sporting Kansas City and substituting out during extra time in the 103rd minute.[7] He made his first MLS start and appearance on 12 August in a 3–0 loss to the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium.[8]
Personal life
Affolter received his U.S. green card in July 2018, which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[9]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Young Boys II | 2008–09 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | |||
| Young Boys | 2008–09 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | 34 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 37 | 1 | ||
| 2010–11 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 12 | 0 | 49 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 | 2 | |||
| Total | 100 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 128 | 4 | |
| Werder Bremen (loan) | 2011–12 | 13 | 0 | – | – | – | 13 | 0 | |||
| Werder Bremen II (loan) | 2012–13 | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | 5 | 1 | |||
| Luzern | 2013–14 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||
| 2015–16 | 32 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 1 | |||
| 2016–17 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | |||
| Total | 84 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 97 | 2 | |
| Luzern II | 2014–15 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2017 | 6 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | 9 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
| Career total | 221 | 5 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 266 | 7 | |
- Appearances in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
References
- "BELLINZONA VS. YOUNG BOYS 1 - 2". Soccerway.com. 14 September 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- "Stats Centre: François Affolter Facts". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
- "BSC Young Boys >> Squad 2008/2009". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- "Werder verstärkt sich mit Affolter" [Werder strengthens itself with Affolter] (in German). DFL. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
- "François Affolter verlässt YB für Luzern" [François Affolter leaves YB for Luzern] (in German). Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
- "NEWS: Earthquakes Sign Swiss Defender Francois Affolter". San Jose Earthquakes. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
- "Sporting Kansas City vs San Jose Earthquakes 9 August 2017". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- "Houston Dynamo vs San Jose Earthquakes Aug 12 2017". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- "NEWS: Francois Affolter Obtains Green Card, No Longer Occupies International Spot". San Jose Earthquakes.
- "François Affolter » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- François Affolter at Soccerway. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- "Francois Affolter". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
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