4: William Prunier, AJ Auxerre, Panini (France) Football 88 en Images

This week Richard Allinson takes a look at a former Manchester United man who has gained such notoriety he’s gone from being a potential Pointless answer to a cult hero in his own right. So much so, in fact, that when we put out our last request call on Twitter Simon put his name into the mix. Even the great Sir Alex Ferguson made the odd error when it came to the transfer market but perhaps history has judged today’s subject unfairly. Over to Rich with the rest.

Mention the name William Prunier to anyone that watched football in the nineties, and most would immediately label him one of Manchester United’s worst ever players. Considering he only played two games for them, I personally think this is a bit harsh. Either way, there is so much more to the career of the thinking man’s Frank Leboeuf. 

Being French it is perhaps unsurprising that he started his career in France. His first club, and the one where he spent most of his professional career, was Auxerre, where he played 221 games between 1984 and 1993. Two things to note about this part of career; he really looked like ex-Australian fast bowler Brett Lee at the time, and, perhaps more significantly, he played alongside Eric Cantona in the youth team. Prunier has described the early days at the club as ones where the players “…did not really abide by the rules, we were young and did some silly things to go out and have fun.” This sort of makes him the French Lee Sharpe. It was whilst with Auxerre that he made his one and only appearance for the French national team, playing the full game in a 2-1 defeat to Brazil. Other than looking like Brett Lee, meeting Eric Cantona, and playing international football, Prunier also flipped the bird to Borussia Dortmund fans after scoring a penalty against them during the 1993/94 UEFA Cup campaign. Good to see the rebellion of the youth team days still lived on with the then Auxerre captain.

Having spent nine years with his boyhood club, Prunier then moved onto French giants Marseille in 1993. Younger readers (if a blog that specialises in nineties nostalgia has such a thing) may question the validity of describing Marseille as giants. However, this was in their pre-bribery, pre-Joey Barton Stars as René from ‘Allo ‘Allo days when they were fresh from winning the European Cup and five consecutive Ligue 1 titles. He was to spend only one season on the French Riveria as, despite them finishing second in the league, they were relegated on account of being match fixing shithouses. It was then onto Bordeaux for Prunier where he starred alongside Zinedine “what do you need him for when you have Tim Sherwood?” Zidane and won the 1995 Intertoto Cup.

We’re now getting to the bit which I assume many of you tuned in for: his two matches for Manchester United. It was assumed at the time that Prunier only signed for United because of a recommendation from King Eric but apparently this isn’t the case. However, it didn’t stop the Old Trafford dressing room wanting some stories of Cantona’s early days from Prunier. One problem, Willy didn’t speak any English, and so Eric had to translate the stories about himself to his teammates. They were all probably baffled by some shite about trawlers, sardines, and fellow youth team player Basile Boli. 

On the pitch, the Red Devils were going through an injury crisis in defence with Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister and David May all out injured and so Prunier, who was only on trial at the time, was thrust into the heart of the United defence alongside a young Gary Neville against Queen’s Park Rangers. It all started well at Old Trafford for Prunier with United running out 2-1 victors against the Hoops. However, his next match was against Tottenham Hotspur where the Red Devils, further weakened by the loss of Denis Irwin before the match and an injured Peter Schmeichel being replaced by Kevin Pilkington at half time, got battered 4-1. People blamed Prunier, despite none of the goals being his fault, and that was it for his time in England.

Having left life in Manchester behind, over a period of eight years Prunier went on to play for Copenhagen, Montpellier, Napoli, Heart of Midlothian, Kortrijk (in Belgium, apparently), and Toulouse before finishing his career at Al Sailiya in Qatar in 2004. 

Overall in his career, according to Wikipedia at least, he played 492 games and scored 33 goals. Which really, considering he also played for France and, more importantly, won the Intertoto Cup, is an enviable career. However, on these shores at least, Prunier will only ever be known for two matches. It is a time in his career that he summed up as an “extraordinary experience” before reflecting “it is a shame that all of this has gone to shit.” It is a shame, but balls to it; I’m off to buy a Manchester United shirt with ‘A. Trialist 31’ on the back.