Jean-Paul de Marigny

NSL Career: Sydney City, APIA, Marconi, Sydney Olympic 317 (19) / 1983 - 1997/98

Socceroos Career: 2 (0) A Internationals / 3 (0) B Internationals

The first and only Mauritian to represent the Socceroos - Jean-Paul de Marigny was a first class defender who was hard in a contest and made many key overlapping runs during his time playing as a full-back as he found success at three of the four clubs he represented.

Born and raised in Mauritius where he was the country's top junior tennis player, de Marigny moved to Australia at the age of 14. Soon after, de Marigny decided to take up football and his natural ability earned him an apprenticeship with top Scottish side Aberdeen at the age of 15, who were coached by Alex Ferguson at the time.

Following his time in Scotland, de Marigny returned to his junior club APIA before earning a scholarship to the AIS Soccer Program. After graduating from the AIS, de Marigny joined NSL club Sydney City who were coached by Eddie Thomson, the man who arranged his Aberdeen apprenticeship, and made his NSL debut at the age of 19.

De Marigny made nine league appearances in his first season at senior level as City finished runners-up to St. George. The promising defender became a regular in the side the following season and helped them finish top of the Northern Conference before reaching the NC Final, which they lost in extra time to Sydney Olympic.

Competing for a spot with Ean Rodrigues and Jim Cant during the 1985 season, de Marigny made 16 league appearances during the regular season and missed the first part of City's finals series campaign but played in both legs of their grand final loss to Brunswick. De Marigny continued to improve during the 1986 season and won his first NSL trophy, playing in City's NSL Cup Final win over Adelaide City before playing in the side's elimination semi-final loss to Marconi in the finals series.

Remaining with the club for their one-off 1987 Oceania Cup Winners' Cup match against New Zealand's North Shore United, which City won two-nil, de Marigny moved to junior club APIA following City's withdrawal from the NSL. Part of a solid APIA defence that included Charlie Yankos, Arno Bertogna and Mark Brown - de Marigny helped the side win the championship in the last season of the first-past-the-post format, but missed the Play-Off Series Grand Final as APIA lost four-nil to St. George.

During the season, de Marigny earned his first national team call-up, playing in B internationals against Chile's B side and Dutch side Fortuna Sittard before making his full international debut in an Seoul Olympic Games qualifier against Taiwan. APIA's league form dropped during the 1988 season as de Marigny failed to earn a Socceroo call-up but the side reached the NSL Cup Final against Brunswick in which de Marigny scored the winning penalty when the match ended in a shoot-out.

De Marigny joined reigning NSL champions Marconi for the 1989 season and became a key player with his runs down the left flank. De Marigny helped the side finish minor premiers for the just second time in their history before becoming a club hero in the grand final against Sydney Olympic when he whipped in a brilliant cross to team mate Zlatko Nastevski to win the game in stoppage time.

The left-sided player continued to perform for Marconi during the 1989/90 season as the club finished minor premiers for the second consecutive season. Marconi met Sydney Olympic again in the grand final where Olympic scored twice before de Marigny was substituted in the second half for Gerry Gomez as Marconi lost their first grand final in three seasons.

De Marigny's form for Marconi earned him his first national team call-up in three years when he played in a B international against Yugoslavian side Hajduk Split before playing in a full international against South Korea. Over the next four seasons, de Marigny remained a consistent member of the Marconi side despite failing to earn a Socceroos cap and played in their 1991/92 NSL Cup Final loss and 1992/93 NSL Grand Final win against Adelaide City.

The experienced defender played in just seven of the first 14 games of the 1994/95 season before succumbing to injury and missed the remainder of the season. De Marigny returned to fitness the following season and replaced Ian Gray as captain upon the latter's retirement.

Playing in a more central role, de Maringy led Marconi to the minor premiership before pulling his left hamstring in the side's first finals series match against Melbourne Knights. The Marconi captain missed the remainder of the series as Marconi reached the grand final, losing two-one to Knights.

De Marigny's career began to wind down the following season as commitments outside of football saw him make just four league appearances during 1996/97 season while the club's youth prospects competed for his spot. Keen to play one more season at the top level, de Marigny joined Sydney Olympic for the 1997/98 season. The veteran defender became a regular starter for Olympic but was sent off in their round 15 draw against former club Marconi before hanging up his boots at the age of 34.

Following his playing career de Marigny became an assistant coach in the NSL before becoming head coach of Marconi for the final season of the competition and took them to the finals series for the first time in three seasons. De Marigny went on to have coaching roles in the NPL NSW, Australia's U-17 side and the A-League - where he was caretaker coach of Western Sydney Wanderers. De Marigny was selected at left-back in Marconi's Greatest XI.