Sylvain Wiltord
The experienced forward who joined Marseille in January 2009 for a short Ligue 1 stint.
Sylvain Claude Wiltord is a French former professional footballer who joined Olympique de Marseille on 15 January 2009 for the remainder of the 2008–09 Ligue 1 season. Mainly a right winger, he also played as a centre-forward, second striker and on the left wing. During his brief spell at Marseille, he scored the club's only goal in a 3–1 loss to Lyon at home on 17 May 2009. He was released at the end of the 2008–09 season.
- Role
- Striker
- Nationality
- French
- Affiliation
- Olympique de Marseille
- Status
- Former Player
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Wiltord's arrival at Marseille on 15 January 2009 came after a career that included a four-season spell at Arsenal, where he won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups, and three consecutive Ligue 1 titles at Lyon. At Marseille, he played for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. His most notable moment came on 17 May 2009, when he scored Marseille's only goal in a 3–1 home loss to Lyon. After the season ended, he was released and considered a possible move to America, the UAE, or retirement.
In Their Own Story
The Vélodrome crowd watches as Wiltord, a veteran of Euro 2000 glory and Premier League titles, takes his position. On 17 May 2009, against his former club Lyon, he finds the net with Marseille's only goal of the match. Though the game ends in a 3–1 loss, the moment shows the finishing instinct that made him France's 12th highest scorer with 26 goals for Les Bleus. His time in Marseille is brief—just a few months—but it adds another chapter to a career that includes 92 France caps and a last-minute equaliser in the Euro 2000 Final.
Reader's Guide
Sylvain Wiltord is a composed forward who relied on positioning and timing rather than raw speed. At Marseille, he brought experience from winning Ligue 1 titles with Bordeaux and Lyon, plus Premier League titles with Arsenal. His role was as a striker or winger, using his intelligence to find space in the box. Key moments from his career that shaped his style: scoring a stoppage-time equaliser in the Euro 2000 Final to take the match to extra time, winning the golden boot with Bordeaux in 1998–99, and scoring the winning goal at Old Trafford that clinched the 2001–02 Premier League title for Arsenal. At Marseille, his impact was limited to 2009, but he showed his quality by scoring against Lyon, a club where he had won three consecutive Ligue 1 titles from 2004–05 to 2006–07.
Did You Know?
- Wiltord scored the last-minute equaliser in the UEFA Euro 2000 Final against Italy, taking the match to extra time where France won on a golden goal.
- He was signed by Arsenal for a then-club record fee of £13 million in August 2000, a record not surpassed until Arsenal paid £15 million for Andrey Arshavin eight and a half years later.
- Wiltord won the Ligue 1 golden boot in 1998–99 when Bordeaux won the championship.
- He competed on the TF1 reality show Dropped in 2015; the day after his elimination, a mid-air helicopter collision killed ten people, including three fellow contestants.
- Wiltord is France's 12th highest scorer with 26 goals for Les Bleus in 92 appearances.