Camille Anne Françoise Abily (born 5 December 1984) is a French football manager and former player, who featured prominently for both the France women's national team and for Lyon in the Division 1 Féminine. She currently is the assistant manager of Chelsea.[5]

Camille Abily
Abily with France in 2011
Personal information
Full name Camille Anne Françoise Abily[1]
Date of birth (1984-12-05) 5 December 1984 (age 39)
Place of birth Rennes, France
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Chelsea (assistant)
Youth career
1992–1994 Jeanne d'Arc Bruz
1994–1999 FC Bruz
1999–2000 SC Le Rheu
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Stade Briochin 20 (4)
2001–2002 La Roche-sur-Yon 21 (3)
2002–2003 CNFE Clairefontaine 17 (5)
2003–2006 Montpellier 68 (17)
2006–2009 Lyon 56 (34)
2009–2010 Los Angeles Sol 18 (8)
2009–2010Paris Saint-Germain (loan) 13 (12)
2010 FC Gold Pride 17 (1)
2010–2018 Lyon 222 (144)
Total 452 (228)
International career
2000–2001 France U18 4 (0)
2001–2002 France U19 5 (0)
2001–2017 France 183 (37)
Managerial career
2019–2024 Lyon Féminin (assistant)
2024– Chelsea (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 July 2017[4]
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 June 2018[3]

As a player, Abily played primarily as an midfielder. She was a two-time winner of the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Female Player of the Year and, following her second consecutive honour in 2007, became the first player to win the award in back-to-back seasons. Following a move to the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league in the United States, she earned numerous Player of the Month and All-Star honors.

Abily began her football career in 1992, joining Jeanne d'Arc Bruz. In 1994, she joined nearby club FC Bruz. After a year's stint at another local club, Abily spent time in the first division playing for Stade Briochin and La Roche-sur-Yon. In 2002, she was selected to attend the women's section of the nationally recognized Clairefontaine academy. After her stint at Clairefontaine, Abily signed with Montpellier and won two league titles while at the club, as well as the Challenge de France, the women's domestic cup. After three seasons with Montpellier, Abily joined Lyon. Similar to her stint at Montpellier, she won several titles, which included three straight league titles from 2006 to 2009. In 2008, Abily joined the new United States–based women's soccer league, Women's Professional Soccer, after her American playing rights were chosen by the Los Angeles Sol in the 2008 WPS International Draft. After helping the Sol win the league, Abily returned to France where she played for Paris Saint-Germain on loan. In 2010, she returned to the United States to play with FC Gold Pride and, subsequently, won her second consecutive title in the league. In 2010, Abily announced that she would be returning to Lyon for the 2010–11 season and, subsequently, became a part of the Olympique Lyon team that won their first UEFA Women's Champions League title.

Abily also earned 183 caps as a French international. Prior to playing for the senior team, she played at youth level representing the under-18 team at the 2001 UEFA Women's Under-18 Championship. Abily made her senior international debut in September 2001, in a friendly match against the Netherlands. She scored her first goal for the national team six years later in a 2–0 win over China in February 2007. Abily made her major international tournament debut for the team at UEFA Women's Euro 2005 and later played on the teams that qualified for UEFA Women's Euro 2009, UEFA Women's Euro 2013 as well as the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011 and 2015, finishing fourth place in the former.

Club career

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Abily has won the league with her respective club on four occasions. She won two titles with Montpellier and back-to-back titles with Lyon. During two of those title runs, she was selected as the Female Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007. In 2010, she won the WPS Championship with the FC Gold Pride.

In March 2009, she joined the new United States–based women's soccer league, Women's Professional Soccer, after her American playing rights were assigned to the Los Angeles Sol.[6] She made her debut in the league's inaugural match against the Washington Freedom, which included her French compatriot Sonia Bompastor, and scored the second goal in the Sol's 2–0 victory. On 7 January 2010 Abily was traded to FC Gold Pride. She played in 17 games, scoring one goal and having six assists. On 27 September, Abily's contract with the Gold Pride was mutually terminated as she decided to return to Lyon and focus on the upcoming 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.[7]

After spending eight seasons at Lyon during her second stint there, Abily retired in 2018.[8]

International career

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Abily made her international debut for Les Bleues on 26 September 2001 in a match against the Netherlands.

At the opening match of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, a 1–0 win over England in Moncton, Abily controversially escaped punishment when she inflicted a black eye on Laura Bassett by elbowing the English player in the face.[9]

She also competed for France at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics, achieving fourth place in the 2012 tournament.[10]

Abily retired from international football in 2017, citing a desire to spend more time with her daughter.[11]

Managerial career

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From 2019 until 2024, Abily was working as assistant manager for Olympique Lyonnais Féminin.[12] On 1 July 2024, she was appointed as assistant manager of Chelsea.[13]

Career statistics

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Club

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Abily with Lyon in 2012

Statistics accurate as of 1 September 2016[14][15]

Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stade Briochin 2000–01 20 4 20 4
Total 20 4 20 4
La Roche-sur-Yon 2001–02 21 3 21 3
Total 21 3 21 3
CNFE Clairefontaine 2002–03 17 5 17 5
Total 17 5 17 5
Montpellier 2003–04 22+3 4+0 0 0 0 0 25 4
2004–05 22 9 3 1 5 0 30 10
2005–06 21 4 5 3 9 0 35 7
Total 68 17 8 4 14 0 90 21
Lyon 2006–07 22 17 4 3 0 0 26 20
2007–08 21 8 4 1 9 5 34 14
2008–09 13 9 0 0 5 5 18 14
Total 56 34 8 4 14 10 78 48
Los Angeles Sol 2009 18 8 18 8
Total 18 8 18 8
Paris SG 2009–10 13 12 0 0 0 0 13 12
Total 13 12 0 0 0 0 13 12
FC Gold Pride 2010 17 1 17 1
Total 17 1 17 1
Lyon 2010–11 19 12 3 0 7 1 29 13
2011–12 22 15 5 3 8 9 35 27
2012–13 21 20 4 6 9 5 34 31
2013–14 19 13 6 4 2 1 27 18
2014–15 19 12 6 5 2 3 27 20
2015–16 19 10 4 3 8 3 31 16
Total 119 82 28 21 36 22 183 125
Career total 349 166 44 29 64 32 457 227

International

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Camille Abily playing for France in May 2015
(Correct as of 1 September 2016)[16]
National team Season Apps Goals
France 2001–02 2 0
2002–03 0 0
2003–04 0 0
2004–05 11 0
2005–06 13 0
2006–07 13 6
2007–08 7 2
2008–09 4 1
2009–10 13 6
2010–11 14 5
2011–12 18 3
2012–13 20 0
2013–14 20 5
2014–15 16 1
2015–16 13 2
2016–17 6 2
Total 170 33

International goals

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Honours

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Club

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Montpellier HSC
FC Gold Pride
Lyon

International

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France

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "Goalscorers" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  2. ^ 2015 World Cup
  3. ^ "Camille Abily profile". Fédération Française de Football. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Camille Abily profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Camille Abily". Chelsea F.C.
  6. ^ "Camille Abily (WPS playing rights assigned to Los Angeles)". Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
  7. ^ "Pride, Abily mutually agree to terminate contract". FC Gold Pride. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2010.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "OL Féminin : Le message de Camille Abily". June 2018.
  9. ^ Taylor, Louise (11 June 2015). "Elbow incident leaves England's Laura Bassett bruised but unbowed". The Guardian. Moncton. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  10. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Camille Abily". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Camille Abily Reflects Upon Retirement from International Soccer". Equalizer Soccer. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  12. ^ "OL Staff List: Camille Abily". Olympique Lyonnais. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  13. ^ "Camille Abily". Chelsea F.C.
  14. ^ "La Carriere de Camille Abily". StatsFootoFeminin. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  15. ^ "ABILY Camille". Olympique Lyonnais. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  16. ^ ABILY Camille Archived 25 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, French Football Federation, Retrieved 19 June 2011
  17. ^ "Equipe de France A - Camille Abily". footofeminin.fr. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  18. ^ UEFA.com. "History: Wolfsburg 1-1 Lyon | UEFA Women's Champions League 2015/16 Final". UEFA.com. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  19. ^ "Women's Champions League final: Lyon 0-0 Paris St-Germain (7-6 pens)". BBC Sport. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  20. ^ UEFA.com. "History: Wolfsburg 1-4 Lyon | UEFA Women's Champions League 2017/18 Final". UEFA.com. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
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