David Ginola

By Craig · Published 31 October 2026

David Ginola arrived in England as the man France blamed for missing a World Cup. He left as the first PFA Player of the Year from a club that finished outside the top four, and the scorer of one of the great FA Cup goals.

Clubs

Toulon, Racing Paris, Brest, Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Everton

Premier League

195 appearances, 22 goals

Honours

League Cup 1999, PFA Players' Player of the Year 1999, FWA Footballer of the Year 1999

International

17 France caps, 3 goals

Fantasy price

£7.5m in 1995/96

How he arrived

In November 1993 a 2-1 defeat by Bulgaria cost France their place at the 1994 World Cup. Ginola came off the bench late on, overhit a cross meant for Eric Cantona, and Bulgaria broke to score the winner. Gérard Houllier blamed him in public and said he had sent "an Exocet missile through the heart of French football". Ginola later sued him for defamation, and lost.

In July 1995 Kevin Keegan paid Paris Saint-Germain £2.5m for him. Ginola had won a French title and two French Cups with PSG, and he settled in England almost immediately. He made his Newcastle debut in a 3-0 win over Coventry on 19 August 1995, scored his first goal at Sheffield Wednesday eight days later, and was named the Premier League's Player of the Month for August.

The moment: Manchester United, 20 October 1996

Ginola's first season ended in heartbreak: Newcastle led by 12 points in January and still finished second, four points behind Manchester United. He'd played his part, including Newcastle's second goal in the 4-3 at Anfield that everyone still talks about. But the best afternoon came the following October, when Newcastle beat the champions 5-0 and Ginola was among the scorers. For one afternoon, Newcastle got their revenge.

The moment: Barnsley, 16 March 1999

By then he'd moved to Tottenham for £2.5m, and in the FA Cup sixth round at Oakwell he produced the goal that defines him. Barnsley were already down to ten men when, in the 68th minute, Ginola picked the ball up inside their half and went past four players before curling a right-footed shot past Tony Bullock. It was the only goal of the game. The Irish Times compared it with Ricky Villa's 1981 Cup final goal, which is about the highest praise a Spurs goal can get.

The same season he won the League Cup, Spurs beating Leicester 1-0 at Wembley, and that spring he won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Football Writers' award, in theseason Manchester United won the treble.

Why the streets won't forget

Because Ginola never did anything the simple way. Tottenham's own summary of him is that he "didn't do tap-ins", and that's about right. He played on the left, wanted the ball at his feet and ran at people until something happened.

The awards in 1999 tell you how much he meant to people. Manchester United won the treble that season, yet the players and the football writers both picked a Frenchman from a Tottenham side outside the top four. Nobody before him had won the PFA award at a club outside the top four.

And he was a star off the pitch long before footballers routinely were: the hair, the L'Oréal adverts, the film roles. The Premier League had plenty of good wingers in the 1990s. It only had one Ginola.

Where is he now

After Tottenham came two seasons at Aston Villa, who paid £3m for him in 2000, then a few months at Everton. He retired in May 2002, when David Moyes arrived and his contract wasn't renewed.

Since then he has been a pundit for the BBC, Sky and BT Sport, acted in films, and finished fourth on I'm a Celebrity in 2021. In 2015 he announced a run for the FIFA presidency, backed with £250,000 from Paddy Power, and withdrew two weeks later.

The story that matters most came in May 2016. He collapsed with a cardiac arrest during a charity match in the south of France, and Frédéric Mendy kept him alive with CPR. He went on to have a quadruple heart bypass in Monaco. He says he was dead for eight minutes, and he now promotes CPR training with the British Heart Foundation. "Life affords you a second chance sometimes," he says.

Which seasons can you draft him in?

Five. His seasons at Aston Villa and Everton don't make the game's squads.

Want him on the left of your retro fantasy football team? Pick him in1998/99, the season of the Barnsley goal, for £7.0m.