Camille Abily

Camille Abily
	Abily with France in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Camille Anne Françoise Abily
Date of birth	5 December 1984 (age 39)
Place of birth	Rennes, France
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
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
2000–2001	Stade Briochin
2001–2002	La Roche-sur-Yon
2002–2003	CNFE Clairefontaine
2003–2006	Montpellier
2006–2009	Lyon
2009–2010	Los Angeles Sol
2009–2010	→ Paris Saint-Germain (loan)
2010	FC Gold Pride
2010–2018	Lyon
Total
International career‡
2000–2001	France U18
2001–2002	France U19
2001–2017	France
Managerial career
2019–2024	Lyon Féminin (assistant)
2024–	Chelsea (assistant)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 July 2017; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 June 2018

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]

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

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

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

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

Club

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

Club	Season	League		Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stade Briochin	2000–01	20	4	–	–	–	–	20	4
Stade Briochin	Total	20	4	–	–	–	–	20	4
La Roche-sur-Yon	2001–02	21	3	–	–	–	–	21	3
La Roche-sur-Yon	Total	21	3	–	–	–	–	21	3
CNFE Clairefontaine	2002–03	17	5	–	–	–	–	17	5
CNFE Clairefontaine	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
Los Angeles Sol	Total	18	8	–	–	–	–	18	8
Paris SG	2009–10	13	12	0	0	0	0	13	12
Paris SG	Total	13	12	0	0	0	0	13	12
FC Gold Pride	2010	17	1	–	–	–	–	17	1
FC Gold Pride	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

(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

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 February 2007	Stade Robert Brettes, Mérignac, France	China	2–0	2–0	Friendly
2	12 March 2007	Estadio Municipal, Lagos, Portugal	Norway	1–0	1–0	2007 Algarve Cup
3	11 April 2007	Stade Georges Pompidou, Valence, France	Greece	1–0	6–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying
4				3–0
5				5–0
6	30 May 2007	Stade Camille Lebon, Angoulême, France	Slovenia	2–0	6–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying
7	1 October 2007	Mitsubishi Forklift Stadion, Almere, Netherlands	Netherlands	0–1	1–4	Friendly
8	27 October 2007	Stadion Kralj Petar I, Belgrade, Serbia	Serbia	0–2	0–8	UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying
9	22 April 2009	Stade Gaston Gérard, Dijon, France	Switzerland	1–0	2–0	Friendly
10	24 August 2009	Ratina Stadion, Tampere, Finland	Iceland	1–1	1–3	UEFA Women's Euro 2009
11	30 August 2009	Finnair Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Norway	1–1	1–1	UEFA Women's Euro 2009
12	23 September 2009	Stadion NK Inter Zaprešić, Zaprešić, Croatia	Croatia	0–6	0–7	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
13	28 October 2009	Stade Jules Deschaseaux, Le Havre, France	Estonia	3–0	12–0	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
14	21 November 2009	Gradski Stadion, Inđija, Serbia	Serbia	0–2	0–2	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
15	31 March 2010	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	0–2	0–4	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
16	25 August 2010	Stade de l'Aube, Troyes, France	Serbia	6–0	7–0	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
17	2 March 2011	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Switzerland	2–0	2–0	2011 Cyprus Cup
18	4 March 2011	Ammochostos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Netherlands	1–1	1–2	2011 Cyprus Cup
19	18 June 2011	Stade de l'Épopée, Calais, France	Belgium	2–0	7–0	Friendly
20	30 June 2011	Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany	Canada	3–0	4–0	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
21	14 September 2011	Ness Ziona Stadium, Ness Ziona, Israel	Israel	2–0	5–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying
22	16 November 2011	Stade René Serge Nabajoth, Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe	Uruguay	6–0	8–0	Friendly
23	4 April 2012	Stade Michel d'Ornano, Caen, France	Wales	4–0	4–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying
24	28 November 2013	MMArena, Le Mans, France	Bulgaria	11–0	14–0	2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
25	12 March 2014	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	England	0–2	0–2	2014 Cyprus Cup
26	5 April 2014	Stade Jean-Bouin, Angers, France	Kazakhstan	4–0	7–0	2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
27	5 April 2014	Stade Jean-Bouin, Angers, France	Kazakhstan	5–0	7–0	2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
28	7 May 2014	Stade Léo Lagrange, Besançon, France	Hungary	2–0	4–0	2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
29	6 March 2015	Stadium Bela Vista, Parchal, Portugal	Denmark	2–0	4–1	2015 Algarve Cup
30	23 October 2015	Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris, France	Netherlands	1–2	1–2	Friendly
31	11 April 2016	Stade Nungesser, Valenciennes, France	Ukraine	2–0	4–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying
32	23 July 2016	Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, Auxerre, France	Canada	1–0	1–0	Friendly
33	3 August 2016	Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil	Colombia	3–0	4–0	2016 Olympics
34	7 March 2017	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, United States	United States	0–1	0–3	2017 SheBelieves Cup
35	7 March 2017		United States	0–3	0–3	2017 SheBelieves Cup
36	11 July 2017	Stade Louis Dugauguez, Sedan, France	Norway	1–0	1–1	Friendly
36	26 July 2017	Rat Verlegh Stadion, Breda, Netherlands	Switzerland	1–1	1–1	UEFA Women's Euro 2017
Correct as of 20 June 2018^[17]