Simon Mignolet

Mignolet playing for Sunderland in 2011.
Personal information
Full name	Simon Mignolet
Date of birth	(1988-03-06) 6 March 1988 (age 25)
Place of birth	Sint-Truiden, Belgium
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) [1]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Sunderland
Number	22
Youth career
2004–2005	Sint-Truiden
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2010	Sint-Truiden	104	(1)
2010–	Sunderland	90	(0)
National team‡
2001	Belgium U16	1	(0)
2004	Belgium U17	1	(0)
2005–2006	Belgium U18	12	(0)
2006–2007	Belgium U19	3	(0)
2008–2010	Belgium U-21	8	(0)
2011–	Belgium	12	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:54, 19 May 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:37, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

Simon Mignolet (born 6 March 1988, in Sint-Truiden) is a Belgian footballer who plays for Arsenal and the Belgian national team as a goalkeeper.

Career [edit]

Sint-Truiden [edit]

Mignolet appeared 104 times in five years for his home town club Sint-Truiden, aiding them on their road to success both in the Belgian top flight and the second tier, scoring one goal, after the supporters and his teammates insisted on him taking a penalty when leading 3–0. Even though he missed the initial shot, he scored the rebound. Mignolet's performances in the 2009-10 season earned him the accolade of Professional Goalkeeper of the Year

Sunderland [edit]

2010-11 season [edit]

After a training ground tour,^[2] Mignolet signed a five-year contract at Sunderland on 17 June 2010.^[3] The deal was undisclosed^[3] but was widely reported to have cost Sunderland £2m.^[4] It was later confirmed that Sunderland had pipped PSV Eindhoven, FC Twente and Udinese to Mignolet's signature.^[5]

Mignolet made his Sunderland debut against Birmingham City on 15 August 2010, where the game finished in a 2–2 draw. He picked up the Man of the Match award for his performance. In the next home game, a 1–0 victory against Manchester City, Mignolet kept his first clean sheet for Sunderland, following an excellent reaction save to deny Emmanuel Adebayor a goal. Mignolet put in another fine performance against Arsenal, as Sunderland drew 1–1 after Darren Bent equalised in the 95th minute. He made further appearances against West Ham United in the League Cup, Liverpool, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa, keeping four clean sheets. However, Craig Gordon replaced Mignolet in goal in a 1–1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, and remained first choice after. Mignolet did not featured again on January 8, 2011, when Sunderland suffered a loss at home to Notts County in the Third Round of the FA Cup. Mignolet was recalled to the Sunderland first team after a knee injury to Gordon in February, and he came into the team for the trip to Goodison Park where Sunderland were defeated 2–0 by Everton. Simon retained his place for the away trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal, a 0–0 draw in which he made a series of fine saves and won the Man of the Match award.^[6] Following the draw, manager Steve Bruce hailed the young keeper's fine start to life in English football.^[7] Mignolet's clean sheet on the final day of the season (a 3-0 victory at West Ham) gave him a total of 9 for the season, as Sunderland finished 10th in the league.

2011-12 season [edit]

Mignolet was preferred to new signing Keiren Westwood in goal in the opening game of the 2011–12 season, as Sunderland drew 1–1 away to Liverpool.^[8] His first clean sheet of the season came in the 4–0 win against Stoke. On 29 October, Mignolet was injured during Sunderland's 2–2 draw with Aston Villa and had to be substituted. He had suffered a broken nose, and had scans to check his jaw, cheekbones and teeth in a collision with Emile Heskey.^[9]

Mignolet returned to action against Manchester City on 1 January 2012, due to an injury to Westwood. Wearing a mask to protect his injuries, Mignolet kept a clean sheet as Sunderland defeated the league leaders 1–0. Mignolet went on to keep three consecutive league clean sheets, against Swansea City, Norwich City and Stoke City, as Sunderland won three consecutive league matches for the first time since 2008. On 4 March, Mignolet saved a Demba Ba penalty as Sunderland led Newcastle 1–0 in the Tyne-Wear derby, although Shola Ameobi scored a stoppage time equaliser. Two weeks later, Mignolet made a double save to deny Everton a winning goal in the FA Cup Quarter Final at Goodison Park, as Sunderland drew 1-1 to secure a replay at the Stadium of Light.

2012-13 season [edit]

Mignloet faces Theo Walcott during Sunderland's 0-0 draw with Arsenal in August 2012

Mignolet began the 2012-13 season as Sunderland's established first choice keeper ahead of Westwood, whilst Scotland international Craig Gordon was released. Mignolet begain the season in great form, with a clean sheet in Sunderland's 0-0 draw at Arsenal. On 22 September, Mignolet produced a stunning save to deny a Kevin Nolan volley during as Sunderland drew 1-1 at West Ham,^[10] and was an integral part of Sunderland's 5 match unbeaten start to the season. Mignolet produced another man of the match performance as the Black Cats held Stoke to a goalless draw, including a brilliant reflex save to keep out a Robert Huth header.^[11] Against West Brom in November, Mignolet made a rare error, spilling a simple ball to the feet of Shane Long who tapped the ball home, and Sunderland slumped to a 4-2 home defeat.^[12] However, Mignolet got over his mistake and returned to his previous form in the following matches. Ahead of Sunderland's Boxing Day clash at home to Manchester City, City and England keeper Joe Hart praised Mignolet as being the best goalkeeper in the legaue so far this season.^[13] In the match, Mignolet duly delivered another excellent performance as Sunderland beat the reigning champions 1-0 for the third season in a row. Mignolet made another great save to deny Shaun Maloney in Sunderland's next win, at Wigan in January. Mignolet's performances earned him the North East Football Writers’ Association’s player of the year award for 2012. However, Sunderland then suffered a slump, taking 3 points from 8 games, resulting in Martin O'Neill being sacked and replaced with Paolo Di Canio in March. On 14 April, Mignolet played his part in Sunderland's brilliant 3-0 victory at Newcastle with some excellent saves to prevent Newcastle getting back in the game.

Career statistics [edit]

As of 21 May 2013^[14]

International career [edit]

Mignolet on his debut for Belgium in the EURO 2012 qualifier against Austria on 25 March 2011.

Mignolet represented the Belgium under-21 national side on eight occasions. On 1 September 2010 he won his first call up to the Belgium national football team after a string of fine performances for Sunderland.^[15] On 25 March 2011 he kept a clean sheet in his first start for his national side, helping them earn a 2–0 victory against Austria for a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match. Mignolet has since established himself as his country's second choice goalkeeper, after Thibaut Courtois, with a further ten caps to his name.

Honours [edit]

Club [edit]

K. Sint-Truidense V.V [edit]

• Belgian Second Division: 2008-09

Individual [edit]

• Belgian Professional Goalkeeper of the Year: 2009-10
• North East Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year: 2012

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Simon Mignolet

• Profile at K. Sint-Truidense V.V. Official website
• Profile at transfermarkt
• Simon Mignolet career stats at Soccerbase
• Simon Mignolet's Premier League profile
• Belgium Stats at Belgian FA