HE only played an average of ten times a season, but enough to earn his status as a Rangers cult hero.
Indeed, he’s also a national football hero for the international achievements of the star-studded squad he was part of.
But his time at Rangers, though limited to 30 games in three years remains close to his heart.
So much so the club’s jersey still forms the background image of his Twitter profile.
The same can’t be said for a former boss.
His toxic relationship with the man who signed him – Dick Advocaat – still rankles, even now.
But his love for Gers fans remains. They even sang his name to the tune of his national anthem to welcome him in 1998.
It sticks out in the memory even though Ibrox was only a small part of his football career.
But the game of football is only a small part of the intriguing life of Lionel Charbonnier.
The flamboyant Frenchman would be spotted wearing a cravate on his trips around Glasgow and he still cut a suave figure 25 years on from his arrival – and still sported one in one of recent appearances on the red carpet at the Balon d’Or.
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The shaggy mane of hair has gone and is now slicked back while his wispy beard from his playing days is significantly bushier on the 56-year-old face.
And his changing appearance is not the only unrecognisable aspect of the World Cup winning goalkeeper.
He was part of France’s 1998 tournament triumph and though he moved into minor management roles after retiring – it’s his off-the-field activities that make Charbonnier stand out from the retired football crowd.
He’d nip around the city in a Rover Metro and drop into art galleries outside training. Then after retirement he got into painting more himself.
But after serious injury that all but ended his Rangers career he retired to France to recuperate and bred HORSES.
At one stage – while he was still on the books with the Gers he cared for 15 and owned 33.
His animal loved has passed to his daughter who is now a show-jumper too and he coaches her while working in broadcast punditry back home.
After retiring from the game at Lausanne Sport he moved into coaching alongside his animal sanctuary.
And though a man who followed alternative pursuits for a footballer, he did follow a familiar ex-pro’s pursuit into coaching, but true to form, off the beaten track.
He began in lower league French football and would eventually return to his homeland but in between, he worked as part of the international set-ups at Tahiti and Indonesia – leading the under-20s to the 2009 World Cup in Egypt.
He also managed a club side in Congo.
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He’d never rule out a return to Ibrox though, telling the Rangers Review: “For me, to come back one day would be a dream, I would be very, very happy to work for Rangers.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
