Benjamin Nivet

Benjamin Nivet (born 2 January 1977) is a French former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

He began his career in 1997 with Auxerre, and is best known for his association with Troyes, whom he represented over 12 years in two separate spells, from 2002 to 2007 and later from 2012 until his retirement in 2019. Nivet holds the records at Troyes for most appearances and most goals for the club.

Career
Born in Chartres, Nivet started his career as a youth with Auxerre. He made his first league appearances in the 1997–98 season. However, by the end of the following season, he had made only twelve further appearances and was sent on loan to Ligue 2 club Châteauroux for the 1999–2000 season, before making the move permanent for the next season.

After establishing himself as a regular for Châteauroux, he made the step back up to Ligue 1 with Troyes in January 2002. Despite a slow start, Nivet established himself as a regular in the club's 2002–03 relegation season. Wearing the number 10 shirt, he proved an eye for goal, weighing in with 12 goals in Troyes' 2005–06 promotion season. He played at Troyes from 2002 to 2007.

He signed a three-year contract with Stade Malherbe Caen on 8 June 2007, a club newly promoted to Ligue 1.

After five years in Caen, he could not avoid relegation at the end of the 2011–12 season. A free agent, he returned to Troyes, promoted to Ligue 1, signing a one-year contract on 11 June 2012. After four years with Troyes, he could not avoid relegation at the end of the 2015–16 season after a disastrous campaign which saw the club win only three matches and concede some heavy defeats, most notably a resounding 9–0 home loss to PSG, the club's biggest ever victory.

On 8 January 2017, Nivet, who had turned 40 just six days before, played his 650th professional match and scored twice against his former club Auxerre in a 4–2 loss in the round of 64 of the 2016–17 Coupe de France. On 28 May 2017, the 40-year-old Nivet scored a late winner in the second leg of the promotion play-off against Lorient, which turned out to be the decisive goal that saw Troyes promoted to Ligue 1.

In the top division, Nivet was only able to reach a rich vein of form towards the end of the 2017–18 season, when he registred one goal contribution for three matches in a row, including a goal against Olympique de Marseille on 15 April 2018, becoming, at the age of 41 years and 103 days, the oldest player to ever score in Ligue 1, thus breaking the previous record set by Vitorino Hilton on 7 February 2017, at the age of 39. He then extented this record when he scored again just two weeks later, on 28 April, in a 3–1 win over Stade Malherbe Caen.

In the spring of 2019, Nivet announced his retirement from professional football aged 42. Nivet perhaps deserved to play in a more upscale club, but his loyalty to Troyes and his innate modesty prevent that. In fact, he even reportedly declined an offer from the City of Troyes to build a statue in his honour.