Early career A graduate of the French football academy at
Clairefontaine, Gallas started his professional career at second division
Caen, helping them to promotion as champions in 1996. He subsequently transferred to
Marseille in 1997, where he played for four seasons. He made his debut in the
UEFA Champions League for Marseille, scoring his first goal in European competition in a 1–0 win over then European champions
Manchester United at the
Stade Vélodrome in October 1999.
Chelsea legends against Inter in a friendly match.
Chelsea manager
Claudio Ranieri bought Gallas from Marseille in 2001 for £6.2 million. He chose the number 13 shirt because it was his postcode back where he lived in Marseille. Under Ranieri, Gallas developed centre-back partnerships with
Marcel Desailly and later with
John Terry. His partnership with Terry included a run of 16 games without conceding a goal. He also played as a left-back at times. It was with Chelsea and under Ranieri where Gallas obtained his first international
cap for France. Gallas made his debut as a substitute for
John Terry against
Newcastle United in August 2001. His first goal followed in the
FA Cup against
Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea ended up reaching the
2002 FA Cup Final in which Gallas started, however they were defeated by Arsenal. Gallas was part of the Chelsea squad which won back-to-back Premier League titles and a
League Cup under Ranieri's successor
José Mourinho. The Blues also made the semi-finals of the
UEFA Champions League that year, but were knocked out by
Liverpool 1–0 in controversial circumstances—Gallas cleared the ball, after it was adjudged to have crossed the line. Due to a serious injury to left-back
Wayne Bridge in
2004–05, Gallas was forced to play out of position, and despite the purchase of
Asier del Horno from
Athletic Bilbao for £8 million in the 2005 close season, Gallas found himself often playing on the left, a situation he grew increasingly frustrated with, although it did showcase his versatility, being able to play anywhere in the backline. Gallas scored some vital goals against Liverpool,
Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United as Chelsea retained their title in the
2005–06 Premier League season. Gallas' contract with Chelsea was due to expire in May 2007. He refused to sign a new contract with Chelsea on improved terms after saying the club did not offer him enough money and expressed a wish to play in the Italian
Serie A, with
Juventus and
Milan both interested. Chelsea, however, did not agree to a transfer request by the player in May 2006, as they considered Gallas an important first-team member. After the
2006 FIFA World Cup, Gallas refused to turn up at Chelsea's crowded ranks of defenders at
Stamford Bridge, so Chelsea signed
Dutch international centre back
Khalid Boulahrouz, though in his single season at Chelsea, Boulahrouz would play almost exclusively as a fullback. On 1 September 2006, Gallas transferred to
Arsenal as part of a deal that brought
Ashley Cole to Chelsea, in addition to Arsenal receiving £5 million. After the transfer, Chelsea issued a statement that Gallas threatened to deliberately score
own goals if he was not allowed to leave Chelsea. Gallas rejected Chelsea's claim and accused the West Londoners of "lacking class" and "hiding behind false accusations." Claudio Ranieri, the former Chelsea manager who signed Gallas from Marseille, said of the allegations, "I cannot believe these stories. It is absolutely incredible. I signed William and he was always a good professional on the pitch. Of course, I don't know what has happened in the last two years."
PFA Chief Executive
Gordon Taylor declared that the whole episode has left a "bad taste in the mouth" and that Chelsea's statement should be taken "with a large pinch of salt."
Arsenal Gallas signed a four-year contract with Arsenal, where he took the number 10 shirt vacated by the recently retired
Dennis Bergkamp. In an October 2006 interview with the official team magazine, Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger explained his decision to hand him the squad number 10 (traditionally a forward's or a midfielder's number): "Number three was uncomfortable for him and I had given the rest of the numbers out. In the end I thought it might be a good idea to give the number ten to a defender, because a striker would suffer a lot with the comparison with Dennis. At first I was reluctant to give Dennis's number out, and especially to a defender, but overall I think it's better that way." Gallas made his full debut for the Gunners at left-back in the team's 1–1 draw against
Middlesbrough at the
Emirates Stadium on 9 September 2006 and scored his first goal against
Sheffield United on 23 September 2006. Gallas was confirmed as Arsenal captain on 9 August 2007, with
Kolo Touré serving as vice-captain. This caused some controversy, however, as
Gilberto Silva was expected to receive the captain's armband. His first competitive game as Arsenal captain was on 12 August 2007 against
Fulham, which ended in a 2–1 victory for Arsenal. Gallas suffered a groin injury in the game against
Blackburn Rovers on 19 August, but returned to play for Arsenal in their 2–0 victory over
Bolton Wanderers on 20 October. On 3 November, at home to Manchester United, Gallas scored an own goal which initially gave United the lead, but made up for it by scoring an injury-time equaliser to give the Gunners a 2–2 draw. On 24 November 2007, Gallas scored against
Wigan Athletic, heading past goalkeeper
Mike Pollitt from
Bacary Sagna's cross. On 16 December, Gallas scored against his old club Chelsea, which was to be the only goal in the match to secure three points for Arsenal. Gallas drew some criticism as a result of his actions in a 2–2 draw against
Birmingham City at
St. Andrew's on 23 February 2008, a game that saw
Eduardo's leg broken following a challenge by
Martin Taylor (who was subsequently sent off). With Arsenal leading 2–1 in injury time at the end of the second half,
Gaël Clichy conceded a penalty; Gallas walked into the Birmingham half, apparently in protest, where he watched as Birmingham striker
James McFadden converted the penalty. He then had to be restrained as he appeared to confront the crowd in fury. After the final whistle, Gallas sat down on the pitch as the rest of the players left the field before being consoled by manager Arsène Wenger. Gallas scored for Arsenal against Bolton at
Reebok Stadium in a 2–3 win on 29 March 2008, starting the comeback which ten-man Arsenal ultimately completed. Amid speculation that Gallas would be replaced as club captain following his behaviour during the Birmingham game, Wenger said that he would consider the matter at the end of the season. In August 2008, it was announced that Gallas would remain the club's captain for the
2008–09 season. In the 2008–09 season, Gallas proved prolific in the
Champions League. He scored six goals in Arsenal's campaign, including two against Dutch side
Twente and an equaliser against
Dynamo Kyiv, as well as a header against Spurs. On 29 October 2008, he scored his first league goal of the season against Tottenham at the Emirates, scoring Arsenal's second goal in a 4–4 draw. On 8 November 2008, in a 2–1 victory over Manchester United, he received praise for his display whilst playing alongside former United defender
Mikaël Silvestre. It was claimed he outshone United defenders
Rio Ferdinand and
Nemanja Vidić. In November, Gallas gave an interview to the
Associated Press in which he revealed tensions within the squad which were disruptive to team morale, and suggested that Arsenal's younger players needed to show more courage if the team were to be successful. He was dropped from the squad for the next match, against
Manchester City, and was reported to have been fined two weeks' wages. Reports that he had been stripped of the captaincy permanently were confirmed by Arsenal on 24 November, and he was succeeded by Cesc Fàbregas. Wenger confirmed that Gallas still had a future with the club, contrary to media speculation, and Gallas played in the following day's Champions League match. On 17 March 2009, Gallas scored the winner in a 2–1 win against
Hull City in the quarter-finals of the
FA Cup. On 10 April 2009, it was confirmed that Gallas would miss the remainder of the season after damaging the medial ligament in his right knee during the
2008–09 UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg tie against
Villarreal. The match finished 1–1 with Gallas only lasting 43 minutes of the first half. Gallas started the
2009–10 campaign in fine form, scoring three goals in his first three games. He formed a partnership with Belgian centre back
Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal's only major summer signing, and the pair scored seven goals between them in their first eight league games. On 22 August, in the first home game of the season, he scored a bizarre goal against
Portsmouth; Vermaelen had attempted to score a slide-in from a corner kick, but Gallas accidentally flicked the ball onto his face and it bounced into the net. On 17 February, Gallas started his 100th league game for Arsenal in the 2–0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. He suffered an injury-hit second half of the season and did not play for over two months; he was surprisingly included in the starting line up against
Barcelona only to get stretchered off before half-time with a recurrence of the injury. It proved to be his last game for Arsenal—after talks over a new contract failed, Gallas left the club over the summer as a free agent having made a total of 142 appearances and scoring 17 goals for the club. On 28 April, Arsène Wenger announced that talks about Gallas' future will only go until end of May and that if an agreement was not reached by then, he would most likely leave the club. Public statements made by Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood suggested that the club felt that the contractual demands made by Gallas were unreasonable. It was reported that such demands included an £80,000-a-week wage over a two-year period.
Tottenham Hotspur , 2010 On 20 August 2010, Tottenham Hotspur manager
Harry Redknapp confirmed that Gallas was set to join the club and described the move as a "no-brainer." The transfer was confirmed on 22 August, with Gallas signing a one-year contract at
White Hart Lane. According to Tottenham's club historian, the move meant that Gallas would become the first player to have appeared for Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham;
Clive Allen played for Tottenham and Chelsea and had a spell with Arsenal early in his career, but did not make an appearance for them. After training with his new team for the first time, Gallas stated that he believed that Spurs have the potential to win the Premier League. Gallas made his first-team debut on 11 September in a 1–1 draw away at
West Bromwich Albion. On 20 November, as a result of injuries to regular captains
Ledley King and
Michael Dawson, Gallas captained Tottenham for the first time against his former club Arsenal at the
Emirates Stadium in a famous 2–3 Tottenham victory, Spurs' first league victory at Arsenal since 1993. On 2 February 2011, Gallas partnered
Sébastien Bassong at the back against Blackburn at
Ewood Park in their 1–0 midweek victory. Gallas continued to impress for Tottenham into 2011. In the
Champions League knockout stages, he put in two commanding performances against Milan to set up a quarter-final tie against
Real Madrid in the club's first attempt in the competition. Despite a season of frequent changes in defence for Tottenham due to a host of injuries to his fellow defenders, Gallas performed strongly throughout his first season with the club and was rewarded with a two-year contract extension in March 2011, which kept him at the club until the end of the 2012–13 season. In his debut season at Spurs, he made 36 appearances in all competitions. During the
2011–12 Premier League, Gallas suffered several injuries that hindered his playing time for the season, making just 19 appearances for Tottenham during the campaign, particularly in light of the competition for the center-back spot with Michael Dawson and Ledley King. In the
following season, Gallas played 17 games in the Premier League, scoring his first goal for the club—and also his first goal in over two years—against former club Chelsea in a 4–2 defeat. On 7 June 2013, the Premier League confirmed that he had been released from Tottenham.
Perth Glory On 23 October 2013, Gallas signed a one-year deal with
Perth Glory, becoming the
first Frenchman to play in the Australian
A-League. Gallas joined the league following the arrival of other international players,
Alessandro Del Piero,
Emile Heskey and
Shinji Ono. Gallas made his debut for Perth in round 6 against
Adelaide United, coming on as substitute. He scored his first goal on 3 September 2014 in a 1–1 draw against
Wellington Phoenix He retired after the end of the
2013–14 A-League, making 14 appearances and scoring one goal. ==International career==