Aristide Bance was named as captain of Ivorian Ligue 2 side Williamsville Athletic in his first professional appearance after making exit from Guinean giants Horoya AC.
The former Burkina Faso international provided an assist in his club’s 1-1 draw over COSAP on Saturday at Parais des Sport de Treichville Stadium.
Bance, 36, joined Williamsville in December 2020 as a player-coach from HAC but has been ineligible to play for his new side until June.
Having not played for seven months after his side was eliminated from 2019/2020 CAF Champions League, Bance savored the chance to play again and is eager to contribute as much as possible on the pitch in coming months.
“It was a great reception from the crowd, also. I’ve been to all the games over the last month and they have always given me a good reception, so it was nice to get out on the pitch today,” said Bance
“It was nice [to be back out on the pitch]. I’ve been training for a long time now so it’s always nice to get back out on the pitch.”
The draw on Saturday saw Williamsville limp to seventh position on the log with four points from six matches.
Teenage midfielder Ohorohiri Wayou opened the scoring for the WAC on the 37th minute before Omar Cisse netted the equalizer three minutes later.
Bance retired from international football having played 79 times for the Stallions scoring 24 goals since his debut in 2003.
He has had a two-decade professional career which has seen him turn out for 22 clubs all over the world since 2000.
He has been a key member of the Les Etalons and represented them at four editions of the Africa Cup of Nations – 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017.
The most memorable was in 2013 and 2017 where the West Africans won silver and bronze respectively at the continental showpiece event.
