Lilian Martin spent half a season at Derby County in 2001 having been a champion in France with Monaco and played Champions League football. But the former full-back is now a taxi driver in Nice.

Martin began his career in the French lower leagues before joining AS Nancy. After being relegated in his second season, he moved to Dijon and later to USL Dunkerque, where he spent three seasons. The defender's big break came when he joined Monaco in 1996. There, he won the French top-flight title and played in a Champions League semi-final against Zinedine Zidane's Juventus. A stint with Marseille followed in 1999, before he headed to England and made nine Premier League appearances for Derby. After retiring in 2002, Martin struggled and split from the mother of his first children. A restaurant venture also failed, but the 54-year-old has since found joy in taxi driving, inspired by his new partner's father.

Speaking to L'Equipe about his retirement, Martin said: "I had three or four years where I lost my way a bit. Then I met a woman from Nice who got me back on track. Her father was a taxi driver."

Martin says he initially tried coaching, but it wasn't for him. He started with Monaco's youth teams and then began working with academy prospects in Cannes.

"Between the parents and everything else, I had reached saturation point," he added when asked about his stint as a coach. "What's more, you need a Bac+48 qualification," he joked, suggesting in jest that becoming a coach would take 48 years after achieving a bachelor's degree.

Then, taxi driving fell onto his lap and he has been in the job ever since, having been urged to take it up by his new father-in-law. Martin continued: "He said to me, 'Try taxi driving, you'll see, you'll love it.'

"And I said, 'I don't want a boss. I want to remain free.' I passed the exam. We started working one week each to get me used to it. And little by little, it happened. And now, since January 1 [2026], it's been me 100 per cent.

"I see lots of people during the festival and Grand Prix periods... I've taken on former footballers too. I often bump into Ludovic Giuly and I've driven Djibril Cisse. There's [ex-team-mate] Sonny Anderson, who didn't recognise me with my white hair!"

Martin opened up about his longest fare so far whilst driving his German sedan. The former Derby man admits he's taken passengers as far as Italy, specifically Milan.

"Milan. Quite a trek," Martin continued. "In cases like that, we don't use the meter. We agree on a price with the customer before setting off. Taxi driving is a bit like football. Everyone sticks together, but if someone can take advantage of you, they will. So you still have to keep your eyes open."