Born in Poitiers, Charbonnier trained at AJ Auxerre from the age of 16. He featured in their sides which won the Coupe Gambardella twice in a row. In 1985 they beat Montpellier 3–0 and in 1986 Auxerre won on penalties after drawing 0–0 with Nantes. Charbonnier was often a second-choice goalkeeper in his early seasons at Auxerre, kept out by Bruno Martini who had played for the club since 1981. One of Charbonnier's most important matches in the first team was a semi-final in the 1992–93 UEFA Cup against Borussia Dortmund, which he lost on sudden-death penalties after both teams won their home leg 2–0. Following a serious injury to Martini at the beginning of the 1993–94 season, Charbonnier became the first choice goalkeeper, winning that season's Coupe de France final. His form caused Martini to transfer to Montpellier in 1995 in order to play first-team football. In 1995–96 Auxerre won the Ligue 1 title and the Coupe de France.
On 16 July 1998, only four days after the World Cup Final, he joined Rangers of the Scottish Premier League, signed by Dutch manager Dick Advocaat for £1.2 million. Charbonnier wore the number 1 shirt. He suffered a cruciate ligament injury soon after but made 19 appearances throughout the season and was replaced by German Stefan Klos in goal. At the end of the season Rangers won the treble of Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. The following season, Klos retained his place as he had impressed in Charbonnier's absence. Rangers won the league and Cup again, but were beaten in the quarter-final of the League Cup 1–0, away to Aberdeen. In his final season at the club, he was fourth choice and did not play a single game in any competition. Klos played 47, Jesper Christiansen of Denmark played six while Scottish player Mark Brown played in three games. Rangers won no trophies and finished second to Celtic in the league. Charbonnier's contract ended at the end of the season and he left Ibrox.
Lausanne
When his Rangers contract ended, he joined Lausanne Sports of Switzerland's top flight. They finished 11th out of 12 in the 2001–02 season but were relegated alongside FC Sion and AC Lugano due to licensing regulations.
International
Charbonnier received one cap for France, against Italy on 11 June 1997 in the 1997 Tournoi de France, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris; the match finished in a 2–2 draw. He was one of the three goalkeepers of the French national team that won the 1998 World Cup on home soil. Fabien Barthez was the goalkeeper who kept Charbonnier out of the starting eleven.
Management career
Poitiers and Sens
He became General Manager of his home-town team Stade Poitevin in 2002 shortly after retiring. He parted with them in 2004. In 2005, he became the manager of another French lower-league club, FC Sens, until leaving in 2007 for international management.
Tahiti Under-20
In 2007 became national coach of the Tahiti national football team's under-20 and under-17 sections. Charbonnier led the under-20 team to victory in the Oceania Football Confederation's championship of that age bracket. In 2009, he led the Under-17 team to the final of the same competition, and also the Under-20 team to their first World Cup at any level, in Egypt. At the World Cup Tahiti finished bottom of their group without scoring a goal and being beaten by Spain, Nigeria and Venezuela. At the end of the year Charbonnier was in conflict with Reynald Temarii, a Tahitian who is President of the Confederation. They agreed that Charbonnier would leave his post. In 2010, he signed a consulting contract with Eurosport and also got another managerial post, with Aceh United F.C. of the Liga Primer Indonesia.
