 At Valencianones he would work his way up into the senior team and in the 1978–79 season he would start his professional career when he was included in the squad for the Ligue 1 outfit.He would eventually become a regular starter in the team's defence until they were relegated at the end of the 1981–82 French Division 1 season.In the following season Gillot would move to top tier club RC Lens and experienced continental competitions with the club during his initial time with the team until the manager Jean Parisseaux decided he could be loan to RC Strasbourg in the 1988/89 campaign.