“
A wonderful experience.
“This is what Just Fontaine said of his time at the head of Paris Saint-Germain, from 1973 to 1976. “
I am the only coach in the world to have brought Paris up to the first division
”, boasted the former striker French international (21 caps, 30 goals) from Nice and Reims, in 2010, for
Canal Supporters
.
And for good reason, the Rouge et Bleu have never left the elite of French football since the victorious play-off against Valenciennes in 1974. 49th season in a row at the highest level in France, current series and national record.
Ephemeral coach of the Blues (1967), Mr. Fontaine, who died on Wednesday at the age of 89, had had his first experience as a coach of a professional team in Paris.
Although, the Paris-SG of 1973 was not really...
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Calendar and results Ligue 1
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Two years after the marriage between the new Paris FC and the Stade Saint-Germain, in 1970, it was already time for the divorce.
Paris FC remained in the first division and kept the professional license, while the other part of the club kept the PSG identity but returned to the third national level.
This is where fashion designer Daniel Hechter came on the scene, accompanied by Jean-Paul Belmondo, Francis Borelli, Charles Talar and Bernard Brochant.
Who to train the team at the start of the 1973-74 season, in D3?
Just Fontaine, whom Hechter calls a "
true friend
".
“
He taught me football
,” he adds for
franceinfo
,
".
“
He had human qualities rarely seen in football.
He was a simple man, discreet and not full of himself
, ”said Daniel Hechter, 84, who chaired the young Paris Saint-Germain FC until 1978.
Read alsoJust Fontaine, thirteen goals for eternity
It stuck immediately between Just Fontaine and me.
Daniel Hechter, former president of PSG
D3, however, PSG only spent one season there, in 1972-73.
Fontaine thought he was making his debut there, he never saw it.
Initially promoted to D2, Quevilly refused the professional license and de facto left his place at PSG.
“
A few days after the agreement with Henri Patrelle (former boss of the Saint-Germain stadium), PSG faced Poissy in the final of the Coupe de Paris
, remembered Daniel Hechter three years ago, in the columns of
Parisian
.
I got to know Just Fontaine thanks to Jacques Bloch, who worked for me as sports director.
We saw the final together and it immediately stuck between us.
The first year, Just held the position of technical director but he was the one who managed the team.
He was a fantastic technician, a real team leader
.”
And a visionary.
Hechter acceded to the request of Fontaine, who was already smelling the sweet aroma of the rise in the first division, by reinforcing the offensive sector with François M'Pelé and Mordechai Spiegler.
Good picks.
Not enough to get ahead of the Red Star, who finished top of group B, but enough to climb to second place in the group and afford a barrage of accession against Valenciennes.
2-1 defeat in the first leg, in the North.
It was necessary to win by two goals in the return, on June 4, 1974, on the lawn of the Parc des Princes.
And that's exactly what happened, under the eyes of just under 20,000 spectators, with goals from M'Pelé and Michel Marella and a double from Jean-Pierre Dogliani.
4-2 victory for Paris Saint-Germain, who joined D1 while Paris FC descended to D2.
Just Fontaine celebrated after the rise in D1 and the barrage against Valenciennes, in 74. PSG
Discomfort and great fright
"
We did it after having suffered a lot
," said Just Fontaine, still for
Canal Supporters
.
They (the Valenciennes) were still leading 2-1 at halftime.
I remember saying to Daniel (Hechter): "If we don't score within five minutes (after the restart), it's over! And Doglioni scored, we scored another goal at the end (from Marella) challenged for offside while Mr. Wutrz (the referee) was well placed, there was no discomfort, no offside. Dogliani completed our victory with a class goal: he made a fake kick in front of the goalkeeper, who went on one side, he put the ball on the other… It was a great joy
“, savored “Justo” Fontaine, who also scared everyone when he collapsed on the lawn during the post-match celebrations.
“
The hardest part has been done but now it will be even harder!
The Paris public expects us to make a great team.
We will try to give them emotions but not as much as tonight because I almost passed out!
“, he dropped on television, at the time.
“
I always tell my wife that I didn't lose consciousness but that I had a feeling of discomfort because of the heat, of all the people around me… Besides, Jackie (Bloch) believed that I was dead!
My wife too… She thought I had a heart attack.
I felt unwell, but not cardiac, a little tired
“, he remembered afterwards, readily admitting that this match, this climb, this moment, represents his most beautiful memory in Paris.
Even if there were others afterwards, with an epic until the semi-finals of the Coupe de France 1974-75.
Read alsoFootball: Just Fontaine, a legend in numbers
After the climb, the native of Marrakech harbored great ambitions.
It must be said that Daniel Hechter had put the small dishes in the big ones, recruiting some internationals, including a certain Moustapha Dahleb, long best passer in the history of the club.
“
We are going to try to keep our brand image, that of a team which wants to score as many goals as possible and which has the respect of the public, that is to say that, at home and away, we will keep our way of playing.
We made a team for two or three seasons and from next year, we can have the ambition to finish in the top four
, ”he swore.
Paris finished 15th in 1975 and 14th in 1976.
I lived three magnificent seasons with PSG.
Just Fountain
In the end, Fontaine was fired after his third year.
“
I had three wonderful seasons with PSG.
Afterwards, I was sacked, I was a little angry with Daniel because I think he was badly advised, but we became friends again and now things are going very well, ”assured the man with
13 goals at the 1958 World Cup, which then coached Toulouse and the Moroccan national team until 1982. "
It is a monument of French football that has left us, and a sad day for lovers of Paris Saint-Germain, club that he had led to the first division 50 years ago
", salutes the club from the capital, stressing that Just Fontaine "
will forever remain one of the greatest figures in the history of French football
".
And "
the man of the renewal of the club of the capital in 1973
".
Forever the first.
Just Fontaine, the story of a legend of French football
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