Dominique Marais

Dominique Marais (born December 18, 1955 in Lyon ) is a former French football player .

Career

The 170 centimeter tall defender Marais grew up in Fontaines-sur-Saône near Lyon and began playing football in 1960 when he was a child at the FC des Deux Fontaines club . He remained loyal to the club, where Guy Genet and the later national player Bernard Lacombe played at the same time , until he was discovered by talent scouts from the first division team Olympique Lyon and in 1971 was accepted into the youth department. After a year he moved up to the second team. The versatile player, who was used in central defense, as a full-back and occasionally also in defensive midfield, initially suffered from the harsh training conditions and had to wait until 1976 to make the leap to the top division. In view of the fact that numerous players were added to the squad at Olympique Lyon in the 1970s and left again and opportunities were given to their own junior staff, Marais was also able to prove himself and was regularly called up from 1976, even if he was initially not an undisputed regular place held. He achieved this over time, where he mostly appeared as a right defender and thanks to his achievements aroused the interest of national coach Michel Hidalgo , although in the end he never came back to him. He remained loyal to Lyon, although the club struggled with financial difficulties, which also had an impact on the sporting situation and led to the fact that in 1980 relegation could only just be averted.

In 1981 he turned his back on Lyon after a total of ten years and signed with first division rivals FC Tours . At the side of the defensive players Serge Besnard , Bruno Steck , Patrick Brulez and Francis Meynieu , he immediately became an integral part of the first team with whom he competed in the relegation battle. Both 1982 and 1983 he reached the semi-finals of the national cup with the team, but Tours rose in 1983 to the second division. In view of this, he left the club and signed with the first division club Stade Rennes . There, his versatility also gave him a permanent place in the team. In 1984 he remained loyal to the club despite relegation and was involved in direct promotion in 1985, although relegation followed in 1987. During the 1987/88 season he lost his place in the starting eleven and ended his professional career at the age of 32 in 1988 after 285 first division games with four goals and 44 second division games with two goals. At this time he returned to his home region around the city of Lyon and wore the jersey of the amateur club AS Villeurbanne from 1988 to 1989 . He then started working in a tobacco shop in Saint-Genis-Laval .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dominique Marais , afterfoot.fr
2. ↑ Football: Dominique Marais , footballdatabase.eu
3. ↑ Dominique Marais - Fiche et statistiques , stade-rennais-online.com