Francisco Rubio

Francisco "Paco" Rubio (born December 6, 1953 in Saint-Amand-Montrond ) is a former French football player and later coach .

As a player in the club

Entry into professional football (until 1975)

The 174 centimeter tall midfielder Rubio began playing football in 1964 as a child at the US Ainay-le-Château . In 1971 he went to EDS Montluçon , where he moved up to the second division team a year later. In this he became a regular player after a few months and especially revitalized the offensive department, with eight goals each in his first two years as a successful goalscorer. At the age of 20 he was already considered a key player in the team and aroused the interest of some first division clubs through his performance. In the summer of 1975 he had two roughly equivalent offers from the first division clubs AS Nancy and AS Monaco . Possibly because of his personal contact with Michel Platini of Nancy, whom he knew from the French military team, his choice fell on this club.

Time in Nancy (1975–1983)

On August 8, 1975 he made his debut in a 3: 3 against the US Valenciennes-Anzin in the jersey of his new club in the top French division. At Nancy, he was such an integral part of the first team from the start that he never missed a game during the 1975/76 season. In 1977 the team made it to fourth place in the table and one year later they made it to the national cup final in 1978 . Rubio was considered for the final and was able to celebrate winning the trophy thanks to a 1-0 win with a goal from Platini. This qualified for participation in the European Cup Winners' Cup 1978/79 and helped the player to his debut in European competition, even if Nancy was defeated in the second round Servette Geneva . In 1979 Platini turned his back on the club, which was followed by the departure of other top performers, while Rubio remained loyal to the Lorraine people. He was temporarily set up as a striker and was able to contribute around ten goals per season. Despite consistently good performances for a club that was in the middle of the table in the first division, he missed a possible appointment to the national team. In 1983 he left Nancy after eight years in which he had barely missed an encounter and had become the club's record first division player through 299 first division appearances.

Slow departure from professional business (after 1983)

With Olympique Marseille it was a traditional club that had slipped into the second division in 1983 and signed him. For this he scored a total of twelve goals in the course of the 1983/84 season, with which he personally achieved his best result and at the same time contributed to the second division championship and the associated promotion. In 1985 he was able to hold his own with Marseille in the first division, but left the division anyway, as he moved to the second division FC Tours at the same time . Although he had a permanent place at this despite his relatively old age and was able to continue to call up his services, the aspired promotion was clearly missed twice in a row. In 1987, the then 33-year-old decided to end his professional career after 328 first division games with 61 goals and 180 second division games with 42 goals. He went to the fourth division US Joue-les-Tours , where he since 1989 in a role as player-coach at the same time perceived the tasks for the team. With the team, he made it to the third division in 1990, before finally giving up active play in 1991 and at the same time left the club as a coach.

National team

Rubio never played for the French senior team , but he took part in the 1976 Olympic football tournament in Montreal for his country . He made his debut on Olympic turf on July 19, 1976, when he was called up in the first group game in a 4-1 win over Mexico. He was also on the pitch in the two other preliminary round matches and moved into the quarter-finals with the team. There he was also used and had to accept the elimination in his fourth Olympic game due to a 4-0 defeat against the selection of the GDR. During the game, Rubio and his teammate Jean Fernandez were both sent off in the 57th minute. In addition to his participation in the Olympic Games, he was a member of the French military team in the early stages of his career.

Coaching career and further life

After Rubio had already gained experience as a player-coach at Joué-lès-Tours between 1989 and 1991, he then coached the US Autonome Pouancé and then a club from Fontainebleau around 1995. From then on, he settled firmly in the region around the capital Paris and got a job as a sports official for the Val-d'Oise department . He also took over the French women's U-17 national team in 2008. In the summer of 2013 he returned to AS Nancy after 30 years, where he was given responsibility as coach for the second team.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Football: Paco Rubio , footballdatabase.eu
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Paco Rubio ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , afterfoot.fr  
3. ^ ^{A b} Francisco Rubio complete profile ( Memento of March 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), soccerdatabase.eu
4. ↑ Francisco RUBIO dit "Paco" , om1899.com
5. ↑ Paco Rubio Bio, Stats, and Results , sports-reference.com
6. ↑ see the article from September 12, 2014 at footofeminin.fr