Jean-Claude Suaudeau

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Jean-Claude Suaudeau (born May 24, 1938 in Cholet , Maine-et-Loire ) is a former French football player and coach .

The soccerplayer

The club career

Growing up in the region on the lower reaches of the Loire , Suaudeau, whose first club was the SO Cholet , actually only had one club at the end of the 1950s , and that was FC Nantes , whose rise to one of the dominant clubs in Division 1 in the 1960s the midfielder played a key role. Shaped by coach José Arribas to play designer, he formed together with "Jacky" Simon , Ramón Muller and striker Philippe Gondet the technically high-level playing core of the team, which was represented in the "Oberhaus" for the first time in 1963/64 and in 1965 became French champion . In this championship eleven, called les canaris because of their yellow costume , which was also able to defend the title in 1966, he was considered an undisputed gambler, which, in addition to the nickname "Coco", earned him the name "Conscience of FC". At the end of the 1966/67 season it was enough despite a win and a draw in direct comparison only to second place behind AS Saint-Étienne .

In these three years alone, Suaudeau played 91 league matches, became a national player and was also in the team in 1966, which lost the final of the Coupe de France with the closest of all results. In 1969 he ended his playing career, but remained loyal to the club in the following decades, apart from only brief interruptions.

Stations

  • Stade Olympique Choletais (until 1960)
  • FC Nantes (1960–1969)

The national player

Between September 1966 and March 1967, Jean-Claude Suaudeau played four international matches for the Équipe Tricolore - under the interim coaching team Snella / Arribas and Just Fontaine , who was released after two encounters , in a situation in which the French national team crossed a deep valley.

The soccer coach

After his time as a player, Suaudeau first worked in the coaching staff of FC Nantes, then headed its youth center (1973–1982), for whose exemplary youth development he was largely responsible, and then (1982–1988) succeeded Jean Vincent as head coach of the first division team . In his first year as a professional coach, he managed to win the now sixth championship title with the Canaris and a return to the French Cup final , which Nantes lost again with one goal difference. After a three-year interlude, FC Suaudeau brought back in 1991, and in the following years "Monsieur Nantes" won the national championship again in 1993 - and failed in the cup final for the third time in the same year, giving him this title personally during his 30+ years was denied at this club.

In the 1995/96 season, however, he led his team to their greatest success to date on a European level: after the Canaris had eliminated FC Porto and Spartak Moscow , among others , they reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and were only there from the eventual winners Juventus Turin stopped (3: 2 and 0: 2). After 12 years, he finished his work for the club in 1997, which he had served for almost four decades in various functions - and the entire time together with Robert Budzynski , first a teammate and then Nantes' sports director. In 2001, AC Milan tried to sign Suaudeau as a coach. In 2004, on the recommendation of the ex-Nantes player Christian Karembeu , he expanded the promotion of young talent at Olympiacos Piraeus . He was named French coach of the year three times (1985, 1992 and 1994) .

Now retired, Jean-Claude Suaudeau continues to follow events around his FC Nantes, which was consistently represented in the top division from 1963 to 2007, with great interest.

Palmarès

As a player

As a trainer

personal data
SURNAME Suaudeau, Jean-Claude
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Cholet , Maine-et-Loire department