Léon Rossi

Léon Rossi (born November 2, 1923 in Villefranche-sur-Mer , † March 20, 2007 ibid) was a French football player and coach .

Career

Time at Nice (until 1952)

The 170 centimeter tall Rossi, who was mostly called up in defensive midfield , began playing football in his hometown at FC Villefranche-sur-Mer before moving to neighboring Nice to OGC Nice in 1941 . In this he moved up to the first team in 1943, which, due to the Second World War, could only take part in the unofficial staging of the championship. At the same time he worked for the French resistance movement during the occupation by German troops, which lasted until 1944 . However, he gave up his work as a carpenter in order to devote himself to football. When regular play began again in 1945, Rossi entered the second-highest French division with his club. At first he was the undisputed regular player, but lost this role again in the 1946/47 season and had to see how the team was only just able to save itself from relegation. He was then regularly called up again and won the second division championship with the team in 1948, which also entitled to promotion to the top national league. Even if he still did not have a secure place in the team, he was at a time when substitutions and substitutions were not yet possible, in most cases of the starting eleven and was French champions in both 1951 and 1952 with Nice. In addition, the team made it into the cup final in 1952 , but Rossi himself was not on the field when his comrades secured the title with a 5-3 win against Girondins Bordeaux .

Player of various clubs (1952–1955)

Immediately after winning the title in 1952, he completely turned his back on the league and moved to the second division club FC Toulouse . In this he was one of the top performers and achieved in 1953 for the second time in his career winning the second division championship and at the same time promotion. However, he did not go into the first class because he left Toulouse after only a year and moved to the second-class capital club Red Star Olympique from Paris. Although he was unchallenged there too, although he missed promotion, his next move followed in 1954 when he signed with league rivals Stade Rennes UC . In the Bretons he was mainly set in midfield at the side of Jean Cueff and belonged to a team that qualified in 1955 after a successful promotion round for the first division. Once again, Rossi did not go to the elite class, but found a new employer in the second division AS Cannes .

Time as player coach (1955–1960)

At Cannes he was from 1955 on as a player- coach from the function of a coach, while at the same time stood as an actor on the pitch. In 1957, the player, who in addition to his traditional position in midfield temporarily also took on responsibility in defense , ended his professional career at the age of 33 after 100 first division games with five goals and 202 second division games with 21 goals and at the same time gave up his coaching position at Cannes. He went to the amateur club ESA Brive , where he was employed in the same role. In 1960 he stopped playing football, but stayed with the club as a coach. He had never been able to complete an assignment for the national team of his country during his playing career.

Coaching career (1960–1980)

Rossi stayed in Brive until he received an offer from the Paris first division club Stade Français in the summer of 1961 and took over the post there in the coaching bench. After the club had already been in danger of relegation in the 1962/63 season, the following season got off to a bad start and the practitioner was dismissed in October 1963 after just one win out of seven games.

In January 1969, he returned to his ex-club OGC Nice, where he inherited César Hector Gonzalès and should avert relegation from the first class. Although he did not succeed, he kept his position and led the team to promotion in 1970. In October 1971 he was replaced by Jean Snella without notice, despite a decent start to the season , but remained with the club in a role as assistant coach. At the beginning of 1977 he was once again the head coach of Nice and led the team to the 1978 Cup final , which ended, however, with a 0-1 defeat against AS Nancy . In the summer of 1978 he swapped positions with his previous assistant François Ferry and was reappointed head coach a year later. He saved the team from relegation before he decided to end his coaching career in 1980 at the age of 56. Before that he had achieved one last great success with the engagement of the talented Daniel Bravo, who was courted by numerous clubs . He retired in his hometown Villefranche-sur-Mer, where he died in 2007 at the age of 83.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Football: Léon Rossi , footballdatabase.eu
2. ↑ Léon Rossi s'est éteint à 83 ans , ogcn.net
3. ^ Léon Rossi - Fiche et statistiques , stade-rennais-online.com
4. ^ Léon Rossi - Fiche de stats du joueur de football , pari-et-gagne.com