Michel Mézy

Michel Mézy
Mézy 2013
Personnel
birthday	August 15, 1948
place of birth	Aigues-Mortes ,  France
size	169 cm
position	midfield
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1966-1975	Olympique Nîmes	249 (17)
1975-1977	Lille OSC	61 0(5)
1977-1979	Olympique Nîmes	71 0(3)
1979-1981	PSC Montpellier	76 0(1)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1970-1973	France	17 0(1)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1985-1987	PSC Montpellier
1990	HSC Montpellier
1992-1993	Olympique Nîmes
1994-1998	HSC Montpellier
1999-2002	HSC Montpellier
1 Only league games are given.

Michel Mézy (born August 15, 1948 in Aigues-Mortes ) is a former French football player and coach .

Club career

First time at Nîmes (1966–1975)

The defensive midfielder Mézy played in the youth department of the first division club Olympique Nîmes before he was on the field for the first time in the top French division on May 7, 1966 at the age of 17 in a 2-1 defeat against FC Nantes . At a time when substitutions and substitutions were not yet possible, he also took part in the other four games until the end of the season and was able to use relegation with his team in the following relegation round. In the course of the 1967/68 season, however, he hardly played a role and at the end of the season also had to accept the fall into the second division. In the second division he was called up again more often and managed with his team in 1969 to return to the top division. During the 1969/70 season, the then 21-year-old became a top performer within the team and was considered for the first time for the national team at the same time.

At the end of the 1970/71 season he finished fourth in the table with Nîmes, which brought him his first participation in the European competition. The team went to the first edition of the UEFA Cup and Mézy played on September 14, 1971 in a 0-1 defeat by the Portuguese club Vitória Setúbal, his first encounter in the European Cup. He was also used in the second leg, but at the same time had to accept his team's elimination. The rest of the season, however, was successful, as Nîmes was second in the table and Mézy thus achieved the best placement of his career. In the following years, the club remained in the upper half of the table and the midfielder was such an elementary part of the team that he did not miss a single meeting in the league in 1974/75. In the summer of 1975 he turned his back on the southern French after almost a decade in the first team and moved to the north of the country for Lille OSC .

Lille and return to Nîmes (1975–1979)

At Lille he was set as a regular player, but had to compete in the relegation battle after the successful period in Nîmes. The rescue was successful in 1976, but in 1977 the team was clearly behind as bottom of the table and had to move into the second division. However, this did not apply to Mézy, because he returned to his ex-club Olympique Nîmes.

His first season after his return to the south of the country was also marked by relegation battle and in January 1978 a new coach was appointed with Henri Noël . This made the defensive midfielder Mézy a Libero . At Nîmes he had a permanent place in the first team and managed to return to the middle table region with the club in the 1978/79 season. His performance was so good that he was considered a favorite for France Football 's Player of the Year award. On May 24, 1979, despite his success at Nîmes, he signed a contract with second-rate regional rivals PSC Montpellier and was then suspended for the last three game days. At the same time he missed the award as player of the year.

Last years in Montpellier (1979–1981)

In Montpellier he took over the command of the defensive department and became champions of the second division with the team in 1981. This was his only title win during his time as a player and at the same time brought promotion to the top division with it. He managed to return to the first division as a regular player, but had to experience how his team was largely hopelessly facing relegation. On December 20, 1981, the then 33-year-old played for the last time in professional football in a 2-1 home win against OGC Nice , ending his active career after 384 first division games with 24 goals and 73 second division games with two goals.

National team

Mézy was 21 years old and played at club level for Olympique Nîmes when he made his debut in the shirt of the French national team on May 3, 1970 in a 2-1 defeat in a friendly against Switzerland . On November 11 of the same year, he made his competitive debut in a 3-1 win against Norway in qualifying for the European Championship in 1972 and at the same time scored his first and only goal in the national dress. Participation in the tournament was ultimately missed. Regular appeals continued for the player until he played for France for the last time on May 26, 1973 against the Soviet Union at the age of 24. In total, he had accrued 17 times for the Équipe tricolore , with all international matches falling during his time at Nîmes.

Trainer and functionary career

Just a few weeks after the end of his playing career, he received a management position at PSC Montpellier in January 1982. In 1985 he took over the coaching responsibility at this, led the club back to the first division in 1987, where he was again second division champion and won his first title as a coach. After this success, he returned to his managerial post. On February 14, 1990, he succeeded Aimé Jacquet as coach of the club, which has now been renamed HSC Montpellier, led the team to the 1990 national cup final, which won the trophy 2-1 after extra time against Racing Paris . Four days after this success he announced his move back to Olympique Nîmes; this was received very negatively in Montpellier and club president Louis Nicollin spoke out against a possible return of Mézy.

First he filled the post of sports director in Nîmes before taking office as president of the club on July 25, 1991. In the same year, the rise to the top class was successful. In December 1992 he took over the club's relegation-threatened team as a coach, making him the first person in French football history to be both coach and president of a club. However, he could not avert relegation and therefore gave up the coaching post at the end of the season. As president, he was controversial, which was also due to the fact that he was seen having breakfast with Montpellier's chairman Nicollin in February 1993. A power struggle arose between Mézy and Richard Pérez. Pérez ultimately decided this for himself, which is why Mézy was removed from his position at the head of the club on September 23, 1994. Although the decision was declared invalid on October 5th of the same year, he announced his resignation on October 21st.

Just a few weeks after his resignation from the presidential post at Nîmes, he went back to Montpellier in November 1994 to work as a coach for the relegation-threatened first division club. The rescue succeeded and he stayed on the post for a long time, leading the club into the middle of the table. In addition, they made it into the 1997 Intertoto Cup final at European level , in which the team lost to Olympique Lyon . In 1998 he gave up the coaching position, but was brought back in December 1999 to save Montpellier from relegation. This did not succeed, but he was allowed to remain in office and achieved direct resurgence in 2001 and was a coach until October 2002. In 2006 he was hired as an official advisor to Montpellier's President Nicollin.

Public recognition

A municipal stadium opened in 1999 in Le Grau-du-Roi , the neighboring municipality of his birthplace, was named after the former national player when it was opened and has since been called Stade Michel Mézy .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Vitória Setúbal FC - All games , transfermarkt.at
2. ↑ ^{a b} Michel Mézy - Fiche de stats du joueur , pari-et-gagne.com
3. ↑ ^{a b} Michel Mézy , planetenimesolympique.fr
4. ↑ Michel Mézy , ff
5. ↑ Football: Michel Mézy , footballdatabase.eu
6. ↑ MHSC, Louis Nicollin: “Michel Mézy, c'était un artiste” ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. , mlactu.fr 
7. ↑ Stade Michel Mézy , ville-legrauduroi.fr