Pierre Geoffroy

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Pierre Geoffroy (born September 5, 1939 in Reims , † October 14, 1994 ) was a French journalist, trainer and functionary who has campaigned for the legalization and further development of women's football in France since the late 1960s .

"Father" of modern French women's football

The sports journalist worked for the Reims daily newspaper L'Union and organized, among others, a regular football tournament for company teams . During the planning for its 1968 staging, the idea of ​​organizing an additional women's soccer game arose, and Pierre Geoffroy published an appeal to interested women in his newspaper. In addition to Paris and Alsace, the area around Reims had been a stronghold of the FFF football association in France since the 1920shad been declared illegal women's football, so 24 women signed up for it; The game took place in front of around 5,000 spectators, and many of the players then founded the Football Club Féminin de Reims , which a year later joined Stade Reims through the mediation of Geoffroy - who also coached the women on the side . On March 29, 1970, the FFF's federal council, made up entirely of men, legalized women's football and appointed the journalist, who had intensively promoted it in numerous articles and discussions, to head its newly created women's football commission. In this function, as a Sélectionneur, he was also responsible for the formation and training of the women's national team , which played their first match against the Netherlands on April 17, 1971 ; For the World Football Association, this game is also the first official women's international game in history.

Successful trainer

In addition to his role as national coach, Pierre Geoffroy also continued to look after the Stade Reims women - and very successfully. From November 1969 to September 1975 Stade's women conceded only 21 defeats in 260 games, all of them outside France. They were also leaders in the national championships from 1974/75, won five national titles within eight years ( 1975 , 1976 , 1977 , 1980 and 1982) and Geoffroy was their coach in the first four championships. They played friendly matches on all continents, often in front of a five-digit audience, and won several international tournaments, for example in New York (1970), Bandung (1972) and Port-au-Prince (1974). Players from Geoffroy's club also formed the framework of the national selection for over a decade.

In the course of 1978, Geoffroy fell out with the national association because it demanded that he complete formal coaching training, which he was not prepared to do given his proven skills. Pierre Geoffroy's successor at the FFF was Francis Coché ; he has also handed over the coaching position to his assistant , the husband of the Reims national player Ghislaine Royer-Souef . Then he devoted himself exclusively to his daily job, in which he made it to the head of the sports department at L'Union. Pierre Geoffroy, who was married to the former Reims national player Maryse Lesieur , died soon after his 55th birthday as a result of a long-term cancer illness .

literature

  • Pascal Grégoire-Boutreau / Tony Verbicaro: Stade de Reims - une histoire sans fin. Cahiers intempestifs, Saint-Étienne 2001 ISBN 2-911698-21-5
  • Lucien Perpère / Victor Sinet / Louis Tanguy: Reims de nos amours. 1931/1981 - 50 ans de Stade de Reims. Alphabet Cube, Reims 1981
  • Laurence Prudhomme-Poncet: Histoire du football féminin au XXe siècle. L'Harmattan, Paris 2003 ISBN 2-7475-4730-2

Supporting documents and comments

  1. ↑ According to Geoffroy's data sheet on the website of the French Football Association, however, he is said to have been born in Lyon on February 10, 1931.
  2. ^ Fédération Française de Football (ed.): 100 dates, histoires, objets du football français. Tana, o. O. 2011, ISBN 978-2-84567-701-2 , p. 121
  3. ↑ Prudhomme-Poncet, p. 235
  4. ↑ Article "Women from the very beginning" of April 8, 2011 on the FIFA website (accessed on January 31, 2013)
  5. ↑ Grégoire-Boutreau / Verbicaro, p. 157
  6. ↑ Prudhomme-Poncet, pp. 230f .; a photo of the 1975 master squad can be found in Grégoire-Boutreau / Verbicaro, pp. 158/159.
  7. ↑ Perpère / Sinet / Tanguy, p. 180; Grégoire-Boutreau / Verbicaro, p. 157
  8. ↑ According to information from Geoffroys longtime employee at L'Union, M. Richard, dated June 1, 2011 to the main author of this article and the article " Forever the First " of February 5, 2018 at sofoot.com
personal data
SURNAME Geoffroy, Pierre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French journalist, football coach and official
DATE OF BIRTH September 5, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Reims
DATE OF DEATH October 14, 1994