France grieves for legend

By Christian Châtelet

Albert Batteux, who died in Grenoble on Friday following a long illness at the age of 83, was a master tactician whose humour and love of the game brought pleasure to millions.

Glittering career
As coach of Stade de Reims, France and AS Saint-Etienne, Batteux guided the evolution of French football through the 1950s and 1960s, leading his sides to nine French league titles (1953, 55, 58, 60, 62, 67, 68, 69 and 70) and three French Cups (58, 68 and 70). He also led France to third place at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

'The best coach I ever had'
"He is the best coach I ever had," said Just Fontaine, who set a World Cup record under Batteux with 13 goals at the 1958 finals. "He was very funny. We listened to him with delight."

'Prisoner of football'
Batteux famously said: "I am a prisoner of football". One of 13 children born to a Reims family, he would go on to dedicate most of his adult life to the game. A midfield player for Reims, winning eight French caps, the French title in 1949 and the French Cup in 1950, his move into coaching was sudden. Informed after that French Cup triumph that coach Henri Roessler was stepping down, Reims chairman Henri Germain immediately offered the job to Batteux, his team captain.

Final hurdle
Batteux accepted to begin a 13-year spell in which Reims dominated French football and made enormous progress in Europe. Twice Batteux's Reims reached the European Champion Clubs' Cup final, only to be beaten by Alfredo di Stefano's Real Madrid CF on both occasions.

International call-up
His gifts as a coach came to the attention of the French Football Federation, who appointed him as national coach in 1955 to lead France to the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Boasting the likes of Raymond Kopa, Fontaine, Robert Jonquet, Roger Piantoni and Armand Penverne, France were beaten 5-2 by the Brazil of Pelé and Garrincha in the semi-final, but proved their worth with a 6-3 win against West Germany in the third-place play-off.

Beautiful style
It was not until the 1980s that Michel Hidalgo led a national side of the same standard, and Hidalgo was quick to pay tribute to Batteux. "He liked players to play the game," said Hidalgo. "For him, nice football and good results went hand in hand." Batteux's style, christened 'Football Champagne', was a game of short passing to feet and constant movement which, according to Batteux's protégé Kopa, "the whole of France enjoyed."

'The joy of playing'
Having left Reims in 1963 to spend four years in charge at Grenoble Foot 38, Batteux moved on to Saint-Etienne in 1967, where he made a deep impression upon former international and influential journalist Jean-Michel Larqué. "Today you hear some coaches talk about war, aggression," he said. "I never heard such words from Albert Batteux's mouth. He would always talk about pleasure, about the joy of playing."

Lasting influence
Batteux stood down at Saint-Etienne in 1972. He would subsequently spend brief spells in charge at AS Avignonnaise, OGC Nice and Olympique de Marseille, before finally retiring in 1981, having presided over 656 French top-flight games. However, his influence continued to be felt. "He moulded an entire era," said former Saint-Etienne player Aimé Jacquet, who led France to World Cup glory in 1998. "He was an intellectual of football, but he knew how to communicate. His words never left me when I was a coach."

France mourns
Moments after news of Batteux's death reached the crowd at Friday's game between Saint-Etienne and Grenoble, two minutes of silence was observed. A similar solemn memorial took place at all of the weekend's French league games. Batteux's funeral takes place today in Grenoble.