Pierre Pibarot

Pierre Pibarot (23 July 1916 – 26 November 1981) was a French football player and football manager.

Pierre Pibarot
Personal information
Date of birth (1916-07-23)23 July 1916
Place of birth Alès, France
Date of death 26 November 1981(1981-11-26) (aged 65)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1934–1939 Olympique Alès
Teams managed
1945–1948 Olympique Alès
1948–1955 Nîmes
1951–1954 France
1956 France U-21
1958–1964 RC Paris
1964–1967 Nîmes
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Born in Alès, France, Pibarot is a product of the Olympique Alès youth programme. He left the club briefly in 1932 to play for the now-defunct sporting club attached to the lycée Victor Hugo-de-Marseille. He returned to Olympique Alès in 1934, and was part of the team that won the Ligue 2 championship the following season.

His promising playing career was cut short by a leg injury he received at the Battle of Narvik in 1940; his short-lived return to professional play for Nancy was terminated when he turned manager in 1944, at the age of 29, after being part of the Coupe de France winning Nancy side.

Post-playing career

His old club Olympique Alès offered him the manager's position in 1945; he used the following four years to perfect the 'line defence" technique[1] that would make him famous, and in the process took Olympique Alès back to the first division for the second time in its history.

In 1949, he moved to Nîmes Olympique, which team too he took up to Ligue 1, before being tapped to bring his skills to the French national team in 1955. He had already been involved as a technical strategist with the team as early as their friendly against England in 1951.

He ended his career with stints at RCF Paris.[2]

In recognition of his contributions to the science of defence and his excellence as a trainer, the main stadium at France's football academy at Clairefontaine was named for him. The stadium of Olympique Alès, where he is something of a hometown hero, is also named for him in memory of his contributions to the team as player and manager.[3][4]

References
  1. "de beste bron van informatie over excelsior. Deze website is te koop!". excelsior.be. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  2. "France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  3. "Stade Pierre Pibarot (Alès)". France.stades.free.fr. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  4. Archived 13 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
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