Wikipedia

Eugène Fraysse

Jean Eugène Fraysse (4 May 1870 – 1 May 1950) was a French footballer who played as a forward. He founded Club Français in 1892, becoming its first captain and leading the club to multiple trophies in the late 20th century, including the 1896 French Championship (USFSA) and two Coupe Manier titles in 1897 and 1898.[1]

Eugène Fraysse
Eugène Fraysse in 1896
Personal information
Full name Jean Eugène Fraysse
Date of birth (1870-05-04)4 May 1870
Place of birth 18th arrondissement of Paris, France
Date of death 1 May 1950(1950-05-01) (aged 79)
Place of death 16th arrondissement of Paris, France
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1892–1899 Club Français
1899–1901 Racing Club de France
International career
1895 Paris XI 1 (0)
1900 France (Olympic) 1 (2)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  France
Football at the Summer Olympics
Silver medal – second place 1900 Paris Team Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He competed in the football tournament at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, winning a silver medal as a member of the USFSA Olympic team representing France, which was primarily made up of Club Français players.[2][3]

Early life and founding Club Français

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Jean Eugène Fraysse was born in the 18th arrondissement of Paris on 4 May 1870.[1][4][a] Being the son of a well-off family from the wealthy districts of Paris, Fraysse was sent to Britain to complete his studies, and during his four years there, he developed a deep interest in football, so when he returned to Paris in the summer of 1892, he decided to found a football club.[1] He eventually met fellow countrymen Charles Bernat, who had also become a football fan during his language study trip across the English Channel, so they decided to join forces to import the sport into France, and together, they founded Club Français in October 1892.[1][5][6] While most of the clubs in France founded in the 19th century were the creation of the British who had left their homeland, the Club Français was the work of two Frenchman, becoming the first club reserved exclusively for the French, hence its name.[5]

Shortly after its foundation, Fraysse argued with the captain of Standard Athletic Club, Philip Tomalin, which resulted in a match between their clubs on 1 November 1892.[1] Without a designated field, Club Français was forced to tour the stadiums of western Paris during its first years of existence.[5]

In 1894, he was appointed vice-president and captain of Club Français.[1] In November 1894, Fraysse became president of the (Football) Association Commission of the USFSA.[1] On 17 February 1895, he attended the annual gala dinner of The White Rovers held by its founding president W.H. Sleator, who welcomed the visiting clubs, and Fraysse responded to the "toast" by replying on behalf of the Club Français.[1]

Playing career

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Club career

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Fraysse (seated on the floor, first from right) featured in the Club Français team that won the 1896 championship of France.

Club Français joined the USFSA in March 1894, and on 22 April of the same year, Fraysse started as a forward in the semifinal of the inaugural USFSA championship, which ended in a 0–1 loss to The White Rovers.[7] On 24 February 1895, Fraysse and his teammate Bernat were the only Frenchman selected to play for the first representative team of Paris in a friendly match against the London-based Folkestone at the soggy pitch of the Seine Velodrome, which ended in a 0–3 loss.[1][8] In 1896, Fraysse captained the Club Français team to victory in the 1896 USFSA Football Championship, doing so without losing a single match.[9]

 
Fraysse (seated on the floor, first from right) with Club Français at the Parc des Princes on 26 December 1897.

In 1896, Fraysse captained the first exclusively French selection against the English Ramblers, and then did it again on 26 December 1897, in which was the very first football match in the history of the Parc des Princes in front of 500 spectators, leading Club Français to a 1–3 loss to the English Ramblers.[10] During the match, he became a little dizzy after falling against a post, and missed several chances, and after the match, it was said that he had imagined having played a championship match and was therefore sad.[10] On 28 March 1898, Fraysse started in the 1898 Coupe Manier final at the Vélodrome de Vincennes, helping his side to a 10–0 win over Paris Star.[11] In the following week, on 3 April, he started in the final of the 1898 USFSA Football Championship against Standard AC at Courbevoie, which ended in a 2–3 loss.[12] In the following year, on 16 April 1899, he started in the play-off match against Standard AC to decide the 1898–99 USFSA Paris championship [fr], assisting two goals to help his side to a 3–2 win.[13] This victory qualified the club to the 1899 USFSA national championship, in which Club Français withdrew from the final before facing Le Havre AC.[14]

In 1899, the 29-year-old Fraysse moved to Racing Club de France, where he retired in 1901, aged 31.[1] In the following year, Fraysse co-financed the purchase of a 30-hectare plot of land in Vésinet, to install fields and changing rooms for the Club Français, of which he was still president.[1]

According to Ernest Weber, his former teammate who later became a journalist, Fraysse was "loud-mouthed, abrupt, violent", but also an exciting leader of men and captain; but we know nothing about his civil status.[1]

International career

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Fraysse (2nd row, second from the right) with the French team at the 1900 Olympics.

The French champions in 1899 and 1900, Havre AC, were not willing to participate, so the USFSA asked for the runners-up Club Français to participate, possibly to also attract more spectators and keep down expenses, and the three guest players were Fraysse of Racing Club de France, who also played a leading role within the USFSA, and his teammates Peltier and René Ressejac-Duparc.[2][15] Fraysse was listed as a forward for the USFSA team at the 1900 Olympic Games.[16][17]

Fraysse captained the French team in its opening match against Upton Park on 20 September, which ended in a humiliating 0–4 loss, thus becoming the first captain of a French national team.[15][18] Since the figure of a coach as we know it today did not yet exist at the time, it was the duty of the captain to dictate the tactics to be followed and making up the line-ups, and in fact, it was he who was responsible, along with Léopold Alibert and Neville Tunmer, for training the French team, in which he also played; a sort of player-coach.[19] The French team came second and Fraysse was thus awarded with a silver medal.[2][3]

Later life

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Fraysse distanced himself from football in 1903, and he later got involved in tennis and even Basque pelota.[1] He became the owner of the tennis courts of rue Delaizementin at the 16th arrondissement of Paris, and in August 1903, he allowed those courts to be used for the tennis championship of the Club Français.[1] It was also in the 16th, rue Borghese, that Fraysse opened a Fronton de pelota basque in 1903.[1]

Fraysse wrote in collaboration with the Englishman Alfred Tunmer (former player of the Standard AC) and his brother Neville, the first French work devoted to association football, called Football Association, which was published in 1897 by Armand Colin (followed by several re-editions until 1913).[20] Fraysse and Neville, who had coached the French team at the 1900 Olympics, described the football team as a military squadron under the orders of its officer, stating that "the many qualities that a player must possess to properly fulfill the functions of captain are the same required of a general; his team is a small army that he must know how to command, instruct and lead, and the team must have unlimited confidence in him".[20]

Death and legacy

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Fraysse died in the 16th arrondissement of Paris on 1 May 1950, just three days short of his 80th birthday.[2][3][1]

On 12 November 2020, Pierre Cazal published his book called Sélectionneurs des Bleus: De Fraysse à Deschamps (The managers of the Bleus: From Fraysse to Deschamps), which relates the chronology of the several managers of the French team.[19]

Honours

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Club

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Club Français

International

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France MNT

Notes

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  1. ^ Some sources wrongly claim that he was born on 24 August 1879, due to a confusion with a certain Maurice-Eugène Fraysse, the son of an undeclared father who was recognized by his mother, Florentine-Pétronille Fraysse, a seamstress.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Sélectionneurs des Bleus, les bonus (5/11): Eugène Fraysse" [The Blues’ selectors, the bonuses (5/11): Eugène Fraysse]. www.chroniquesbleues.fr (in French). 4 December 2020. Archived from the original on 13 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Eugène Fraysse". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Eugène Fraysse". www.fff.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  4. ^ "1870, Naissances, 18 - Visionneuse" [1870, Births, 18 - Viewer]. archives.paris.fr (in French). p. 4. Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Aux sombres héros de la Coupe (2/2)" [To the dark heroes of the Cup (2/2)]. www.sofoot.com (in French). 25 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 April 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  6. ^ "The father of French football: a tailor from Worcester". www.scottishsporthistory.com. 8 February 2016. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  7. ^ "White Rovers contre Club Français" [White Rovers against Club Français]. babel.hathitrust.org/ (in French). 28 April 1894. Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Sports Athlétiques - Football". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). Le Radical. 26 February 1895. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  9. ^ Denaunay, Stéphane; De Ryswick, Jacques; Cornu, Jean; Vermand, Dominique (July 1989). 100 ans de football en France [100 years of football in France] (in French). Paris: Atlas. p. 27. ISBN 9782731207434. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
  10. ^ a b "Ramblers contre Club Français" [Ramblers against Club Français]. www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 27 December 1897. p. 1. Archived from the original on 13 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  11. ^ "La Coupe Manier". www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 28 March 1898. p. 2. Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Le Championnat de France - Victoirie du Standard" [The French Championship - Victory of Standard]. www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 4 April 1898. p. 2. Archived from the original on 13 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  13. ^ "Championnat de Paris - Club Français contre Standard Athletic Club" [Paris Championship - Club Français against Standard Athletic Club]. www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 17 April 1899. p. 2. Archived from the original on 13 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  14. ^ "1898-99 season in France". RSSSF. 29 August 2024. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  15. ^ a b "1900 - Paris". www.iffhs.de. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ^ "Paris 1900, en sport de démonstration" [Paris 1900, in demonstration sport]. www.fff.fr (in French). 10 July 2024. Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  17. ^ "Eugène Fraysse - Fiche joueur - Football" [Eugène Fraysse - Player profile - Football]. www.eurosport.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Games of the II. Olympiad". RSSSF. 12 May 2022. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Sélectionneurs des Bleus: ruptures et héritages" [The French national team's coaches: ruptures and legacies]. www.chroniquesbleues.fr (in French). 9 November 2020. Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  20. ^ a b "À lire un extrait de Une Histoire populaire du football, de M. Correia" [Read an excerpt from A People's History of Football, by M. Correia]. www.contretemps.eu (in French). 15 July 2018. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
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