Claude Bez

Claude Bez (November 4, 1940 – January 26, 1999), former Bordeaux soccer team chairman, was an iconic personality in French football culture of the 1980s.[1]

Claude Bez
Born(1940-11-04)November 4, 1940
Bordeaux, France
DiedJanuary 26, 1999(1999-01-26) (aged 58)
Bordeaux, France
NationalityFrench
OccupationPresident of FC Girondins de Bordeaux (1978–1990)

Biography

Claude Bez was born in Saint-Augustin, Bordeaux. His mother died when he was young. His father, Gaston, ran a small accounting firm that was growing quickly with branches in French overseas departments.[2][3]

In his youth he played football for Coqs Rouges.[2][4][n 1] On April 4, 1959, he won the U20 Gironde Cup against Girondins de Bordeaux. He played full-back, was thin and sported a mustache. He left Coqs Rouges for Villenave-d'Ornon, a neighborhood team, and soon devoted himself to a career in accounting.[2]

He chaired Bordeaux for 12 years, leading the club to three French championship titles (1984, 1985 and 1987), two French Cups against Marseille in 1986 (2-1 after extra time) and in 1987 (2-0), and an uninterrupted run of participation in the European Cup from 1982 to 1989. He failed to achieve his dream of seeing Bordeaux become the first French club to win a European Cup; the team narrowly failed in the semi-finals in 1985 and 1987.

In 1988, he became superintendent of the French national team, a position created especially for him, and hired Michel Platini as coach to rebuild French football.[5][6][7]

The end of his presidency was marked by his rivalry with Bernard Tapie.[8] He is also known as the father of the French soccer broadcasting rights.[8]

He resigned in 1990-91 after being charged with fraud and died of a heart attack in 1999.[9]

gollark: Your point is?
gollark: <@319753218592866315> You muted HelloBoi. This is NOT acceptable.
gollark: I've never used it, I just hear complaints about 1 based arrays.
gollark: ABR defines a bee as about 6 months.
gollark: I've heard they are !!POOR VALUE!!.

See also
  • Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux

References and notes

References
  1. Tournebise, Laurent (Director), Pédebernard, Laurent (Director) (May 30, 2016). Claude Bez, le 13ème homme [Claude Bez, the 13th man] (France Télévisions, Mara Films) (in French). France 3 Aquitaine. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  2. "Claude Bez, un président grand cru" [Claude Bez, a grand cru president]. Autrement (in French). Paris. 1986. pp. 59–62. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  3. "Le football en terre de rugby" [Soccer in rugby land]. Vingtième siècle (in French). Paris: Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques. 1990. pp. 97–107. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  4. "OPA sur le foot français : derrière le "coup" Platini, Claude Bez, président des Girondins de Bordeaux" [Takeover bid for French football: behind the Platini 'coup', Claude Bez, chairman of Girondins de Bordeaux FC]. L'Express (in French). Paris. 1988. p. "64–66". Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  5. Auclair, Philippe (2009). Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King. London: Pan Macmillan. p. 107. ISBN 9780230747012.
  6. "Le putsch de Big Bez" [The Big Bez putsch]. Le Nouvel Observateur (in French). Paris. November 10, 1988. Retrieved March 21, 2018. C'est l'ogre bordelais qui a mené toute l'affaire
  7. "Un putsch… très girondin" [A true girondin… putsch]. Le Figaro Magazine (in French). Paris. November 5, 1988. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  8. Artus, Hubert (2011). "Bez, Claude (1940-1999)". Donqui Foot (in French). Paris: Don Quichotte. ISBN 9782359490466.
  9. "Bez, la mort du shérif" [Bez: death of the sheriff]. Girondins4ever (in French). Archived from the original on November 7, 2007.

Notes
  1. Coqs Rouges: football section of Coqs Rouges, a French multi-sports club located in Gradignan.
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