Georges Boulogne, self-proclaimed guide of French soccer coaches, 1956-1982

ABSTRACT

George Boulogne is a forgotten character of French football, though he stayed at the helm of the National Trainers from 1956 to 1982 as Technical National Directors. Albeit he wasn’t a professional footballer, he became permanent instructor of French Football Federation in 1958, and big chief of the annual football trainer’s courses. Because he held this position until 1982, he was able to promote a doctrine for French football, based on defensive conceptions and duplicated from various successful national teams. He showed unwavering faith in building a community of French coaches, who could share this common doctrine enthusiastically. But under his reign, French football didn’t improve. So, in spite of his relentless efforts, and because of his controversial relations with the press, he didn’t get great recognition, neither for the results of French football, nor for his methods or his doctrine, which did however influence several generations of French coaches.

KEYWORDS:

• Football
• coach
• coaching
• France
• defensive conceptions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).