Albert Eloy (17 April 1892 – 7 January 1947) was a French

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Olympique Lillois Olympique Lillois was a French association football club from the city of Lille. Founded in 1902 they merged with SC Fives in 1944 to form Lille OSC. Honours Championnat de France *Champion: 1914, 1933 *Runner-up: 1936 Events Jan ...

and the French national team in the 1910s.

Playing career

Club career

Albert Eloy was born in Carnin,

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

, on 17 April 1892, and due to his great size of 1.81 meters, he quickly stood out as a great center-forward, becoming a French school champion with the Faidherbe high school. He then joined the ranks of Olympique Lillois in 1908, aged 16. On 19 February 1911, Eloy scored the opening goal in an eventual 3–0 win over

RC Roubaix Racing Club de Roubaix was a French association football team that played in Roubaix, Nord. History The team was founded in 1895 and was very successful before the establishment of professionalism in France. In 1933, after losing twice in a ...

, thus contributing decisively in helping the club clinch the 1911 USFSA Northern Championship, which was the very first title in the club's history. Together with

Paul Voyeux Paul Voyeux (11 April 1884 – 1 May 1968) was a French footballer who played as a forward for Olympique Lillois and the French national team between 1912 and 1914. Playing career Club career Paul Voyeux was born in Valenciennes, Nord, on 11 Apr ...

Paul Chandelier Paul Jules Louis Chandelier (23 January 1892 – 28 September 1983) was a French footballer who played as a forward for Olympique Lillois and the French national team between 1912 and 1914. Playing career Club career Born in Hergnies, Nord, on ...

, and

Alphonse Six Alphonse Léopold Bauduin Six (1 January 1890 – 19 August 1914) was a Belgian football player. Early life Six was born in Bruges and is mainly remembered for his goal-scoring capacities. Career In his period with Cercle Brugge he score ...

, Eloy helped OL win back-to-back USFSA Northern Championships in 1913 and 1914, winning the former with a record of 13 wins and only one defeat. On 5 April 1914, he started in the final of the

1914 USFSA Football Championship Statistics of the USFSA Football Championship in the 1914 season. Tournament First round * Racing Club de Reims 7-0 La fraternelle d'Ailly * FC Lyon 6-2 US Annemasse * Football club de Braux 4-2 Cercle des Sports Stade Lorrain * SM Caen 6-1 US L ...

, scoring twice to help his side to a 3–0 win over Olympique de Cette. Two weeks later, on 19 April, Eloy started in the semifinal of the 1914 Trophée de France in Roubaix, scoring the opening goal in an eventual 4–1 win over FEC Levallois, and in the following week, on 26 April, he started in the final of the

Trophée de France The Grand Prix de France is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the French Federation of Ice Sports () (FFIS). The first iteration of the Grand Prix de France was hel ...

at the Charentonneau, helping his side to a 4–1 win over.

International career

On 23 March 1911, just a month after helping Lillois win its first-ever title, the

USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...

selected the 19-year-old Eloy to play an unofficial match between

UIAFA The ''Union Internationale Amateur de Football Association'' (UIAFA; French for International Amateur Association Football Union) was an international governing body of association football which competed with FIFA for a short time between 1909 ...

's France and AFA's England at the

Parc de Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin and Stade Roland Garros. The stadium, with a seati ...

; he scored his side's only goal in a 1–3 loss. On 1 January 1912, he played another match against the AFA, this time in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and he again scored the only goal for France (1–7). He was also a member of the French squad that participated in the

1911 UIAFA European Football Tournament The 1911 UIAFA European Football Tournament () was an unofficial European Championship organized by UIAFA (''Union Internationale Amateur de Football Association''), which was competing with FIFA at the time. The tournament was held within the fr ...

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

, an unofficial European Championship organized by UIAFA, in which France was knocked out in the semifinals by

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

(1–4).

When the USFSA joined the CFI in 1913, Eloy finally became eligible to play for the official French national team, making his debut on 9 March, in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, scoring twice to help his side to a 4–1 win. On 4 January 1914, Eloy played for the so-called ''Lions des Flandres'', a regional

scratch team A scratch team is a team, usually in sport, brought together on a temporary basis, composed of players who normally play for different sides. A game played between two scratch teams may be called a scratch match. The earliest instance of the term ...

representing Northern France, in a friendly against the

Paris football team The Paris football team () is an association football scratch team mainly consisting of players from Paris, but also of players hailing from other regions and countries playing for Parisian clubs or in the Parisian League. This scratch team was in ...

; he scored the opening goal in an eventual 3–1 win. This performance earned him his second selection for the national team, in a friendly against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, but he remained an unused substitute. Eloy finally earned his second and last international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

on 8 February 1914, but failed to score as France surprisingly lost 4–5.

Later life

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Eloy and his OL teammate Chandelier remained in their capacity as medical students, working as nurses at the Saint-Sauveur hospital in Lille, where they devoted themselves to relieving the suffering of their unfortunate fellow citizens under the German boot. His father, however, was assassinated by the Germans in Provins, near Lille, where he was a teacher. Eloy retired from playing in 1919. He then settled as a military doctor in

Anor Anor () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It lies about forty kilometres (twenty-five miles) south-south-east of Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical or ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), ...

, and in that same year, he founded the town's football club with the help of the few enthusiasts of the village, such as Lucien Bottiau, Jean Troisfontaine, Raoul Martin, André Fillette, and the Franco-Argentine Paul Million, a high-class

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He later settled in

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

Death

Eloy died in

on 7 January 1947, at the age of 54.

Career statistics

:''France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Eloy goal.''

Honours

;

USFSA Football Northern Championship The USFSA Football Northern Championship was a French football competition, contested annually between 1898 and 1914 and organized by the Northern Committee of the Union of French Athletic Sports Societies (USFSA), which brought together clubs fro ...

**Champions (3): 1911, 1913, and 1914 *

USFSA Football Championship U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...

: **Champion (1):

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

: **Champion (1):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eloy, Albert 1892 births 1947 deaths French men's footballers France men's international footballers Footballers from Nord (French department) Men's association football forwards 20th-century French sportsmen French military personnel of World War I