Jean-Marc Furlan (born 20 November 1957) is a French

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

who played as a defender.

Club career

Born in

Sainte-Foy-la-Grande Sainte-Foy-la-Grande (; oc, Senta Fe la Granda) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is on the south bank of the Dordogne. History The town was founded in 1076, near a priory where Sainte Foy ...

, Furlan started his career at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, where he signed his first professional contract in 1975, winning the

Coupe Gambardella The Coupe Gambardella is a French football cup competition held between the under-18s of the French football clubs, organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). The cup is regarded as an opportunity for young hopefuls to showcase their s ...

one year later. Furlan later also played for

Stade Lavallois Stade Lavallois Mayenne Football Club (), also referred to as Stade Laval or simply Laval, is a French association football club based in Laval in western France. The club was formed on 17 July 1902 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second ...

, Olympique Lyonnais,

Tours FC Tours Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tours (), is a French association football club based in Tours, the capital city of the Indre-et-Loire department. The club was formed in 1919 and currently play at the fifth level of French ...

, where he won promotion to the first division in the 1983–84 season,

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a Corsican association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of French f ...

Montpellier HSC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC or simply Montpellier, is a French professional football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitanie. The original club was founded in 1919, while the current ...

, in which he achieved another promotion to the top-flight in the 1986–87 campaign,

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...

and Saint-Seurin-sur-l'Isle, retiring there in 1993. From 1976 to 1993, Furlan played as a sweeper in 420 professional games, 273 in Division 1 and 147 in Division 2.

Managerial career

Libourne

After retirement, Furlan later opened a sport shop. He felt the need to share his football passion and did so by volunteering as a coach for his son's little league team. His aim was to develop the talent of young players. Due to financial difficulties, the club merged into Libourne/Saint-Seurin and started over in

CFA 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

(fifth tier). Satisfied with the results of the Libourne youth team, Furlan was asked to manage the first-team squad from 1997 to 2004. This was a success; four seasons in a row, he guided Libourne to the round of 32 in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

, eliminating Ligue 1 teams such as Olympique Lyonnais and

FC Metz Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...

and making it to the quarter-finals. At the same time, Furlan achieved promotion from CFA 2 (fifth tier) to CFA (fourth tier) and then the

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(third tier). During his time at Libourne-Saint Seurin, Furlan was widely credited with having overseen the progress of youngsters such as Matthieu Chalmé and

Mathieu Valbuena Mathieu Valbuena (born 28 September 1984) is a French professional footballer who plays for Super League Greece club Olympiacos. He plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger and is known for his pace, technical ability, and tenacious style ...

Troyes

Furlan's performances as a manager drew the attention of several professional teams. He signed his first professional contract as a manager with Ligue 2 side

Troyes AC Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne (ESTAC), commonly known as Troyes, is a French association football club, based in Troyes, who play in Ligue 1, the highest level of France's football league system, and plays its home matches at the ...

in the 2004–05 season. His first season was very successful as Troyes was promoted to Ligue 1 and he was personally awarded Manager of the Year, being considered to be a shrewd tactician with collective spirit made up of well-oiled offensive tactics.

Strasbourg

Furlan was appointed manager of RC Strasbourg from 2007 to 2009.

Nantes

Furlan took over as the new manager of

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a ...

in the 2009–10 season.

Return to Troyes

In the 2010–11 season, Furlan returned to Troyes and the team was promoted to Ligue 1 the following season. Again in the 2014–15 season, Furlan easily led the side to promotion to Ligue 1, with four games before the end of the season, as well as winning its first national title, Ligue 2. He left the club on 3 December 2015.

Brest

On 30 May 2016, Furlan became the new manager of Stade Brestois 29 for three years after Alex Dupont, the previous manager, failed to bring them back up to Ligue 1 after three years in command. Despite a low budget in the teams he managed, Furlan developed the talent of very good players such as Damien Perquis, Bafétimbi Gomis,

Blaise Matuidi Blaise Matuidi (born 9 April 1987) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He most notably played for Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, and the France national team. Matuidi began his football career playing for ...

, Djibril Sidibé, Mounir Obbadi and

Fabrice N'Sakala Fabrice Nsakala Mayélé (born 21 July 1990) is a professional footballer who plays for Swiss club Neuchâtel Xamax. He plays as a box-to-box midfielder, but is also capable of playing as a left-back or centre-back. He is a former French youth i ...

. On 17 May 2019, after Furlan had led Brest to a Ligue 1 promotion, his contract ran out.

Auxerre

He signed with Ligue 2 side

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division ...

the same day.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Bordeaux *

: 1976 Tours * Division 2: 1983–84 Montpellier *Division 2: 1986–87

Manager

Jean-Marc Furlan; entraineur de Stade Brestois

Libourne * Championnat de France Amateur 2: 1998–99 * Championnat de France Amateur promotion: 1999–2000, 2002–03 *Coupe d'Aquitaine: 2003–04 Troyes *Ligue 2: 2014–15, third place promotion: 2004–05, 2011–12 Brest *Ligue 2 runner-up: 2018–19 Individual *Ligue 2

Manager of the Year Manager of the Year may refer to: * Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award * League Managers Association Manager of the Year * Premier League Manager of the Season The Premier League Manager of the Season is an annual association footba ...

: 2004–05, 2014–15

References

External links

Jean-Marc Furlan profile
at Footballdatabase.eu
Jean-Marc Furlan profile
at Racingstub.com
Jean-Marc Furlan profile
at

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furlan, Jean-Marc 1957 births Living people Association football defenders French footballers FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Stade Lavallois players Olympique Lyonnais players Tours FC players SC Bastia players Montpellier HSC players RC Lens players FC Libourne players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players French football managers ES Troyes AC managers RC Strasbourg Alsace managers FC Nantes managers Stade Brestois 29 managers AJ Auxerre managers Ligue 1 managers Ligue 2 managers