José Calle (12 February 1945−14 January 2020) was a French

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

(RL) player who represented

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(RL).

Playing career

Calle learnt rugby union at the Haut Vernet Lay Centre in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

. As a junior player he reinforced the senior team, then, joining the

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, France' ...

rugby union team where he played alongside

Jo Maso Jo Maso (born 27 December 1944) is a French former rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He played centre and fly-half for the France national rugby union team, gaining 25 caps. He was inducted into t ...

, he switched codes in 1968 and joined rugby league

Saint-Estève Saint-Estève (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Saint-Estève is in the canton of Le Ribéral and in the arrondissement of Perpignan. Population See also *Communes of the Pyréné ...

. With the Saint-Estève, he won a French Championship in 1971 and a

Lord Derby Cup The Coupe de France Lord Derby (), or just Coupe Lord Derby ('Lord Derby Cup'), is the premier knockout competition for the sport of rugby league football in France, as well as the name of its championship trophy. The tournament was first conte ...

in 1972. His club performances allowed Calle to become captain and to represent

. He made his international debut in 1968 during a match in St. Helens against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Calle disputed two World Cups in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the first in 1975 and the second in 1977; in the latter he wore the captain armband. He took part in 26 international matches (Australia, England, Wales, Papua New Guinea). He played with the France national team in the first part of football matches, notably at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. In 1978 he was awarded the XIII de Bronze trophy, which was given to outstanding championship players. After his international retirement in 1977, he embraced a club career in Saint-Estève, later notably coaching the

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; , ; ) was a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and French Cerdagne, part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of ' ...

representative team of France Rugby League. After his retirement, he chose to play amateur rugby league, taking part in 3 international tournaments for the Basque Coast side Les Archiball in 1981, 1983 and 1986. He also took part in several UFAR tournament as player for the Nyn's (UFAR Perpignan in 2000) and was president of the Nyn's, a famous Catalan team of former rugby players, since 2013.

References

External links

1945 births 2020 deaths AS Saint Estève coaches AS Saint Estève players France national rugby league team captains France national rugby league team players French rugby league coaches French rugby league players French rugby union players 20th-century French sportsmen Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Perpignan Rugby union players from Perpignan USA Perpignan players {{France-rugbyleague-bio-stub