Michel Prost (born 23 February 1946) is a French former professional
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 le ...
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)
** Sm ...
. He is known for being one of the first "stars" in the history of
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
. As of November 2022, Prost is a delegate for the town of
Poissy
Poissy () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the ﾃ四e-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Pisciacais'' in French.
Poissy is one of ...
in the
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the ﾃ四e-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.
Club career
Early career
Prost was born in the town of
Charenton-le-Pont
Charenton-le-Pont () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris, to the north of the confluence of the Seine and Marne (river), Marne rivers; the () pa ...
. In his teenage years, he played three different sports:
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
,
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
, and
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
. He was a youth
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 le ...
Stade Saint-Germain
Stade Saint-Germain was a French football club active between 1904 and 1970, at which time it merged with Paris FC in 1970 to form Paris Saint-Germain. It was based in the town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
The club's best performance in the Coup ...
. He went on to play for , a military team, from 1967 to 1969. Then, he returned to Stade Saint-Germain.
Paris Saint-Germain
In 1970, Stade Saint-Germain merged with
Paris FC
Paris Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris FC or simply PFC, is a French professional football club based in Paris, that competes in the Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Paris FC play their home matches at the Stade Ch ...
(PFC) to create
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
(PSG). Therefore, Prost joined the newly-formed club. He would make his debut for PSG in a 1窶1 draw against
Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetﾃe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...
on 23 August 1970, the first game in the club's history. His first goal for the Parisian club came in a 3窶2 win over Quevilly six days later.
With PSG, Prost would lift the only title of his career, the Division 2 title, in
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
. He finished the season with 10 goals to his name in 32 league appearances, which made him the joint top-scorer for the club in the league. He would continue with the club for the following season in the Division 1. In the 1971窶72 season, Prost scored 12 goals in 38 league appearances, as PSG managed to reach a safe 16th-place finish. However, in 1972, PSG split into two; PFC kept the first team players, stayed in the first division, but lost the club identity, while PSG was given the reserve team players, relegated to the Division 3, and kept the club identity. This meant that as a player with a professional contract, Prost now played for Paris FC. For Paris Saint-Germain, he had made 74 appearances and scored 22 goals in all competitions.
Paris FC, Nancy, and Bastia
Prost played for Paris FC from 1972 to 1973. He would score 4 goals in 37 appearances for the club in all competitions before signing for Nancy. Eventually, he would only stay at Nancy for only six months, signing with
Bastia
Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastﾃｬa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...
in December 1973.
In the second half of 1976, Prost suffered an injury to his hip, and was told he could no longer play football at such a high level. He ended his professional career in October 1976, and left Bastia.
Red Star and Poissy
After his injury, Prost went to play for
Red Star
A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...
in a semi-professional setting. He would formally retire from playing football in 1977. Soon after, his former Stade Saint-Germain manager
Roger Quenolle
Roger Quenolle (19 July 1925 窶 13 July 2004) was a French professional footballer who played as a striker.
During his career, he played for RC Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg, Red Star, and Stade Saint-Germain. He was capped twice for France. Quen ...
invited him to become
sporting director
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
at
Poissy
Poissy () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the ﾃ四e-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Pisciacais'' in French.
Poissy is one of ...
, where he was coach. Prost accepted, but also worked for
Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
on the side. He would also go on to play 4 games and score 1 goal for Poissy in the Division 2 in the 1977窶78 season.
International career
Prost played for several different national teams of France. He represented his country at
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
,
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
Michel has a son who is named Nicolas (born 1971/1972).
After his football career, Prost would go on to work for
Peugeot-Citroﾃｫn
The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Sociﾃｩtﾃｩ Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroﾃｫn from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...
in
Poissy
Poissy () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the ﾃ四e-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Pisciacais'' in French.
Poissy is one of ...
. Later in his life, he would be a secretary at the Syndicat FO. In the 2010s decade, he would also become delegate in the town of Poissy. He helped organize the plans for Paris Saint-Germain's new training center in the town. He is still in his position of delegate as of November 2022.
In September 2021, Prost was invited to a Paris Saint-Germain match at the
Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...
by the club's president
Nasser Al-Khelaifi
Nasser bin Ghanim Al-Khelaifi ( ar, ﾙﾘｧﾘｵﾘｱ ﾘｨﾙ ﾘｺﾘｧﾙﾙ ﾘｧﾙﾘｮﾙﾙ館ﾙ; born 12 November 1973) is a Qatari businessman and the chairman of beIN Media Group, chairman of Qatar Sports Investments, president of Paris Saint-Germain and the Qatar ...
. He received a jersey with his name on it from Al-Khelaifi.