Robert Henri Jonquet (3 May 1925 – 17 December 2008) was a French former

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 ...

defender. He played the majority of his professional career for the club

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, winning five

French championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

s and appearing in two

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

finals. He is considered one of the best central defenders of his time. Nicknamed "The Hero of

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

" after an outstanding individual performance against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in London in 1951, Jonquet was integral to the

France national football team The France national football team (french: Équipe de France de football) represents France in men's international football matches. It is governed by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is a ...

of the 1950s, playing at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

finals of

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

and 1958.

Early life

Robert Henri Jonquet was born on 3 May 1925 in the

14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...

Playing career

1946–1956

During his youth, Jonquet played in the surrounding countryside of southern Paris in

Châtenay-Malabry Châtenay-Malabry () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located 10.8 km (6.7 mi) from the center of Paris. The French writer Chateaubriand lived in the estate ''Vallée-aux-Loups'' at Châtenay-Malabry. The Ga ...

, and afterwards for the ''Société Sportive Voltaire''. In 1946/47, he played his first season at

in the division 1. He became a first-team player, and in the spring 1947, he was called up for the first time to the

. Jonquet was relatively short (1.76 m) for his playing position, but as a '' libero'', played with elegance and talent in the number 5 shirt, rather than in the mould of a typical centre-back "destroyer". In the 1948/49 season he won his first

, 1950 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 ...

, followed in 1953 by his second

and the

Latin Cup The Latin Cup was an international football tournament for club sides from the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949 the football federations came together and requested FIFA to launch the competition. Europ ...

. In the year after he participated with Les Bleus in its first World Cup finals in Switzerland; in 1955 he won the

again, the French Supercup, was finalist in the

and the following year (1956) reached with Reims the final of the newly born

, losing to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

3:4. Two further high points of these years took place on international fields: in October 1951 with the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

he played in London against

(which included

Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side, but he is best known for his time as England manager fr ...

and Billy Wright). Jonquet's superb game helped France obtain a 2:2 draw, and on the next morning a newspaper headline referred to him as "The Hero of Highbury". The "hero" also played in a European selection which defeated England in a friendly match in 1955.

A main player in one of the best teams of Europe

Robert Jonquet's fellow players with Reims reads like a Who's Who of French football during the 1950s: between goalkeeper (

Dominique Colonna Dominique Colonna (born 4 September 1928 in Corte, Haute-Corse) is a French former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Honours Nice * French championship: 1956 Reims * French championship: 1958, 1960, 1962 * Coupe de France: 1958 * Troph ...

) and offensive forces (

Raymond Kopa Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three Eu ...

Michel Hidalgo Michel François Hidalgo (22 March 1933 – 26 March 2020) was a French professional football player, footballer and Manager (association football), manager. He was the head coach of the France national football team, French national team from 1 ...

Léon Glovacki Léon Glovacki (19 February 1928 – 9 September 2009) was a French football (soccer), football Striker (football), striker. Personal life Glovacki was born in France, and was of Polish descent. He was an international for the France national fo ...

Jean Vincent Jean Vincent (29 November 1930 – 13 August 2013) was a French international footballer and manager. Playing career Playing primarily at outside-left, Vincent enjoyed a highly successful career at club and international level, winning numero ...

Just Fontaine Just Louis Fontaine (born 18 August 1933) is a French former professional footballer. A prolific forward, he is best known for scoring the most goals in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in 1958. In 2004, Pel ...

Roger Piantoni Roger Piantoni (26 December 1931 – 26 May 2018) was a French footballer who played as an inside-forward and was a star on the French national team in the late 1950s. During the 1949–1950 season, he was the champion of Lorraine with his te ...

René Bliard René Bliard (18 October 1932 – 27 September 2009) was a French professional football striker who was a member of Stade de Reims in the 1950s. He was also part of France's squad for the 1952 Summer Olympics, but he did not play in any match ...

) stood safe defensive players such as

Roger Marche Roger Gaston Louis Marche (5 March 1924 – 1 November 1997) was a French footballer who played as a defender. He was part of the French national team during the 1954 and 1958 World Cup tournaments. He was nicknamed '' Le Sanglier des Ardenne ...

Armand Penverne Armand Penverne (26 November 1926 – 27 February 2012) was a French football defender and coach. He played the majority of his professional career for Stade de Reims winning four French championships and appearing in one European Cup final. ...

Albert Batteux Albert Batteux (2 July 1919 – 28 February 2003) was a French football midfielder and a manager. He is the most successful manager in the history of Ligue 1 having won eight domestic titles, twice reaching the European Cup final and a third-p ...

Michel Leblond Michel Leblond (10 May 1932 – 17 December 2009) was a French football midfielder who was a member of the French squad at FIFA World Cup 1954 and a main player of great Stade de Reims in the 1950s. He also holds the honour of being the first ...

, Jean Wendling – and evenly over one decade for Jonquet, who is the only players who played in two finals of the

as well as two finals of the

by the way accompanied and supported Jonquet career over this time in three different ways: as a fellow players (until 1950), as a manager (1950–1959) and as France national football team coach (starting from 1955).

1957–1961

The 1957/58 season held further titles but also included probably the blackest hour for Jonquet. With Reims he won the treble of the French Championships Cup and Super Cup. In addition he participated in its second soccer world championship, at

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

in Sweden where

finished third. However its misfortune in the semi-final (see below) prevented Jonquet's participation in the match for third place (6: 3 against Germany). After the second European Cup final against rival

(1959, 0:2)

returned from ''Los Merengues'' to Reims – and Jonquet won his fifth French championship in 1960 and his third Super Cup. In this summer he retired at age 35 from

and moved to

Racing Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

in the second division, helping them to promote to the top division division 1 in 1961 – his final success as a player.

International career

Between April 1948 and July 1960 Robert Jonquet played 58 matches for

and captained them. He participated

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerla ...

(one match) and

(five matches as the team captain). In Sweden his injury in the semi-final against Brazil after 35 minutes, following an impact with

Vavá Edvaldo Izidio Neto (12 November 1934 – 19 January 2002), commonly known as Vavá, was a Brazilian footballer who is widely considered one of the best strikers of his generation. His nickname was "Peito de Aço" (Steel Chest). He played as a ...

, all but incapacitated him. In the half-time break – substitutes at that time not yet permitted – the team physician injected a pain-satisfying syringe, and Jonquet was able to stand on two legs. He spent the second half more or less useless and hobbling on the left wing. Indeed, he had broken its

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

. But five months later he came back in the national team. He played his last match at

Euro 1960 The 1960 European Nations' Cup was the first edition of the UEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised by UEFA. The first tournament was held in France. It was won by the Soviet Union national football team, Soviet Union, wh ...

against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Post-playing career

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

, Jonquet moved from the playing field to the coaching sidelines, enjoying a spell with Reims and afterwards with a small teams,

Romilly-sur-Seine Romilly-sur-Seine (, literally ''Romilly on Seine'') is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. Population International relations Romilly-sur-Seine is twinned with: * Milford Haven, United Kingdom * Gotha, Germany * L ...

Épernay Épernay () is a commune in the Marne department of northern France, 130 km north-east of Paris on the mainline railway to Strasbourg. The town sits on the left bank of the Marne at the extremity of the Cubry valley which crosses it. Ép ...

and Châlons-sur-Marne. He was very disappointed with the rise of money in football, missing his time at

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional association football, football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2017–18 Ligue 2, 2018. ...

. He died on 17 December 2008 in

, Marne. His club Reims gave his name to a stand of their stadium Auguste Delaune.http://www.ville-reims.fr/fileadmin/documents/Centre_de_presse/CQ_Hommage_R_Jonquet.pdf

Honours

Reims * Division 1: 1948–49, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1959–60; runner-up: 1946–47, 1953–54 *

: 1949–50, 1957–58 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

: 1955, 1958, 1960 *

: 1953; runner-up: 1955 *

runner-up: 1955–56, 1958–59

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonquet, Robert 1925 births 2008 deaths Footballers from Paris Association football defenders French footballers Stade de Reims players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Ligue 1 players France international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1960 European Nations' Cup players French football managers Stade de Reims managers RC Strasbourg Alsace managers