Roger Gaston Louis Marche (5 March 1924 – 1 November 1997) 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 le ...

who played as a defender. He was part of the French national team during the

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 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

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 ...

tournaments. He was nicknamed '' Le Sanglier des Ardennes'' ("the Boar of the Ardenne") for the region from which he came.

Career

Marche, born in

Villers-Semeuse Villers-Semeuse () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population Notable people This is a list of people of interest who were born or lived in Villers Semeuse: * Jean-Pierre Brunois, entrepreneur * Roger Marche, foo ...

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, is one of the players with the most appearances in the French top division, having played 542 matches for the clubs

Stade Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional 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 2018. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Aug ...

and

RC Paris Racing Club de France Football (, also known as Racing Paris, RCF Paris, Matra Racing, Racing Club, or Racing) is a French association football club based in Colombes, a suburb of Paris. Racing was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline spor ...

. He was a member of the French national team from 1947 to 1959, and became the most-capped player ever for France with 63 international matches played, surpassing

Étienne Mattler Étienne Mattler (25 December 1905 – 23 March 1986) was a French international footballer, nicknamed ''Le Lion de Belfort''. Career Mattler, born in Belfort, played for the clubs US Belfort (1921–1927), AS Troyes (1927–1929), and FC So ...

's previous record of 46 caps set in 1940. Marche held the record until 1983, when the also defender

Marius Trésor Marius Paul Trésor (born 15 January 1950) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers. He is considered one of the best central defenders of all ...

established a new mark with his 64th cap. Several players since have surpassed that cap total. He was also the nation's oldest goalscorer at 35 years and 287 days, until

Olivier Giroud Olivier Jonathan Giroud (born 30 September 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the France national team. Regarded for his work-rate, strength, acrobatic strikes, shot power, consistent goal-s ...

surpassed his record on 22 September 2022. Marche died in 1997 in

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

Honours

Reims * Division 1: 1948–49, 1952–53; runner-up: 1946–47, 1953–54 *

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 ...

: 1949–50 *

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 ...

: 1949 *

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 ...

: 1953 France *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

third place:

References

External links

* * *
List of international appearances
1924 births 1997 deaths French footballers France international footballers Association football defenders 1954 FIFA World Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players Ligue 1 players Stade de Reims players Racing Club de France Football players OFC Charleville players Sportspeople from Ardennes (department) Footballers from Grand Est {{france-footy-defender-1920s-stub