Daniel Leclercq (4 September 1949 – 22 November 2019) was a French football defender and manager. He played 440 matches from 1967 to 1984 for

US Valenciennes Valenciennes Football Club (; commonly known as Valenciennes or USVA) is a French association football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1913 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Valenciennes pla ...

, Olympique de Marseille and

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 ...

. He later managed clubs from 1986 to 2017. He remains the only manager to have led RC Lens to the Ligue 1 championship.

Biography

Leclercq was born 4 September 1949 in Trith-Saint-Léger, France and came up in the youth system of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

. Nicknamed le «Druide» (The Druid) for his long white hair, he played central defender for his entire career. In 1967, he made his first appearance in Ligue 1 with Valenciennes. In 1970, he began a stint with Olympique de Marseille. In Marseille, he was part of a squad that won the Ligue 1 championship in the 1970–71 and 1971–72 seasons. He also celebrated a championship in the 1972

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 ...

and the 1972

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 ...

. In 1974, he began his long association with RC Lens. He played nine of his 17 seasons with the club, appearing in 289 matches and scored 27 goals. After leaving Lens, he played one more season with his hometown club, Valenciennes before retiring. He obtained his first assignment as a manager with Valenciennes in 1986, serving for one season. In 1997, he was hired at Lens where he found his greatest success. In the 1997–1998 season, he managed the club to its only Ligue 1 championship, beating

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 ...

goal differential Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. His club also reached the

1998 Coupe de France Final The Coupe de France Final 1998 was a football match held at Stade de France, Saint-Denis on May 2, 1998, that saw Paris SG defeat RC Lens 2-1 thanks to goals by Raí and Marco Simone. Vladimir Smicer scored for the Division 1 champion which ...

where it fell to

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. 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 ...

2–1. In the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, Lens played in the group stage of the tournament. Although it did not advance to the knockout round, the French squad defeated Arsenal F.C. on the road at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

. He achieved one more honor in 1999, winning the 1999 Coupe de la Ligue before leaving the team. He left Lens after his championship run and returned to Valenciennes for two more seasons in 2003. He served as the technical director for Lens from 2008 to 2011. In 2009, he took on the managerial job at amateur club Arleux-Fechain through 2016. He spent one season with non-league SC Douai in 2017. Leclercq died in

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

on 22 November 2019 from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 70.

References

External links

* * *
Profile
1949 births 2019 deaths Association football defenders French footballers Valenciennes FC players Olympique de Marseille players Angoulême Charente FC players RC Lens players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players French football managers Valenciennes FC managers RC Lens managers R.A.A. Louviéroise managers Ligue 1 managers SC Douai managers {{france-footy-defender-1940s-stub