Paul Frantz (10 March 1927 – 30 September 2016) was a French football player and manager.

Career

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

teacher, he never played as a professional, a fact that did not prevent him from earning his 3rd level manager degree – necessary to coach pro teams in France – as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

in 1958. He was the first manager with no experience as a pro player to do that.''L'Alsace'', 15 March 2007 After several spells with amateur teams, he was named manager of RC Strasbourg in 1964. He led the Strasbourg team to a good run in the Inter-Cities Fairs cup in 1964–1965 ousting

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

and

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

before falling to Manchester United in the quarter finals. A year later, he led the Strasbourg side to victory in 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 ...

, defeating

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a ...

1–0. The following season, he was in charge of

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...

and he remains to this date the only French to ever coach a

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

team. Back at Strasbourg in 1968, he occupied several positions including manager of the first team and

director of football 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 ...

until 1976. In 1968 as well, he turned down an offer to be manager of the

National Team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. He also managed

FC Mulhouse Football Club de Mulhouse (; commonly referred to as FCM or simply Mulhouse) is a French association football club based in Mulhouse. The club was founded in 1893 and currently play in the Championnat National 3, the fifth level of French foot ...

in 1974.

Impact on training in France

Frantz is also renowned for his talents as a coaching trainer and is considered to be one of the iniators of the "scientific approach" to training in France. He was among the first to emphasize physical training and to introduce the use of body-building. During the 1970s he was responsible of the formation organized for aspiring pro managers by the

Fédération Française de Football The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of association football, football in France. It also includes the Overseas departments and territories of France, overseas departments (Guad ...

, where he taught the likes of

Aimé Jacquet Aimé Étienne Jacquet (born 27 November 1941) is a French former professional Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player. He was manager of the France national football team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup. B ...

Roger Lemerre Roger Léon Maurice Lemerre-Desprez (born 18 June 1941) is a French professional football manager and former player. During his managerial career, he was in charge of the French, Tunisian and Moroccan national teams. He also managed numerous c ...

and

Guy Roux Guy Marcel Roux (; born 18 October 1938) is a French former football player and manager known for being in charge of AJ Auxerre for more than 40 years and for leading the team to national and worldwide prominence. Managerial career A native of C ...

. In Alsace, he also was influential in Arsène Wenger's development as a manager. In 2001, he was the recipient of the "''Trophée Georges Boulogne''" to honour his achievements as an educator and trainer.'L'Alsace'', 15 March 2007

References

External links

An interview with ''L'Ami du peuple''

A video interview with Alsatic TV

''Racingstub'' profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frantz, Paul 1927 births 2016 deaths Sportspeople from Bas-Rhin French footballers FC Mulhouse players French football managers French expatriate football managers RC Strasbourg Alsace managers Karlsruher SC managers Bundesliga managers Expatriate football managers in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Association footballers not categorized by position Footballers from Alsace