Désiré Jean Carré (21 May 1923 – 8 September 2014) 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

between 1945 and 1955. He also played one match for the French national team in the 1949.

Playing career

Club career

Born on 21 May 1923 in the

Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Courcelles-sur-Seine Courcelles-sur-Seine (, literally ''Courcelles on Seine'') is a commune in the Eure department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Eure department The following is a list of the 585 communes of the Eure department ...

, Carré began his football career at Le Havre in 1945, aged 22, with whom he played for two years, until 1947, when he was signed by Nice, then in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He was quick to adapt to his new team as he scored 20 goals in 34 matches in his first season there, thus playing a crucial role in helping Nice win the

1947–48 French Division 2 Statistics of Division 2 in the 1947–48 season. Overview It was contested by 20 teams, and Nice won the championship. Teams A total of twenty teams contested the league, including sixteen sides from the 1946–47 season and four sides releg ...

. Together with Victor Nurenberg, Luis Carniglia, and

Abdelaziz Ben Tifour Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (; – ) was a professional-Algerian footballer who played as a midfielder. Life and career He was a pioneer of Algerian football playing in Tunisia and France in the 40s and 50s as well as establishing the first Algeri ...

, he was a member of the great Nice team of the early 1950s that won back-to-back

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

titles in 1950–51 and 1951–52, as well as the 1951–52 Coupe de France, although he did not play in the cup final, which came as a surprise since he was the team's captain at the time; he was replaced by Luis Carniglia, who went on to score a goal in a 5–3 win over

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It competes in the Championnat National 2 ...

. Having scored a goal in his league debut for Nice, against Angers, Carré also in his last league match for the club on 25 May 1952, against

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

. On 29 June 1952, he started in the final of the

1952 Latin Cup The 1952 Latin Cup () was the fourth edition of the annual Latin Cup which was played by clubs of the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. The tournament was hosted by France, and the Spanish club Barcelona was the ...

, the forerunner of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, which ended in a 1–0 loss to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. A few weeks later, Carré left the club to join the ranks of Strasbourg, with whom he played for three seasons, from 1952 until 1955, when he went to CA Paris, where he stayed for two years, until 1957, when he retired at the age of 34. in total, he scored 114 goals in 312 league matches.

International career

On 13 November 1949, the 26-year-old Carré made his first (and only) international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for France in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Colombes Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 53rd largest city in France. ...

, helping his side to a 1–0 victory. On the following day, the journalists of the French newspaper ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...

'' stated that he "did not justify his international promotion and seemed almost always timid".

Managerial career

After his career as a player ended, Carré worked as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, taking over

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

for the 1957–58 season. After his football career, he pursued a career as a sports journalist at Nice-Matin, where he covered all sports.

Death

Carré died in

Draguignan Draguignan (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (formerly Provence), southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Artillery" an ...

, Var, on 8 September 2014, at the age of 91. Following his death, Nice paid him a tribute, making a minute's silence just before hosting

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

on Matchday 5 of Ligue 1.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;Nice *

: **Champions (1): 1950–51 *

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

: **Champions (1): 1947–48 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: **Champions (1):

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

Latin Cup The Latin Cup was an international official 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 launch the competition ...

: **Runner-up (1):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carré, Désiré 1923 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Eure French men's footballers France men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Le Havre AC players French football managers 20th-century French sportsmen