René Grandjean (1881 – unknown) 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 Forward and who competed in the football tournament at the 1900 Olympic Games in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, winning a silver medal as a member of the

USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...

Olympic team representing France, which was primarily made up of

Club Français Club Français was a French association football club based in Paris which was founded in 1890. Club Français won the 1896 USFSA Football Championship and the 1931 Coupe de France. In 1900 the USFSA elected players from Club Français to r ...

players.

Playing career

Club career

Grandjean was born either in late 1881 or early 1882. On 26 December 1897, the 15-year-old Grandjean started in the very first football match in the history of the

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

as a last-minute replacement for

Maurice Macaire Maurice Macaire (22 November 1881 – unknown) was a French footballer who played as a midfielder and who competed in the football tournament at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, winning a silver medal as a member of the USFSA Olympic team repres ...

; Club Français was defeated 1–3 by the English Ramblers. On 28 March 1898, Grandjean started in the 1898 Coupe Manier final at the

Vélodrome de Vincennes The Vélodrome de Vincennes (officially Vélodrome Jacques Anquetil - La Cipale) is a cycling stadium in the Bois de Vincennes, Paris, France. Initially built as a velodrome in 1894, it became the main stadium for the 1900 Summer Olympics; Even ...

, helping his side to a 10–0 win over Paris Star. In the following week, on 3 April, he started in the final of the 1898 USFSA Football Championship against Standard AC at

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...

, assisting

Gaston Peltier Gaston Peltier (2 August 1877 – unknown) was a French Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), Forward and who competed in the Football at the 1900 Summer Olympics, football tournament at the 1900 Olympic ...

's opening goal in an eventual 2–3 loss. In the following year, on 16 April 1899, he started in the play-off match against Standard AC to decide the , which ended in a 3–2 win. This victory qualified the club to the 1899 USFSA national championship, in which Club Français withdrew from the final before facing

Le Havre AC Le Havre Athletic Club () is a French professional association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The football club was founded in 1894 as a section of the sports club of the same name, founded in 1884. Le Havre plays in Ligue 1, the ...

. Later that year, on 23 October, he started in the 1899 Coupe Manier final at

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western inner suburbs of Paris, France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,482 as of 2020. Suresnes borders the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, ...

, helping his side to a 6–0 win over RC Roubaix. Together with

Lucien Huteau Lucien Paul Noël Huteau (26 May 1878 – 16 February 1975) was a French footballer who played as a goalkeeper and who competed in the football tournament at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, winning a silver medal as a member of the USFSA Olympi ...

, Georges Garnier, and

, Grandjean was a member of the Club Français team that won the 1899–1900 USFSA Paris championship. On 29 April 1900, Peltier started in the 1900 Challenge International du Nord final in

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; ; ; ) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubaix, Tourcoing is the chef-lieu of two ca ...

, which ended in a 2–3 loss to Le Havre AC. In the following week, on 6 May, he started in the 1900 USFSA Football Championship final against Le Havre AC, which ended in a 0–1 loss. Later that year, on 23 December, he started in the 1900 Coupe Manier final at

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

, helping his side to a 1–0 win over ''UA I arrondissement''. Grandjean played for the AS Française in the 1905–06 and the 1907–08 seasons, winning the Coupe Manier in 1908, which that year was awarded to the team composed of at least eight French players with the highest ranking in the . On 18 April 1909, Grandjean started as a midfielder in the final of the Coupe Dewar in 1909 at

Stade de Charentonneau The Stade de Charentonneau is a Association football, football stadium located in the Charentonneau district of Maisons-Alfort, France. Since its inauguration in 1905, Charentonneau has been the home ground of CA Paris-Charenton, CA Paris. Histor ...

, which ended in a 0–5 loss to Gallia Club. In 1909, he moved to CA Paris, with whom he won the 1910 Coupe Dewar, scoring once in the final to help his side to a 3–1 win over Gallia Club. In 1911, Grandjean returned to Club Français, starting in the club's opening match of the season against

FC Rouen Football Club de Rouen 1899 (; commonly referred to as simply FC Rouen) is a French association football club based in Rouen, Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive w ...

. He was still playing for Club Français as late as May 1913, aged 31. In the following year, on 14 April 1912, he started in the final of the 1912 Coupe Dewar at

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. ...

, and although he "did not compromise", CF still lost 1–3 to

Racing Club de France Racing Club de France, also known as RCF, is a French multi-sport club that was founded on 20 April 1882 under the name Racing Club. Racing Club changed its name to Racing Club de France (RCF) on 21 November 1885. The club is located at the Bois ...

International career

Grandjean was listed as a forward for the

team at the 1900 Olympic Games. He was selected for the opening match against Upton Park on 20 September, which ended in a humiliating 0–4 loss, so he was not picked for the second match three days later, against a team representing Belgium. The French team came second and Grandjean was thus awarded with a silver medal.

Honours

Club

;

* USFSA Paris Championship: **Champions (2): 1898–99 and 1899–1900 *

USFSA Football Championship U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...

: **Runner-up (3):

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

and

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

* Coupe Manier: **Champions (4): 1898, 1899,

, and 1902 * Challenge International du Nord: **Runner-up (1): 1900 * Coupe Dewar: **Runner-up (1):

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

- ; AS Française * Coupe Manier: **Champions (1): 1908 * Coupe Dewar: **Runner-up (1): 1909 ; CA Paris * Coupe Dewar: **Champions (1):

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

International

; France MNT *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

: **Silver medal (1):

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grandjean, Rene 1881 births Year of death missing French men's footballers Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics Club Français players CA Paris-Charenton players Men's association football wing halves Place of birth missing