Stéphane Paille (27 June 1965 – 27 June 2017) was a French professional

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 ...

who played for the

France national team France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area e ...

as well as for various club sides in France, Portugal, Switzerland and Scotland. After he retired from playing he developed a career in football management.

Playing career

Born in Scionzier,

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...

, Paille started out with

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy S ...

, with whom he played for seven seasons between 1982 and 1989. He helped the

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

side reach the 1987–88

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 professio ...

final, and was voted French Player of the Year at that season's end. He also earned his eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for France between 1986 and 1989, scoring a single goal for ''les Bleus''. The rest of Paille's playing career was somewhat nomadic: after leaving Sochaux for

Montpellier HSC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC or simply Montpellier, is a French professional football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitanie. The original club was founded in 1919, while the current ...

in 1989, whom he joined with close friend

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

, he spent no more than two seasons at the same club during the next nine years. He joined

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The ...

in December 1989, then

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Por ...

in the summer of 1990. Following a two-year spell at SM Caen between 1991 and 1993, he returned to Bordeaux for a single season. In 1994, he joined

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, ...

, then moved to Swiss side Servette Geneva in 1995. After one season he returned to France with

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 footb ...

. In September 1995 Paille retired after failing a drugs test due to

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternativel ...

use. He told L'Equipe this was due to serious personal problems. He joined Scottish side Heart of Midlothian in 1996. He was released by the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

club in May 1997 after failing a drugs test due to his use of Dinintel.

Coaching and managerial career

Paille then returned to first club Sochaux, where he held a coaching position for three years between 1999 and 2002. He gained his first executive role when he was appointed head coach of Besançon RC but left in 2004. He was briefly head coach at

Racing Club 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 ...

in 2005, before being approached by

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

in May 2005. He left the ''Blanc et Noir'' in June 2006.

Death

He died on 27 June 2017, his 52nd birthday.L'ancien footballeur Stéphane Paille est décédé
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External links

Profile at French federation official site

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paille, Stephane 1965 births 2017 deaths Association football forwards French footballers France international footballers France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players Montpellier HSC players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players FC Porto players Stade Malherbe Caen players Olympique Lyonnais players Servette FC players FC Mulhouse players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Primeira Liga players Scottish Premier League players Swiss Super League players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Scotland French football managers Racing Besançon managers Angers SCO managers AS Cannes managers Thonon Evian Grand Genève F.C. managers Racing Club de France Football managers