He remains one of the most iconic figures in French football. An eight-time French champion, a two-time European Cup finalist, and a former coach of the national team, he led France to a remarkable third place in the 1958 World Cup. As Peuple-Vert.fr reminds us, Albert Batteux passed away on February 28, 2003, leaving behind a tremendous legacy.
Before making history with AS Saint-Étienne, winning the French championship titles in 1968, 1969, and 1970, along with the French Cups in 1968 and 1970—when Hervé Revelli was terrorizing defenses—Batteux had already established himself as a top coach.
Born in Reims, he was a former midfielder for Stade de Reims in the 1940s, contributing to the championship title in 1949 before ending his career at just 31 due to injury. As a coach, he transformed the Champagne club into the first major power in French football. A visionary, he decided to recruit a young offensive talent spotted against Angers: Raymond Kopa. This was a foundational decision for the Reims legend.
Under his guidance, Stade de Reims experienced an exceptional golden age: five French championship titles (1953, 1955, 1958, 1960, and 1962) and a French Cup in 1958. The Reims team also won the Latin Cup in 1953 against AC Milan, thanks in part to a brace from Kopa. On the European stage, they reached the final of the brand-new European Cup twice, in 1956 and 1959, losing each time to the great Real Madrid.
The early major exploits of French football also bear his signature. Appointed coach of the French national team in 1955, Batteux led the Blues to the semifinals of the 1958 World Cup, where they fell to Pelé’s Brazil (5-2). France then secured third place by dominating West Germany (5-3). In this historic tournament, Just Fontaine set an unmatched record of 13 goals in a single edition, while Kopa, the inspired playmaker, won the Ballon d’Or a few months later.
Later, back in Saint-Étienne, Batteux left a strong mark in the Forez, even though he couldn’t take the team further in the European Cup. That would be the work of Robert Herbin, whose innovative methods would lead the Greens to the European Cup final in 1976, lost 1-0 in Glasgow to Franz Beckenbauer’s Bayern Munich.
The name Albert Batteux remains inseparable from the early great moments of French football, of which he was one of the most inspired architects.
