Football is a game with rich and enormously deep-rooted
past. A game played in over 200 countries featuring over 250 million players
and followed by half of the world’s population, has some figures that have
earned their place as legends. Guy Roux is one such name who guided AJ Auxerre
(AJA) from a humble amateur team to worldwide prominence in his amazingly long
over 40 years of association with the team as a coach.
Roux’s story begins from the small city of Auxerre located
at the center of France, populated by over 39,000 people. In 1961, the
23-year-old Guy Roux made his way as the coach of the fledgling fifth tier AJA
that barely had any recognition in the French football regime. But when Roux
departed 40 years later in 2005, the team has gone to become a national and
worldwide force with a Ligue 1 title, 4 Coupes de France, 2 Intertoto Cups and
several appearances in the Champions League.
Born in Colmar in 1938, a town near the German border on the
north-east side of France, Roux moved to Appoigny near Auxerre, during the
early years of Second World War for safety. It was here that he developed his
love for the game and decided to pursue a career as a footballer. In 1954,
16-year-old Guy Roux made debut for Auxerre in the local Burgundy League that
was a beginning of an association that would last for almost 50 years.
After
spending three mostly nondescript years with the team, Roux went on to play for
Stade Poitevin and Limoges but his endeavors were not as fruitful as anticipated
and it was clear that he lacked the requisite talent to make a career. It was
evident that if Roux has to be associated with the game making a living,
coaching is the only viable option.
But for a 22-year-old to be taken seriously as a candidate
for a position as a coach, lack of experience was a serious threat. This is why
Roux decided to take attention off his limited experience by promising
self-sufficiency and demanding low personal wages. It worked for him as Auxerre
was already experiencing money clinch. And in the summer of 1961, AJA hired Guy
Roux for just 7,200 francs annually, a decision that would change the course of
the club forever.
The parsimonious approach was a character of Roux’s
personality that most of his dining partners perceived as stinginess. But to an
extent, it was his frugality that was responsible to make Auxerre one of the
best clubs for youth development that reignited the careers of the likes of
Laurent Blanc, Teemu Tainio, Eric Cantona, Basile Boli, and Philippe Mexes. It was
not that Roux was not willing to spend when it was required but he had an
unmatched sense of responsibility to maintain the financial health of the club.
Once in position as a coach Roux was well aware that to
avoid boardroom pressure, he had to get players onside quickly. Don’t forget
that at this point the young lad only had a month of experience he has spent
observing training at English Fourth Division side Crystal Palace that he
earned after writing to Eagles boss Arthur Rowe. Between 1962 and 1964, Roux
has to serve the conscription that interrupted his coaching regime but after
his return, AJA witnessed steady headway in the following years. His demanding
standards instilled a professional attitude among the players and staff. In
1970, Auxerre has climbed to the national third division when Roux retired as a
player. By the end of 1974, the team has obtained its place in Ligue 2 and
soared in professional ranks.
As the head coach, Roux knew that his responsibility was not
just to improve the game on the pitch but also away from it which is why
Auxerre soon unveiled a world-class training center with unprecedented
facilities. It was made possible because of both Roux and Jean-Claude Hamel, who
was club president by now shared the vision that appropriate training
infrastructure was necessary for long term success. This belief was perfectly
encapsulated when in 1980 AJA choose to invest in a state-of-the-art youth
academy in lieu of signing French international striker Olivier Rouyer. Roux’s
gamble on the new youth center proved to be a prudent choice and the setup
produced players like Cantona, Frédéric Darras, Raphaël Guerreiro, Stéphane
Mazzolini, Pascal Vahirua, and Boli.
The year that followed brought Roux’s charges to the
attention of the French public when they defeat Lille, Strasbourg and
Montpellier. Reaching to the Coupe de France final was a stunning success for
Auxerre as a second-tier club. In the final game, AJA locked horns with the
four-time Ligue 1 champions Nantes. Although the team lost they earned plaudits
for their courageous display. The following year AJA booked its seat in Ligue 1
beating Cannes.
There were doubts whether such a small team will sustain in
France’s leading division but Auxerre would remain among the top team in the
table until 2012, that’s seven years after Roux left the team. Auxerre under
Roux went on to attain many more feats that included qualifying for the UEFA
Cup in 1983/84 and reaching the quarter-finals in 1989/90.
In 2000, Roux was promoted to the role of sporting director
but only to the reinstated as the coach 12 months later. The final against
Sedan in 2005 was Roux’s last game as the AJA manager that marked the end of an
implausible 44 years career.
Guy Roux is not a figure in football who is universally
loved. Many term him as a tyrannical dictator who ruled AJA with an iron fist.
His critics believe that his choice to announce his resignation a day after the
2005 Coupe de France victory was a calculated move to steal the attention of
his players during the Auxerre’s victory parade.
As history has shown every
powerful figure has had personality flaws. With a career spanning 44 years,
Roux managed 2,000 games with a record 890 in the top flight. He made AJA a
team that was once even not on the French football radar to become a national
favorite, that fans would cheer for and sports betting odds would
favor.
Whatever anyone’s opinion on Guy Roux is, but the ultimate
truth remains-he turned Auxerre from a provincial outfit into a Ligue 1 member
with a bottom-up approach driven by careful nurturing, fierce work ethics and
coaching rather than paying exorbitant transfer fees.