Gabriel Hanot

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Gabriel Hanot
Hanot in 1910
Personal information
Date of birth (1889-11-06)6 November 1889
Place of birth Arras, France
Date of death 10 August 1968(1968-08-10) (aged 78)
Place of death Wangenbourg-Engenthal, France
Position(s) Defender, Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1906-1910 US Tourcoing
1910-1912 Preußen Münster
1912-1915 US Tourcoing
1916-1919 AS Francilienne
International career
1908–1919 France 12 (3)
Managerial career
1945–1949 France (coach under a committee)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gabriel Hanot (French pronunciation: [ɡabʁijɛl ano]; 6 November 1889 – 10 August 1968) was a French footballer, coach and journalist.[1][2]

After a playing career which included 12 caps for the France national team, Hanot became a journalist and football administrator, also leading the France national team between 1945-49.[3][4] His main achievements in football are the 1932 introduction of professionalism to French football; formulating the idea to create a European Cup (which has since become the UEFA Champions League); and the launching of the Ballon d'Or.

Playing career

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Hanot was born in Arras on 6 November 1889, and was introduced to football whilst at lycée in nearby Tourcoing.[5] Discovering a talent for the sport, Hanot played for local side US Tourcoing, with whom he won a USFSA French title in 1910,[6] and was selected at the age of 18 for the first time for the France national team, making a total of four appearances for the French national team in 1908 as a left winger.[1][2] He was also included in France's squad for the football tournament at the 1908 Summer Olympics, but he did not play in any matches.[7]

Hanot was not selected for France at all the following two years, and in 1910 headed to Münster[note 1] to study at university, where he continued playing football for local side Preußen Münster.[2][4] He returned to Tourcoing and France in 1912, where he won a Challenge International du Nord with US Tourcoing in 1913, and earned seven more caps for France, now playing as a full-back.[1][2]

Hanot's footballing career was interrupted by World War I, during which he enlisted in the French army as a pilot. He was shot down and taken prisoner by the German army on three separate occasions, but managed to escape each time.[5]

After the war, he played one more time for France, as captain against Belgium on 9 March 1919,[4] before his playing career was ended by a serious knee injury suffered during an aviation accident.[5] In total, Hanot made 12 appearances for France, scoring three times.[1]

Post-playing career

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Following an aviation accident in 1919, he gave up football and became a journalist. He is credited with introducing the professional championship in France, in 1932.[2]

Hanot and his colleague at L'Équipe Jacques Ferran were the prime movers behind getting the European Cup established.[8]

Notes

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  1. ^ There is some doubt regarding whether Hanot studied in Münster or in Berlin, though this appears to be a mistake that originates from the name of Münster's local football team: Preußen (Prussia, in English). This name would generally point to Berlin and eastern Germany in general, but is in fact also the name chosen by Münster's team, and thus appears to have led to a misconception among many sources that Hanot studied in Berlin.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Gabriel HANOT". fff.fr (Official website of the French Football Federation) (in French). Retrieved 1 October 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e Duluc, Vincent (4 April 2025). "L'intransigeant Gabriel Hanot de « L'Équipe », à l'origine de tout, oublié de tous". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 1 October 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "Gabriel HANOT (profil sélectionneur)". fff.fr (Official website of the French Football Federation) (in French). Retrieved 1 October 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b c Auclair, Philippe (30 June 2015). "Gabriel Hanot: the France coach who called for his own head". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b c Krall, Malaurie (20 July 2022). "Son grand-père a participé à créer la Ligue des champions : il se bat pour qu'il soit reconnu". Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 1 October 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "France 1892-1919". rsssf.org. Retrieved 1 October 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "Gabriel Hanot". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Football's premier club competition". UEFA. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2010.