Paul Nicolas (4 November 1899 – 3 March 1959) 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 striker. He was part of the

France national football team The France national football team () represents France in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Euro ...

s at the

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

, and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

Summer Olympics. He was also part of the France national football team selection committee.

Club career

Paul Nicolas lost his mother at the age of 3, and then his father in 1914. He was raised by his mother-in-law together with his brother Henri. He began his football career with

Saint-Mandé Saint-Mandé (; named for Saint Maudez) is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France, in the high-end eastern inner suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, cent ...

Club in 1916. Initially, he played as a defender, but he quickly realized that his destiny laid at the forefront since he scored many goals. In addition to his goal-scoring instinct, Nicolas also stood out for his strong character on the pitch, and these two qualities combined eventually drew the attention of Mr. Fort, the then president of the Gallia Club, who signed him as a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

in 1916. At the time, center-forwards usually were corpulent, aggressive and impetuous players, but Nicolas revolutionized the way of playing as a forward striker, imposing his talent, his skill with both feet, and intuition to position himself in the right place, thus being described as a "precursor and prototype of the modern striker, scorer at heart but just as altruistic in the last gesture". Paul Nicolas joined the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

around the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, thus leaving for

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 ...

. On 5 March 1919, while he was in the army, he met on the station platform a former brilliant

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Red Star F.C. Red Star Football Club (), known as Red Star FC or simply Red Star, is a French professional football club founded in Paris in 1897, and is the fourth oldest French football club, after Standard AC of Paris, Le Havre AC and Girondins de Bord ...

: Lucien Gamblin, who convinced him to join him at Red Star given his reputation as a skillful centre-forward. Nicolas proved to be a great recruitment as he went on to play a pivotal role in helping the club win the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

four times, including three in a row between

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

and

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

, scoring once in the 1922 final to help his side to a 2–0 victory over Rennais. He helped the club win its fourth Coupe in

. In 1929, Paul Nicolas left Red Star for family reasons and moved to

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

where he opened a grocery store, which is why he joined

Amiens SC Amiens Sporting Club (; commonly referred to as Amiens SC or simply Amiens) is a French association football club based in the northern city of Amiens in the Hauts-de-France region. The club was formed in 1901 and play in Ligue 2, the second d ...

, with whom he played for six years before ending his career in 1935, in the round of 16 of the 1934–35 Coupe de France, in which Amiens was eliminated by Red Star after a playoff match.

International career

He played in 44 matches for the France national team between 1920 and 1921, scoring a then national record of 20 goals. He participated in the football tournaments of three Olympic games (

, and

), scoring a total of four goals in five games, including one against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, which was the best team at the time. Despite his great performances at the Olympics, the 31-year-old Paul Nicolas failed to participate in the inaugural tournament of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in 1930 to end his magnificent international career on a high. This tally includes two

hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

, one in a 4–1 win over

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

on 13 June 1926, and the other to help his side to a 4–0 win over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

on 21 February 1928. In 1919, Nicolas took part in the

Inter-Allied Games The Inter-Allied Games was a one-off multi-sport event held from 22 June to 6 July 1919 at the newly constructed Pershing Stadium just outside Paris, France following the end of World War I. The host stadium had been built near the Bois de Vi ...

, a large sports competition organized in celebration of the Allied victory in

, since he was a member of the military. However, the matches of the tournament are not included in the official

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Albert Rénier Albert Rénier (8 May 1896 – 5 April 1948) was a French association football, footballer who played all of his career for Le Havre AC, Le Havre. He played in four matches for the France national football team between 1920 and 1924, netting onc ...

, he helped France win Group A with two goals against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

(4–0), a poker against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

(11–0) and a decisive goal against

(2–0). However, he failed to score in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

as they were beaten 2–3 by

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Retirement

A football lover, he could not bring himself to leave the world of football. Endowed with a strong personality, he joined the selection committee of the France national team in August 1949. He stayed there until December 1953, when, following the double disappearance of Emmanuel Gambardella and Georges Bayrou, he was appointed president of the Groupement des clubs authorized (the forerunner of the

Ligue de Football Professionnel The (, ''Professional Football League''), commonly known as the LFP, is a French governing body that runs the major professional football leagues in France and Monaco. It was founded in 1944 and serves under the authority of the French Footba ...

) — he would remain in this position until June 1956. He returns to the selection in September 1954 as "director of the France team", contributing to the team's third-place finish at the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

. On his return from a disputed France-

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

match in 1959 in

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. ...

, Paul Nicolas was the victim of a terrible car accident that cost him his life. His tragic death shook

French football Association football is the most popular sport in France. In 2024, 53% of people in France declared an interest in football, with 26% being very interested. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the natio ...

. Half a century later, his memory is still alive.

International goals

:''France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Nicolas goal.''

Honours

Red Star Olympique *

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and

France * Inter-Allied Games (1919) runner-up

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolas, Paul 1899 births 1959 deaths People from Saint-Mandé Footballers from Val-de-Marne French men's footballers France men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Red Star FC players Amiens SC players Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics French football managers France national football team managers Road incident deaths in France 20th-century French sportsmen