Christian Jean Gourcuff (born 5 April 1955) is a French former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager. He spent a majority of his managerial career at

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, where he was the head coach for 25 years across three different spells.

Club career

During his playing career, Gourcuff played for Rennais, US Berné,

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds (; archaic ) is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura Mountains at an altitude of 992 metres, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, and Fribourg, ...

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

and

Montreal Supra Montreal Supra was a Soccer in Canada, Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec that played in the Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992), Canadian Soccer League from 1988 to 1992. History Montre ...

International career

Gourcuff played one match for the Brittany regional team in 1988. It was an indoor game against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and the final score was 6–2 in favor of Brittany.

Managerial career

Becoming a player-manager at the age of 27, Gourcuff coached

, Pont-l'Abbé,

Stade Rennais Stade Rennais Football Club (SRFC, ), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais () or simply Rennes,''Rennais'' and ''Stade Rennes'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, are not grammatically correct names for the club. is ...

and

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

. On 4 August 2014, Gourcuff was officially unveiled as the new head coach of the Algeria national team, taking over the vacant spot left by the departure of

Vahid Halilhodžić Vahid Halilhodžić (; born 15 May 1952) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the most controversially successful Bosnian football managers, due to his successful tenure in coaching various nation ...

. On 3 February 2015, Gourcuff was given a new deal despite Algeria's quarter-final exit at the Africa Cup of Nations. In the 2018–19 season, Gourcuff was the head coach of Qatari club

Al-Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club () is a Qatari multi-sports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Ar Rayyan, Al Rayyan municipality. The club is best known for its association football, football team, although it also has teams for other sports. The ...

Personal life

His son, Yoann, is also a professional footballer who represented France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Orders *

Knight of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

: 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourcuff, Christian 1955 births Living people Footballers from Finistère French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Stade Rennais FC players En Avant Guingamp players FC Rouen players FC Lorient players Le Mans FC players Ligue 2 players Brittany men's international footballers French football managers Montreal Supra players FC Lorient managers Stade Rennais FC managers Le Mans FC managers Al-Gharafa SC managers FC Nantes managers Algeria national football team managers Ligue 1 managers Ligue 2 managers French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations managers University of Western Brittany alumni French expatriate football managers French expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Qatar French expatriate sportspeople in Algeria Expatriate football managers in Algeria Knights of the Legion of Honour Sportspeople from Brittany 20th-century French sportsmen