Daniel Leclercq (4 September 1949 – 22 November 2019) was a French

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 ...

defender and manager. He played 440 matches from 1967 to 1984 for US Valenciennes,

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

and

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...

. He later managed clubs from 1986 to 2017. He remains the only manager to have led RC Lens to the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

championship.

Biography

Leclercq was born 4 September 1949 in Trith-Saint-Léger, France and came up in the youth system of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

. Nicknamed le «Druide» (The Druid) for his long white hair, he played central defender for his entire career. In 1967, he made his first appearance in Ligue 1 with Valenciennes. In 1970, he began a stint with

. In Marseille, he was part of a squad that won the Ligue 1 championship in the 1970–71 and 1971–72 seasons. He also celebrated a championship in the 1972

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 ...

and the 1972

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

. In 1974, he began his long association with RC Lens. He played nine of his 17 seasons with the club, appearing in 289 matches and scored 27 goals. After leaving Lens, he played one more season with his hometown club, Valenciennes before retiring. He obtained his first assignment as a manager with Valenciennes in 1986, serving for one season. In 1997, he was hired at Lens where he found his greatest success. In the 1997–1998 season, he managed the club to its only Ligue 1 championship, beating

FC Metz Football Club de Metz () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...

on goal differential. His club also reached the 1998 Coupe de France Final where it fell to

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. With 52 major trophies ...

2–1. In the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, Lens played in the group stage of the tournament. Although it did not advance to the knockout round, the French squad defeated

Arsenal F.C. The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. In domestic football, Arsenal h ...

on the road at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. He achieved one more honor in 1999, winning the 1999 Coupe de la Ligue before leaving the team. He left Lens after his championship run and returned to Valenciennes for two more seasons in 2003. He served as the technical director for Lens from 2008 to 2011. In 2009, he took on the managerial job at amateur club Arleux-Fechain through 2016. He spent one season with non-league SC Douai in 2017. Leclercq died in

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

on 22 November 2019 from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 70.

References

External links

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Profile
1949 births 2019 deaths Men's association football defenders French men's footballers Valenciennes FC players Olympique de Marseille players Angoulême Charente FC players RC Lens players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players French football managers Valenciennes FC managers RC Lens managers R.A.A. Louviéroise managers Ligue 1 managers SC Douai managers 20th-century French sportsmen {{france-footy-defender-1940s-stub