Félix Jean-Baptiste Julien (20 July 1884 – 12 October 1936) 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 forward for ''AS Bon Conseil'' and the French national team in 1909.

Career

Born on 20 July 1884 in the

15th arrondissement of Paris The 15th arrondissement of Paris () is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ('the fifteenth'). The 15th arrondissement, called , is situated on the Rive ...

, Julien played his entire football career in the patronage clubs, most notably at the ''AS Bon Conseil'', a club in the

7th arrondissement of Paris The 7th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is known for being, along with the 16th arrondissement and the ''commune'' of Neuilly-sur-Sein ...

, which was one of the many Catholic clubs affiliated with the Gymnastic and Sports Federation of French Patronages (FGSPF), then presided by Charles Simon. In addition to football, he also worked as an assistant secretary of the referees' commission in the early 1906. The following year, on 20 January 1907, he played for an FGSPF team made up of the best players from the patronages in a friendly against the English club North

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

AFC, helping his side to a 4–2 win. In October 1908, several players from the patronages, including Julien, were selected by the

USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...

for the upcoming football tournament of the

1908 Olympic Games The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

, but only as members of the would-be France C squad that was originally listed to compete; none of them traveled to

because the USFSA decided to send only two teams instead of three. Despite being one of the best players from the patronages around 1906–08, he was not called up for the French national team because the coach of the time, the northerner André Billy of USFSA, preferred players from the

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

. When the USFSA was replaced by Simon's CFI, however, he was immediately called up for the first two matches of the CFI reign, both in May 1909, in friendlies against

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 ...

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and England amateurs in Gentilly, losing on both occasions. After the latter match, the French newspaper ''L'Auto'' (the forerunner of ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...

'') stated that he was "not a good dribbler". He remains one of only three players of ''Bon Conseil'' to have represented the French national team, the other two being François Barat and

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Louis Tessier.

Later life and death

On 8 April 1913, Julien, an architect by profession, married Jeanne Mercier in the Saint-Louis church in

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 ...

. Mobilized at the outbreak 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 ...

in August 1914, he was serving in the 70th Infantry when he was wounded by a bullet in the chest on 20 November 1914. In 1921, the 37-year-old Julien played a veterans' match. Julien stayed linked to the Army until June 1936, when he was discharged from the reserve roster due to an intestinal problem, which most likely served as the cause of his death in Lorient on 12 October 1936, at the age of 52.

Notes

References

External links

Félix Julien
at

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Julien, Felix 1884 births 1936 deaths Footballers from Paris French men's footballers France men's international footballers Men's association football forwards 20th-century French sportsmen French military personnel of World War I 20th-century French architects