Jacques Jean Claude Santini (born 25 April 1952) is a French former professional

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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played for

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

during the 1970s, and reached the European Cup final with them in 1976. He has coached the France national team - winning the

2003 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivi ...

and reaching the quarter-finals of

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

- and clubs including

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Managerial career

Santini is one of the most accomplished football managers in France. Together with Jean Michel Aulas and Bernard Lacombe he was involved in the transformation of Lyon into a French football giant. From 1997 to 2000 he was Sports' director, helping lay the foundation which resulted in Lyon becoming the best football club in France. As manager of Lyon from 2000 to 2002 he was winner of French League Cup in 2001, and in 2002 he won the French Championship. Santini was chosen as "The best French coach" in 2002 by France Football and World's The Best National Coach of the Year in 2003 by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) Santini replaced Roger Lemerre as

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

manager in 2002. He had already resigned from the position before

, where France surprisingly lost to eventual champions

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 ...

in the quarter-final. Santini took the managerial position at

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Tottenham Hotspur after Euro 2004. He surprisingly announced his resignation after just 13 games. Officially, Santini left England due to personal problems, but it was widely reported that a series of disagreements with then

Sporting Director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the director of football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was sporting directo ...

led to his departure. Speaking in 2005, Santini said he quit partly because he felt agreements with the club were broken, but he admitted he "dug his own grave" by agreeing to join the club before the end of Euro 2004. He took the job of

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in L ...

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 ...

in 2005, but was sacked in 2006 due to his conflict with vice-president of Auxerre Guy Roux. On 23 June 2008, Santini was linked with the vacant managerial position at

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

club Hearts but he refused the offer.

Managerial statistics

:Source:

Honours

Player

Saint-Étienne * Division 1: 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1980–81 *

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 ...

: 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1976–77

Manager

Lyon *Division 1: 2001–02 *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

: 2000–01 France *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

References

External links

Profile
on the French Football Federation website (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Santini, Jacques 1952 births Living people People from Delle Footballers from the Territoire de Belfort French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders AS Saint-Étienne players Montpellier HSC players French football managers France national football team managers Toulouse FC managers Lille OSC managers AS Saint-Étienne managers FC Sochaux-Montbéliard managers Olympique Lyonnais managers Ligue 1 managers Premier League managers Expatriate football managers in England Tottenham Hotspur F.C. managers AJ Auxerre managers 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup managers UEFA Euro 2004 managers FIFA Confederations Cup–winning managers French expatriate football managers French expatriate sportspeople in England French sportspeople of Italian descent 20th-century French sportsmen