Jean Zimmermann (1885 – 1960) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for AS Française in the early 20th century. He was also a member of the French football squad that competed in the 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 ...

in London, but he did not play in any matches.

Playing career

Very little is known about his life; Zimmermann was playing football for AS Française as soon as October 1905, aged 20. Three years later, on 5 April 1908, he started in the final of the 1908

Coupe Dewar A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

, which ended in a 2–1 loss to CA Paris. Shortly after, he helped his team win its first-ever piece of silverware, the

Coupe Manier The Coupe Manier was a Association football, football competition in France that ran from 1897 until 1911. Only clubs that fielded no more than three foreigners were allowed to participate in the competition, which at the time was mainly British p ...

, which was awarded to the team composed of at least eight French players with the highest ranking in the . He was most likely one of the best players of the team because later that year, 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 ...

selected him for the French national team, being a member of the French squad that competed in the football tournament of the 1908 Olympic Games in London, but he failed to feature in a single game as France was knocked out in the semifinals by

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

following a resounding 17–1 loss. Between 1906 and 1908, he was called-up by France five times, but stayed on the bench in all of those occasions, thus never becoming an international; however, he never protested, showing great sportsmanship. On 18 April 1909, Zimmermann started in the final of the

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escapes death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Janu ...

Stade de Charentonneau The Stade de Charentonneau is a Association football, football stadium located in the Charentonneau district of Maisons-Alfort, France. Since its inauguration in 1905, Charentonneau has been the home ground of CA Paris-Charenton, CA Paris. Histor ...

, which ended in a 5–0 loss to Gallia Club. In 1912, he helped AS Française win the USFSA Paris championship, and this victory qualified the club for the USFSA national championship, helping his side reach the final at

Stade Colombes The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track, and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France. History ...

on 28 April, which ended in a 2–1 loss to

Stade raphaëlois Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...

Later life and death

After the

First World War 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 ...

, Zimmermann became an employee in an insurance company. He died in 1960, at the age of either 74 or 75.

Honours

;AS Française *

USFSA Paris Championship U.S. Figure Skating is the national 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 Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act an ...

: **Champions (1): 1911–12 *

USFSA Football Championship 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 ...

: **Runner-up (1):

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

: **Champions (1):

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

: **Runner-up (2):

and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmermann, Jean 1885 births 1960 deaths French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing 20th-century French sportsmen