Louis Mistral (4 August 1900 – 12 July 1973) 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 the
French national team in the early 1920s and
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
in the late 1920s.
Club career
Born in the
11th arrondissement of Paris
The 11th arrondissement of Paris (''XIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is referred to as ''le onzième'' (; "the eleventh").
The ar ...
on 4 August 1900, Mistral began his career at
Club Français
Club Français was a French association football club based in Paris which was founded in 1890. Club Français won the 1896 USFSA Football Championship and the 1931 Coupe de France.
In 1900 the USFSA elected players from Club Français to r ...
in 1918, aged 18, with whom he played one season, joining
Red Star
A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...
in 1919, where he also played one season.
In 1921, he signed for
Olympique de Paris
Olympique de Paris was a French association football team based in Paris which existed from 1908 to 1926. Founded with the name Olympique de Pantin, it won the Coupe de France in 1918 and played in the finals in 1919 and 1921. It merged with Red S ...
, and in June of that year, he was already being described by the local press as the best midfielder of the team, with whom he played for three years, until 1924.
[
Following a four-year hiatus, he returned to football in 1928, now as a player for Montpellier. Together with ]Branislav Sekulić
Branislav "Bane" Sekulić (; 29 October 1906 – 24 September 1968) was a Yugoslav football manager and player.
Career
He began playing with the youth team of Javor Beograd before moving to Dušanovac. Being only 15 he became senior and the yo ...
and the Kramer brothers ( Auguste, Edmond, and Georges Georges may refer to:
Places
*Georges River, New South Wales, Australia
*Georges Quay (Dublin)
*Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Other uses
*Georges (name)
* ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas
* "Georges" (song), a 1977 ...
), Mistral was a member of the Montpellier team that reached the 1929 Coupe de France final at Colombes
Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 53rd largest city in France. ...
, which ended in a 2–0 victory over Sète. In the semifinals against 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 ...
, he had endured a right hook from Rapetti. He retired shortly after.
International career
On 18 January 1920, the 19-year-old Mistral made his international debut in a friendly match against Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
, which ended in a 9–4 loss.caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
for France between 1920 and 1923, including another heavy loss, this time 5–0 to Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
on 13 November 1921.[ The following day, the journalists of 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, '' ...
'') described him as "the best midfielder, but too frequently imprecise".
Death and legacy
Mistral died in Souesmes
Souesmes () is a Communes of France, commune in the Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department
References
Communes of Loir-et-Cher
{{LoirCher-geo ...
on 12 July 1973, at the age of 72.[
]
Honours
;Montpellier
*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 ...
:
**Champions: 1928–29
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mistral, Louis
1900 births
1973 deaths
French men's footballers
Footballers from Paris
Men's association football midfielders
Montpellier HSC players
20th-century French sportsmen