Guy DAVID

Stade Rennais FC was in turmoil in the summer 1997 and chose Guy David to take on the challenge of keeping the club in the First Division. The former Le Havre man played with a 4-4-2 formation based around players looking to avenge the past (Capron, Viaud), promising youngsters (Bigné, Darcheville, Goussé, Heurtebis, Réveillère, Silvestre), and some unknown quantities who arrived from overseas (Rossi and Weiser). With only 17 points from 22 matches, the side propping up the league bounced back in the Winter months with a return to favour of Laurent Huard, the loan of Kaba Diawara, and the shock win at the Vélodrome in Marseille (1-0). Despite losing the derby against Guingamp (1-2), the priceless goals by Bigné at the Beaujoire Stadium in Nantes (1-1), then Diawara’s winner in the last quarter of an hour against Toulouse (1-0) saved a Rennes team which possessed great human values. Guy David left the club as a hero when François Pinault took over the club a month later. In August 2008, he passed away in the dressing room of his team Fréjus.