Julien STÉPHAN

Julien Stéphan arrived at Stade Rennais in 2012 from Lorient to replace Régis Le Bris (who himself went in the other direction to Lorient) to take charge of the U19s team. After three impressive seasons, he replaced Laurent Huard as manager of the U21s/Reserve side at the club. In his first season, he gained promotion to CFA (French 4th Division). Born in Rennes in 1980, during his father Guy Stéphan’s time at the club as a player with the Red and Blacks, “Ju” was sounded out about becoming the Assistant Manager with Thierry Henry at Monaco. Several weeks after President Olivier Létang’s refusal to let him leave, Stéphan was handed the top job at Rennes on 3rd December 2018, taking over from the sacked Sabri Lamouchi. After two convincing matches with victories over Lyon and Dijon, his status as Caretaker Manager was soon ended, and on the 12th December 2018, he was officially named First Team Manager, on the eve of the crucial Europa League decider against Astana. The rest is now history, with a historic Europa League campaign, where they reached the last 16, and particularly a victory over Paris Saint Germain the Final of the French Cup on 27th April 2019, 48 years after the last win in that competition. After some turbulent negotiations with President Létang, he extended his contract to 2022 on Monday 3rd June 2019. In the 2019/2020 season, the team stayed in the top part of the table after a swift exit from the Europa League campaign. In a good position ahead of the final sprint with 50 points after 28 matches, Stade Rennais benefitted from the early closure of the season to finish in a historic 3rd place in the league championship, and thus discover the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. In the 2020/2021 the club struggled to live up to the new higher expectations. On the 1st March 2021. Julien Stéphan presented his resignation to the club's Board of Directors, and left the club where he had spent 9 years. He had reached the end of his tether, but will now go down as a club legend for what he had achieved. On the 28th May 2021, he signed a three-year contract to manage the Racing Club Strasbourg. After a successful first season in Alsace, Strasbourg's form dipped in the second under his stewardship, and Stéphan was relieved of his duties by the club halfway through the season. After several months of waiting for a new challenge, Stéphan returned to Roazhon Park on 20th November 2023, to replace his successor, Bruno Genesio, at the helm of the Stade Rennais First Team after the surprise departure of the former Lyon boss. His return had meaningful and convincing results. He was able to breath new life into the season for the Breton club, notably with a series of 9 matches without defeat (20th December 2023 to 11th February 2024) and a decent run in the Europa League. Enjoying the (justified) confidence of the club’s owners and board of directors, he logically signed a two-year contract extension, tying him to Rennes until June 2026. Unfortunately, his second spell in charge of the Red and Blacks would not be blessed with the same glory, and his contract extension would not prove to be a sucess for Stéphan, or for the club. After 41 games on the Rennes bench in his second stint after returning to manage at Roazhon Park, Stéphan would pay the price for a bad run of results in the league, with only 11 points and five defeats out of the first ten matchdays, leaving the club in 13th spot, just a point above the relegation play-off spot, and a 0-4 defeat at newly-promoted club Auxerre on 3rd November proved to be the final straw. Four days later, the club took the difficult decision to terminate the contract with their manager, and Stéphan and his coaching staff lost their jobs. He will forever be remembered as the manager who took Rennes to French Cup success in 2019, and became the first coach to qualify the Red and Blacks for the Champions League a year later, but his departure on 7th November 2024 arrived at a point where the gloss had been taken off his achievements.