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.