Christian ZAJACZKOWSKI

Born in Clermont Ferrand, Christian Zajaczkowski started his journey as a professional footballer aged 17 with Châteauroux in the French Second Division, where he would play from 1977-1980. In 1980, he was spotted by Stade Rennais who were looking to bolster their midfield with a playmaker to try and achieve promotion back to the top flight. This defensive midfielder would quickly make his mark, and become a First-Team regular in the starting XI. He helped Rennes to gain promotion in the 1982/1983 season, when the team finished Second Division Champions. Having spent three seasons in the second tier of French football, he could finally get to taste First Division football. Unfortunately, Rennes stay in the top flight would be a brief one, relegated at the end of their first season, but Zajaczkowski stayed nonetheless for the following season in the Second Division. In 1985, he left Rennes to join Le Havre, freshly promoted to the First Division. There, he would play for two seasons, and in each one, he helped his team to avoid relegation. Having been an undisputed first-choice at all the teams he played for until then, he would be disappointed by his time with Paris Saint Germain, who hired him, but gave him very little opportunity to play, despite being re-positioned at the heart of the Paris defence. He was then loaned out to Lens in the First Division the following season, but with little joy there either. In 1989, he was loaned out once more - this time to Abbeville in the Second Division. He would get much more gametime there, but decided to hang up his boots as a professional footballer at the end of that season, in 1990, aged 29, before going on to play in amateur football with the likes of Clermont Ferrand, and Périgueux, where he would start his coaching career as Manager.