François BLIN

François Blin was a goalkeeper born in Rennes, and he began his career with the Red and Blacks Youth Teams as of 1968. In 1971, he got his first call up to the First Team group with the professionals, acting as understudy to Marcel Aubour and Daniel Bernard. He would only make two appearances for Rennes, however, in the First Division, taking advantage of the fact that the other goalkeepers were both injured. He played in the last match of the 1971/1972 season against Bastia (in a 1-4 defeat), and the opening fixture of the following league season in a 1-3 defeat by Lyon. In 1973, he eventually left Rennes to join Breton neighbours, Lorient, who were in the Second Division at the time. He went on to spend three seasons there before moving on to Gueugnon, with whom he would finish runners-up in the 1976/1977 campaign, albeit missing out on promotion to the top flight in the play-offs against Rouen. The great Saint-Etienne side of the day hired him for the following season, but he would spend most of his time there in the Reserves. He made one solitary appearance with the Greens' First Team, on the opening day of the First Division season against Bordeaux (2-2 draw). He then returned to Gueugnon, where he would win the Second Division title in 1979. His next port-of-call was Guingamp, where he would spend three seasons alongside a certain Christian Gourcuff, and then a spell at Corbeil-Essonnes, before returning to Lorient in 1986, where he would play out the end of his career as a player. After hanging up his boots, he reconverted to the profession of painter/plasterer, then went in to catering, opening a shop where would sell Galettes and Crêpes in the Rue Saint-Hélier in Rennes. François is the brother of Dominique Blin, who also played for Rennes between 1974-1978. As a fervent Rennes supporter, he regularly attends games at Roazhon Park to follow his club.