Henri BAILLOT

Hailing from the Moselle region in the East of France, Henri Baillot began his professional career with FC Metz in 1945, having been signed for 30,000 old French Francs from Magny. This right-wing specialist was agile and pacy. He would be a part of a golden era for Metz over five seasons in the First Division. Known for his powerful shot, he would rack up some impressive figures in terms of his goalscoring statistics, netting 95 goals in 177 appearances for the club. The 1948/1949 season would prove to be his most prolific, when he finished third top scorer in the First Division with 25 league goals, just edging him ahead of a certain Jean Grumellon, who had notched 24 goals that season. That year would also see him called up to the French National Team for the first time, and he even scored on his debut against Czechoslovakia on 12th June 1948. He would obtain eight caps for France, scoring four times. Despite having a handicap on his right arm as a result of an injury sustained in the Second World War, he would still prove to be prolific throughout his career, and with all the clubs that he would play for. In 1950, following Metz's relegation to the Second Division, and to help ease the finances at the club, he would sign for Girondins de Bordeaux as part of a player swap, with an ageing striker, Camille Libar, going to Metz in return for Baillot. As clinical as ever in front of goal, he became top scorer in his first season in Bordeaux, scoring 22 goals, making him the third-best in the First Division. The winger would even be elected Man of the Match at the French Cup Final in 1952, despite his club losing the showpiece match against Nice. He would continue his playing days with Strasbourg, for whom he would be unable to show all his talent owing to recurring injury problems. He ended up spending 18 months in Alsace, before signing for Stade Rennais in January 1954. After a timid start in Red and Black, he would gradually regain his superb form of old, and scored 21 goals in the 1954/1955 season. Amongst them was notably a league hat-trick against Nantes on 19th September 1954, as well as a four-goal haul against Valenciennes in the Drago Cup on 27th March 1955. In total, he would play 46 matches, scoring 24 goals in a Rennes shirt. Alas, he would be forced to end his playing days as a professional at the end of the 1954/1955 season, following a ruptured knee ligament injury. He subsequently went on to become Manager at Bar-le-Duc from 1955 to 1962, whilst running a bar/tobaccanists, before returning to Metz, where he would run a newsagents until his retirement in 1984.