Michel AUDRAIN

Born in Rennes, Michel Audrain started his footballing journey in one of the town's clubs CPB Ginguené. This attacking midfielder and good dribbler was swiftly scouted by SCO Angers in 1978 aged 17. He joined the Youth setup at the club before turning professional with the First Team a year later. He would stay there for three seasons, of which two were spent playing in the French First Division, before seeing his team relegated at the end of his third term at Angers. In 1982, he departed for pastures new, heading to Bordeaux where he would go on to be crowned French Champion in successive seasons, in 1984 and 1985. But his manager at the time, Aimé Jacquet, only used his sparingly, and often left him on the bench. He still managed to make 61 appearances, scoring 10 times during his three years at Bordeaux; without ever getting to experience a single appearance in the European Cup competition. He then left to join Olympique Marseille in 1985; but after a disappointing season-and-a-half and just 33 appearances to his name, he was loaned to Laval, where he was to play 26 matches, scoring 8 goals in total. In 1987, Rennes recruited their local lad to help get the club back in the First Division. With the Red and Blacks, he would only experience the Second Division in his two seasons, and was unable to achieve promotion with Stade Rennais FC, playing 61 games, scoring 5 goals. He finally moved on to Quimper in 1989; to join another club from the West of France in the Second Division, for one season. He went on to finish his professional playing career at Annecy between 1990 and 1992, still playing in the second tier of French football. At the end of his playing days, this powerful winger would have scored at least once with each of the clubs he played for. After hanging up his boots, he became a coach in Amateur football before becoming an Academy coach at SCO Angers and then Lorient, via Laval or even Saint Etienne. Toughened up by his experiences as an Academy coach, he went on to become Assistant Manager at Laval, Troyes, Reims and then Lyon. He even returned to Rennes in 2016 in the same role of Assistant to the then boss, Christian Gourcuff, but was to be relieved of his duties one-and-a-half years later, at the same time as Gourcuff. He then left to join Caen and then landed at Nantes where he took on the role of recruitment officer with the Canaries.