Monday OSSEY

Gabonese striker Monday Ossey arrived in France when following studies in Letters during the mid-1950s. He was nicknamed the "Battler from Bitam", and he made his first steps in professional football with Limoges, signing for them in 1957, with the club playing in the Second Division. He would make a big impression in his first season, finishing second top-goalscorers lists with 27 goals, helping his side to promotion to the top flight in the process. Playing alongside a certain Guy Roux, he would score 12 in the following season, which would prove to be his last one at Limoges. Pacy and clinical, he would catch the eye of Stade Rennais, who signed him in 1959. After struggling to adapt to his new surroundings with the Red and Blacks, he ended up with a reasonable season, scoring a dozen goals (including a hat-trick against Strasbourg on 27th December 1959) in 30 appearances. He would stay just one season in Rennes before moving back south to sign for Toulouse, another First Division club, albeit he wouldn't be given the amount of gametime that he had expected. After that, he would return to Limoges, where he once more demonstrated his talent in front of goal, and finished second top-scorer in the Second Division with 20 goals to his name. At the end of his professional career, he returned home to Gabon to play a part in restructuring the national game of football in his native country. He also became the President of the Gabon FA, and Sports Minister. He was one of the first players from Black Africa to play in the French Championship, indeeed the first to play for Rennes. He also happens to be the grandfather of none other than Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.