Patrice RIO

Native of the Seine Maritime département in France, Patrice Rio is the son of former French International, Roger Rio. This centre back was developed by FC Rouen as of 1969 before going on to spend a large portion of his career playing for FC Nantes from 1970 onwards. With the notable exceptions of the 1972/1973 and 1981/1982 seasons, Rio was an undisputed starter for Nantes, playing at the club for a total of 14 years, racking up over 500 appearances, in which he finished four times French Champions (in 1973, 1977, 1980 and 1983), and won the French Cup in 1979. He would also be awarded 17 caps for the French national team between 1976 and 1980, notably making one appearance at the World Cup in Argentina in 1978. He would eventually leave Nantes in 1984 to sign for local neighbours (and fierce rivals) Stade Rennais. He joined Rennes at the ripe old age of 36, but would still be first choice during his first two seasons at the club. He also helped the club to gain promotion back to the First Division and stay there the following year. With Zambelli providing competition for his place, Rio fell out of favour, and would only make 4 appearances between 1986 and 1987. At the end of that season, he called time on his playing days, ending a packed career, where he achieved the feat of having made the most appearances in the history of the French First Division. In the subsequent period, he remained for a while at Rennes in the staff under Patrick Rampillon as Assistant Manager, but he would quickly leave the world of football to take up work in a commercial environment.