Philippe REDON

Born in the Mayenne region of France, Philippe Redon started his footballing journey at Avranches in Normandy, before signing for Stade Rennais in 1970. This attack-minded player was mostly to be found on the right wing for his club. He was renowned for his tactical and technical intelligence. He started playing with Rennes' Reserve team in his first season at the club whilst simultaneously following his university studies in Medicine and Pharmacy. In his second campaign with Rennes, he joined the Professional group, and quickly left his mark on the club's history, becoming the first Rennes player to score in a European cup tie, scoring Rennes' goal in a 1-1 draw in the Cup Winners Cup meeting with Glasgow Rangers in 1971. Despite this historic moment, he would not get much in the way of game time during his first two years at the club, but he would gradually see more action over the course of his career with Rennes. In the 1974/1975 season, he finally made it as a First-Team regular in the starting line-up. Regrettably, he would find himself frozen out following a disagreement with President Lemoux, as were his team-mates of the day: Kéruzoré, Kerbiriou and Le Floch. He would ultimately leave the Breton capital to join Red Star in Paris, playing a season in Division Two. In 1976, this rapid and dynamic dribbler moved on to Paris Saint Germain, where he would stay until 1978. After his stay in the capital, he had spells with Bordeaux, Metz, Laval and Rouen, and he became a globetrotter for six months, exiled in Tahiti, where he would take up his career as a pharmacist, whilst continuing to play football. He subsequently returned to France for a final flourish, playing at Saint Etienne in the Second Division, before finishing his playing days with Saint Lô and Créteil in the third-tier of French football. It would be at Créteil that he began his managerial career, which also took him to Lens for the 1989/1990 season, the Cameroon national team, which he led for the 1991/1992 season, and then Liberia in 2000 after taking a break from the game for a few years. Reputed as a master tactician, and holder of the European Coaching badge, he returned to Stade Rennais in 2002, where he served as Assistant Manager under the successive reigns of Halilhodzic, Bölöni and then Dréossi. He was, alas, released in 2007 upon the arrival of Guy Lacombe at the club as First Team Manager. He then joined TV5 Monde as football pundit, and was a regular on the "Pleine Lucarne" programme on TV Rennes. Sadly, he passed away on 12th May 2020, in Rennes, after a long struggle with illness, aged 69 years old.