Robert LAMARTINE

Born in the Nièvre region, where he began his footballing journey, he signed in 1955 for the great Stade de Reims side of the day. Striker by trade, he mostly figured on the right-hand side of the attack. He still had to wait until the 1957/1958 season to gain his first starts in the professional set-up. He would win both the French League title and the French Cup in that season. He progressively worked his way into a regular berth in the starting line-up. The 1958/1959 season would be his most complete in terms of game-time, playing virtually all of the matches that season in the league, and 7 matches in the European Cup, including the famous final, which they lost against Real Madrid. In 1959, he left Reims to sign to SCO Angers, where he would play for three seasons. In 1961, he scored the 1000th goal in professional football for Angers. He stayed there until December 1962, and then had a short spell of a couple of months in Montpellier. In 1963, he joined Stade Rennais for what proved to be his final season as a professional footballer. He came in to replace Yvon Goujon, who had moved on to Rouen. He had a decent season with Rennes, scoring ten goals before calling time on his professional career. He continued playing amateur football with Decize, where he was born. He sadly passed away on 16th January 1990, aged just 54 years old.