Yves BOUTET

Yves Boutet (nicknamed Yvon) was born in Rennes and he became the record holder at Rennes for the most appearances in a Red and Black shirt, playing in a total of 394 matches for the club between 1955 and 1967. This defender by trade started his long footballing journey with TA Rennes, aged 13, and he would win several titles with all of the youth categories that he played for at the club. All of these successes would open the door for a selection with the French Schoolboy side in 1952. A talented player, he would soon be snapped up by Stade Rennais, who signed him on Apprentice Professional forms in 1955, before he turned fully professional the following season. He made his first team debut on 23rd October 1955 in a 3-0 victory over Sète on Matchday 10 of the 1955/1956 Second Division season. That year, Stade Rennais would finish Second Division Champions, and gain promotion to the top flight. Boutet, who also held down a job as a typesetter alongside his footballing commitments, would only make ten or so appearances in his first season with Rennes, but would progressively establish himself as a regular in the starting eleven as the seasons went by. In 1956, he was called up to do military service, but continued to play professional football, and even got called up to the French Military Team. Upon his return from his stint in the Army in 1958, he continued to work, becoming a kitchen salesman, whilst continuing to play for his club. He became club captain for Rennes, and he would become the first Rennes player to lift the French Cup, when the Red and Blacks won the title in 1965. Over his twelve seasons at the club, he would score just the once, on 28th November 1965, against Rouen in a 2-2 draw on Matchday 17 in the First Division. A loyal clubman, he would finally leave his beloved Rennes at the end of the 1966/1967 season, when Rennes decided that he could no longer be a professional footballer, and hold down a full-time job outside of the game. He moved onto Lorient, where he would close out his career as a professional footballer in 1969, before going on to manage the club on the South coast of Brittany that same year. At the beginning of the 1970s, he was working as a sales representative for Adidas, whilst continuing to operate with roles at the Football Club in Lorient, even as Vice President at the dawn of the 1990s. He had been named captain in all the clubs he had played for. Boutet was a man who would forever leave his mark on the club in the history of Stade Rennais, and he sadly passed away, aged 84, on 15th July 2021 in Lorient.