FLASH NEWS
Football in mourning, famous former French player passes away
2025-06-18 00:05:06 / SPORT
The news was confirmed this Tuesday and has shocked not only Olympique Lyon fans, but also the entire sports community in France and beyond.
Lacombe has been a central figure in French football history for more than five decades – as a player, coach, manager and advisor.
With 255 goals scored in the French top flight, he remains the top French scorer in Ligue 1 history, having played for Lyon, Saint-Étienne and Bordeaux. On the international stage, he has been capped 38 times by the French national team and was European champion in 1984, with the team led by Michel Platini.
Born in Fontaines-sur-Saône, the son of a butcher and trained as a welder, Lacombe realized his dream at the age of 17 when he made his debut for Lyon on December 7, 1969 and scored in his first match against Red Star.
With an intelligent playing style and refined technique, he became one of the most complete strikers of his time: two-footed, with exceptional sensitivity for positioning and passing, efficient with both his head and the ball at his feet.
At the 1978 World Cup, he scored the fastest goal of the tournament – just 38 seconds into the match against Italy. For France, he would be part of the generation that reached the semi-finals of Euro 1984, a tournament that would later crown “Les Bleus” as champions.
The longest and most memorable part of his career was linked to Olympique Lyonnais, where he not only developed as a player, but also left his mark as a manager and coach. After ending his playing career (with great success also with Bordeaux), he returned to his beloved club in 1988, called by president Jean-Michel Aulas to help rebuild Lyon, which was in Ligue 2.
From sporting director (1988–1996), to first-team coach (until 2000) and then close advisor to president Aulas until 2019, Lacombe was the architect of Lyon's spectacular rise, winning 7 consecutive Ligue 1 championships from 2002 to 2008, and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2010.
For Lyon, Bernard Lacombe was more than a legend. He was the club's memory, a living link between different generations, a man who could describe every important match with date, result and goalscorer. Listening to Bernard Lacombe was like reading a yellow page from a historical almanac of French football.
With his passing, France loses one of the most beloved and respected figures of its national sport. Bernard Lacombe's name will always remain at the top of football history - as a footballer, a leader and a man who dedicated his life to the round ball.
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