The Vosgien Jacques Georges, pillar of French, European … and women’s football

We leave for the very beautiful village of Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle where Jacques Georges was born in 1916. A large part of this man’s life can be summed up in a story of balloons: the tender balloons of the Vosges which adorn and inhabit the landscapes of his childhood; and the round balls of a world of football that the Vosges has helped to modernize and feminize. In this village in the « south of Lorraine », there is also a surprising collection of native stars of the area: Jacques Georges, therefore, who was the boss of the FFF (French Football Federation), of UEFA (his counterpart at European level) then Vice-President of FIFA (at world level); there is also the novelist Pierre Pelot and Cloclo’s great-grandfather, Nicolas Joseph François, all three born in Saint-Maurice. Jacques Georges, after having worn crampons (international in the university section), began his career as a manager at FC Nancy then at the Ligue de Lorraine de Foot, in 1959. Nine years later, in 1968, he took over the presidency of the FFF .

It was in the 1970s that this Vosgien marked international football. It operates in particular a major turning point in the history of women’s football. Women, of course, had been playing football for a long time, from the end of the First World War, but their matches took place on the fringes of official federations and competitions, we then spoke of « pirate matches ». Under the leadership of Jacques Georges, the FFF officially recognized women’s football on March 29, 1970. And as a nod to the Vosges, the women in blue beat the Netherlands (4-0) in their first match. official. UEFA will be more nonchalant in the process of admitting women footballers. They will have to wait until 1982, a year before Jacques Georges arrives at the head of the European federation. This UEFA, Jacques Georges will also mark it. This is what can be read on the UEFA website: « Jacques Georges played an active role in the development and modernization of UEFA, particularly at a time when the media, and more specifically television, were beginning to take on added importance. The French also owe a lot to this kid from Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle, particularly for the choice of France as the host country of the 1998 World Cup.