Paul Le Guen

Lore & Background

During his playing career, Le Guen played as a midfielder, and enjoyed a successful stay with Paris Saint-Germain between 1991 and 1998, and won 17 caps for the France national team. As a manager, his most notable achievement has been winning the Ligue 1 title in each of his three seasons in charge of Lyon between 2002 and 2005.

Reader's Guide

Le Guen was born in Pencran, Finistère. He played at Brest for five years and Nantes Atlantique for two years, before leaving Brittany for Paris Saint-Germain. In seven seasons at the Parc des Princes, he made 478 appearances, winning a league title, three French Cups, two League Cups and the Cup Winners' Cup medal in 1996. Le Guen scored the winning goal in the 1995 Coupe de France Final against Strasbourg. At international level, he played 17 times for France, and was part of the team which lost out on a trip to the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He ended his playing career by taking part in a friendly where Brittany faced Cameroon on 21 May 1998, which finished in a 1–1 draw. As a manager, he led Olympique Lyonnais to three consecutive Ligue 1 titles. He has also managed Stade Rennais, Paris Saint-Germain, Rangers, the Cameroon national team, the Oman national team, Bursaspor and Le Havre. In July 2016, he was to be named manager of the Nigeria national team, but didn't agree to the contract terms.

Did You Know?

• Le Guen replaced Jacques Santini as manager of Olympique Lyonnais on 21 May 2002.
• He resigned from Lyon on 9 May 2005, the day after the club won their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 championship.
• Le Guen was the first Catholic to manage Rangers, a team with a historically Protestant identity.
• He ran the Marathon des Sables in the Moroccan desert in 2006.