:Raoul Diagne

{{Short description|French footballer (1910–2002)}}

{{Expand French|topic=bio|Raoul Diagne|date=June 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Raoul Diagne

| image = Raoul Diagne en novembre 1938.jpg

| caption = Diagne pictured in 1938

| full_name =

| birth_date = 10 November 1910

| birth_place = Saint Laurent Du Maroni, French Guiana,

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2002|11|04|1910|11|10}}

| death_place = Créteil, France

| height = 1.87 m{{cite web |last1=Auclair |first1=Philippe |title=What Makes a Nation? |url=https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/what-makes-nation |website=The Blizzard |accessdate=28 August 2019 |date=1 September 2011}}

| position = Defender

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = 1930–1940

| clubs1 = RC Paris

| caps1 =

| goals1 =

| years2 = 1940–1944

| clubs2 = Toulouse

| caps2 =

| goals2 =

| years3 = 1944–1946

| clubs3 = FC Annecy

| caps3 =

| goals3 =

| nationalyears1 = 1931–1940

| nationalteam1 = France

| nationalcaps1 = 18

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| manageryears1 = 1960–1961

| managerclubs1 = Senegal

}}

Raoul Diagne (10 November 1910 – 4 November 2002){{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=matchID - Raoul Diagne |url=https://deces.matchid.io/id/kUQQf2oU123T |website=Fichier des décès |publisher= |access-date=3 December 2023 |language=fr |date=}} was a French footballer who played as a defender professionally in France and for the France national team. He worked as a coach after his playing career.

Born in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in French Guiana, Diagne, son of politician Blaise Diagne, was raised in Paris. The young Diagne was a brilliant student, but his passion for football was much stronger than that for studying, despite pressure from his father. Initially cut by French professional football team Stade Français, Raoul Diagne signed at the age of 16 with Racing Club de Paris. A tall, elegant, and versatile defender who was excellent in the air, Diagne was the first black player to be selected for the France national team.{{Cite web|url=https://www.afrik.com/raoul-diagne-est-parti|title=Raoul Diagne est parti|date=17 November 2002|website=Afrik}} He earned 18 caps with the national team. The French press nicknamed Diagne the "Black Spider", given his impressive height (1.87 m) and limb reach. Playing in Paris, Diagne was close to the star Josephine Baker, who affectionately called him "my little brother." He was a prominent figure in the "black Paris" of the time, alongside boxer Panama Al Brown.  

Diagne could play any position on the field, goalkeeper included. Despite his imposing size and his primary role as a defender, his preferred position was as a right wing. It was as a very offensive-minded right back defender that he made his career on the France team.  In fact, it was not uncommon to see Raoul exchange his position with the actual right winger in order to seek a result at the end of the game.

At the end of the 1940s, after finishing his playing career in Toulouse (until 1942), Annecy (1942–1945) and Nice (1945–1947), he obtained his coaching diplomas and practiced in Belgium, Algeria, and Normandy. Of Senegalese descent, in the early 1960s Diagne became the first coach of the Senegal national team.{{cite web |url=http://www.unecatef.fr/Selections.htm |title=A la tête des sélections |accessdate=3 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603190507/http://www.unecatef.fr/Selections.htm |archivedate=3 June 2009}}

Raoul Diagne died on 4 November 2002 in Créteil, a southeastern suburb of the Paris metropolitan area. The "Black Spider" was 92 years old and France football mourned the loss of a star and pioneer.