Charlie Cros

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Charlie Cros

| image = Charles Cros 1931.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Cros in 1931

| full_name = Charles Cros

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|01|22|df=y}}

| birth_place = Saint-Ambroix, France

| death_date = {{death date and age|1993|11|22|1912|01|22|df=y}}

| death_place = 13th arrondissement of Paris, France

| height =

| position = Midfielder

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = 1930–1933 | clubs1 = Montpellier | caps1 = | goals1 =

| years2 = 1933–1936 | clubs2 = FC Sète | caps2 = | goals2 =

| years3 = 1936–1938 | clubs3 = Red Star | caps3 = | goals3 =

| years4 = 1938–1940 | clubs4 = Montpellier | caps4 = | goals4 =

| years5 = 1940–1942 | clubs5 = Cannes | caps5 = | goals5 =

| totalcaps = | totalgoals =

| manageryears1 = 1947–1948

| managerclubs1 = Nancy

| manageryears2 = 1949–1950

| managerclubs2 = Saint Eugène

| manageryears3 = 1951–1952

| managerclubs3 = {{ill|Union sportive seynoise|fr}}

| manageryears4 = 1952–1953

| managerclubs4 = OGC Nice (amateurs)

}}

Charles Cros, better known as Charlie Cros (22 January 1912 – 22 November 1993), was a French footballer who played as a midfielder for Montpellier, FC Sète, and Red Star in the 1930s.

Early life

Born on 22 January 1912 in Saint-Ambroix, a small village in Gard, Cros began playing football at the Lycée de Montpellier, where he not only studied, but also eagerly awaited break times to play this sport, in which he soon stood out for his feints and dribbles.{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9729153/f6.item.r=(prOx:%20%22charlie%22%202%20%22cros%22).zoom |title=Charles Cros |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=La Voix du Clapas |page=6 |date=2 April 1932 |access-date=4 May 2025}}

Playing career

=Montpellier=

Together with several fellow students, he formed a football club named Sporting Club Montpellier, which, after some successes, ran into difficulties, prompting its members to join Montpellier HSC. A member of its youth ranks, Cros helped the club's U-18 team win the Languedoc championship in 1928, and the South-East championship in 1929. That same year, Cros helped the Montpellier high school reach the final of the French school championship in Colombes, which ended in a narrow 1–0 loss, courtesy of a penalty kick. In 1930, he helped the junior team reach the final of the South-East championship, and was among the Montpellier students who were proclaimed champions of France Universitaire. Bearing an "uncanny resemblance" to the Yugoslav Dušan Petković, who taught him to highlight his natural qualities, such as his stride, his feints, the precision of his passes, and the power of his shot.

During the 1930–31 season, Cros made his first-team debut, occupying the position of right midfielder and making an immediate impact on the team, as they went on to reach the 1931 Coupe de France final, which ended in a 3–0 loss to Club Français.{{cite web |url=http://www.om4ever.com/CoupeFrance/1930/Coupe1930-1931.html |title=Saison 1930-1931 Club Français Vainqueur |trans-title=1930-1931 Season Club Français Winner |language=fr |website=www.om4ever.com |access-date=4 May 2025}}{{cite web |url=http://mfe11.free.fr/histoire/volet4.htm |title=Histoire du club - Si Montpellier m'était conté... |trans-title=Club History - If Montpellier were told to me... |language=fr |website=mfe11.free.fr |access-date=4 May 2025}} The following day, the journalists of the French newspaper L'Auto (currently known as L'Équipe) stated that he "was far from repeating his remarkable exhibition against Amiens".{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46333713/f4.image.r=cros.zoom |title=La victoire du Club Français sur les S.O. Montpellier pour la Coupe de France - Comment ils ont joué |trans-title=The French Club's victory over S.O. Montpellier for the Coupe de France - How they played |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Équipe |page=4 |date=4 May 1931 |access-date=4 May 2025}}

=Sète=

In 1933, Cros followed his coach René Dedieu to the top-flight team FC Sète, scoring 8 goals in 20 Ligue 1 matches in his first season there, actively contributing to the title of the Sètes. Together with István Lukács, Ivan Bek, and Ali Benouna, he was a member of the Sète team that won the double, the 1933–34 French Division 1 and the French Cup, beating Olympique de Marseille 2–1 in the final, in which he did not play as Dedieu preferred Marcel Miquel.{{cn|date=May 2025}} During his time at Sète, he was called up to the regional selection,{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t53743187k/f13.item.r=(prOx:%20%22charles%22%203%20%22cros%22)%20and%20(prOx:%20%22cros%22%2050%20%22football%22).zoom |title=Le onze des Etrangers a battu Féquipe des Français par 4 buts a 3 |trans-title=The Foreigners' team beat the French team by 4 goals to 3 |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Éclair |page=13 |date=18 February 1935 |access-date=4 May 2025}} and to the France B team,{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k76390096/f4.image.r=cros%20charlie.zoom |title=Veillée d'armes - Les remparts de Sète |trans-title=Veillée d'armes - Les remparts de Sète |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Paris-soir |page=4 |date=22 August 1934 |access-date=4 May 2025}} he was then considered as a candidate for the French team.{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k72303549/f8.item.r=(prOx:%20%22charles%22%203%20%22cros%22).zoom |title=Sic transit... |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Sporting |page=8 |date=28 June 1938 |access-date=4 May 2025}}

=Later career=

Cros stayed at Sète for three years, from 1933 until 1936, when he signed for Red Star, with whom he played for two years, until 1938,{{cite web |url=http://www.allezredstar.com/fr_a2z.htm |title=Les joueurs du Red Star de A à Z |trans-title=Red Star players from A to Z |language=fr |website=www.allezredstar.com |access-date=4 May 2025}} gradually losing prominence there, perhaps due to injuries. In 1938, he returned to Montpellier, now in the second division, staying there until the outbreak of the First World War, after which he joined Cannes; having been a professional at Sète and Red Star, he was no longer so at Cannes.{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4643761c/f2.item.r=(prOx:%20%22charles%22%202%20%22cros%22).zoom |title=Inspecteur departemental du CG, Charles Cros a fonde a Perpignan une ecole de football |trans-title=Departmental inspector of the CG, Charles Cros founded a football school in Perpignan |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Équipe |page=2 |date=19 January 1944 |access-date=4 May 2025}} By the time he retired in 1942, he was the only non-Cannes player in the squad.{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k11809600/f12.item.r=(prOx:%20%22football%22%2050%20%22cannes%22)%20and%20(prOx:%20%22charles%22%202%20%22cros%22).zoom |title=L'AS Cannes veut feter brillamment ses 40 ans |trans-title=AS Cannes wants to celebrate its 40th anniversary in style |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Marche |page=12 |date=14 April 1942 |access-date=4 May 2025}} Having been reclassified as an amateur, he began earning a living as a departmental inspector of the CG (General Football Club) in Perpignan, where he played as an amateur at USA Perpignan, who won the Languedoc Championship, and later he even created a football school in the city.

Managerial career

In 1947, Cros took over Nancy, then in the first division, while running an import-export business.{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51027597x/f2.item.r=(prOx:%20%22charles%22%203%20%22cros%22)%20and%20(prOx:%20%22cros%22%2050%20%22football%22).zoom |title=Le Nord est plus calme que I'Est et I'orage gronde a Nancy et a Colmar |trans-title=The North is calmer than the East and storms are brewing in Nancy and Colmar |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Liberté-soir |page=2 |date=17 April 1948 |access-date=4 May 2025}} In 1949, he was hired by Saint Eugène in Algeria,{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k41538626/f6.item.r=(prOx:%20%22charles%22%203%20%22cros%22)%20and%20(prOx:%20%22cros%22%2050%20%22football%22).zoom |title=La formule des championnats d Alger est modifiée pour la saison 1950-51 |trans-title=The formula of the Algiers championships was modified for the 1950-51 season |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Écho d'Alger |page=6 |date=26 June 1949 |access-date=4 May 2025}} with whom he won the North African Championship in 1950. Around 1951, he returned to his homeland to become the coach of the now-defunct defunct {{ill|Union sportive seynoise|fr}} in the French amateur championship.{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51013885/f7.item.r=charlie%20croscharlie%20cros%22charlie%20cros%22.zoom |title=Bapteme du feu |trans-title=Baptism of fire |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Équipe |page=7 |date=1 September 1951 |access-date=4 May 2025}} The following year, he was hired by OGC Nice as the assistant coach to Mario Zatelli, whom he replaced for the last six matches of the 1952–53 season, guiding his team to kep victories that kept the club in the first division.{{cite web |url=https://www.footballstats.fr/fiche-CROS%20Charles.html |title=Charles CROS |language=fr |website=www.footballstats.fr |access-date=4 May 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://ligue1.fr/articles/l1_article_326-historique-les-entraineurs-de-l-ogc-nice-en-ligue-1 |title=Historique: Les entraîneurs de l'OGC Nice en Ligue 1 |trans-title=History: OGC Nice coaches in Ligue 1 |language=fr |website=ligue1.fr |date=6 June 2024 |access-date=4 May 2025}}