Pierre Allemane

Richard Pierre Louis Alègre was born in Montpellier on 19 January 1882, and was only recognized by his father, Jean Pierre Alemane, or Allemane (both spellings are found in the civil registry) in 1898, when the latter decided to marry his mother in Paris, when Pierre was already 16 years old. However, he had already used his father's name before, since it is possible to find the name Allemane in the team of the Passy club, the Union Athlétique, from September 1896 onwards.

File:Le Club Français, champion de Paris de football en 1899.jpg

Between 1896 and 1899, Allemane played with several Parisian clubs, such as Union athlétique de Passy in 1896,{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k283784k/f6.item.r=allemane.zoom |title=Petites nouvelles |trans-title=Short stories |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Le Figaro |page=6 |date=29 September 1896 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228150708/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k283784k/f6.item.r=allemane.zoom |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k45867541/f2.image.r=allemane.zoom |title=Matches divers |trans-title=Various matches |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Le Vélo |page=2 |date=8 February 1897 |accessdate=14 November 2024 }} and then for United Sports Club in 1897{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57950407/f17.image.r=allemane.zoom |title=Association football |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Le Véloce-sport |page=17 |date=28 October 1897 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228150711/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57950407/f17.image.r=allemane.zoom |url-status=live }} and 1898, the year in which he turned 16, but even though he was still very young, he was already standing out for his size at 1.80 metres tall, which, at a time when the average conscript was no taller than 1.63 metres, made him a colossus, especially since he would soon weigh 90 kilos, hence the choice to place him at the back. He was powerful and lively, and defended his camp with fierce energy. On 27 February 1899, the 17-year-old Allemane officially became a member of Club Français,{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k8331732v/f2.image.r=allemane.zoom |title=Admissions |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Tous les sports |page=2 |date=11 March 1899 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228150719/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k8331732v/f2.image.r=allemane.zoom |url-status=live }} and later that year, on 23 October, he started in the 1899 Coupe Manier final at Suresnes, helping his side to a 6–0 win over RC Roubaix.{{Cite web |url=https://www.retronews.fr/journal/journal-des-sports/23-octobre-1899/4054/5389432/2 |title=La Coupe Manier |language=fr |website=www.retronews.fr |publisher=Le Journal des sports |page=2 |date=23 October 1899 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=24 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524001450/https://www.retronews.fr/journal/journal-des-sports/23-octobre-1899/4054/5389432/2 |url-status=live }}

Together with Lucien Huteau, Georges Garnier, and Gaston Peltier, Allemane was a member of the Club Français team that won the 1899–1900 USFSA Paris championship.{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k96060553/f9.image.r=alicmane.zoom |title=Les grandes équipes de football |trans-title=The Great Football Teams |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=La Vie au grand air |page=23 |date=14 January 1900 |accessdate=14 November 2024 }} On 29 April 1900, he started in the final of the 1900 Challenge International du Nord in Tourcoing, which ended in a 3–2 loss to Le Havre.{{Cite web |url=https://www.retronews.fr/journal/journal-des-sports/30-avril-1900/4054/5389626/3 |title=Le Challenge du Nord - Victoire des Havrais |trans-title=The Challenge of the North - Victory of Le Havre |language=fr |website=www.retronews.fr |publisher=Le Journal des sports |page=3 |date=30 April 1900 |accessdate=14 November 2024 }} In the following week, on 6 May, he started in another final against Le Havre AC in the 1900 USFSA Football Championship, which ended in a 1–0 loss.{{Cite web |url=https://www.retronews.fr/journal/journal-des-sports/7-mai-1900/4054/5389600/2 |title=Championnat de France - Club Français (1) contre La Havre AC (1) |trans-title=French Championship - Club Français (1) against La Havre AC (1) |language=fr |website=www.retronews.fr |publisher=Le Journal des sports |page=2 |date=7 May 1900 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=13 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113004921/https://www.retronews.fr/journal/journal-des-sports/7-mai-1900/4054/5389600/2 |url-status=live }} Later that year, on 23 December, Allemane formed a defensive partnership with Louis Bach in the 1900 Coupe Manier final at Joinville, keeping a clean-sheet in a 1–0 win over UA I arrondissement.{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4624350z/f3.item.zoom |title=La Coupe Manier |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Auto |page=3 |date=24 December 1900 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=13 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113190101/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4624350z/f3.item.zoom |url-status=live }} The chronicles of the time often described the pairing of Allemane and Bach as a "wall".

In the build-up for a match against Racing Club de France in 1901, there were rumors about Allemane's departure to Racing; when the match arrived, however, he traveled with the Club Français players, undressed with them, and began to train with the CF jersey, but when the referee whistled the start of the game, he took off the colors of CF to appear with the ones of Racing, simply saying that he was playing against his teammates, and the remaining ten of them succumbed to a defeat. Due to this omission, Allemane's resignation from CF did not appear in the USFSA's official bulletin, and thus, when he was set to start in the final of the 1901 USFSA Football Championship against Le Havre on 14 April, the latter club filed a request for his disqualification on the basis that Allemane was not a Racing player, but the USFSA Commission decided otherwise because he had been part of RCF since 4 April.{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46244754/f3.item.r=allemane.zoom |title=Le cas de Ferris et d'Allemane |trans-title=The case of Ferris and Allemane |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Auto |page=3 |date=28 April 1901 |access-date=7 February 2025 }}

Allemane quickly became Racing's main pillar, playing a crucial role in helping the club reach the 1902 USFSA Football Championship final, which ended in a 5–3 loss to RC Roubaix, but he achieved his revenge in the following year, by beating Roubaix in the final (3–1). Allemane played the 1902 final as full-back, alongside Fernand Matthey, and the 1903 final as a wing-half. Allemane won his second French championship in 1907, again at the expense of Roubaix (3–2), this time as full-back alongside Victor Sergent, but then lost the 1908 final 2–1 to Roubaix, this time playing as a centre-half. Allemane also helped Racing win a three-peat of Coupe Dewar titles between 1905 and 1907, starting in the latter final alongside Sergent, which ended in a 2–0 win over Olympique lillois.{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4623389h/f7.item.zoom |title=Football Association |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Auto |page=7 |date=29 April 1907 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=1 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201093226/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4623389h/f7.item.zoom |url-status=live }} In 1908, he was described as a 27-year-old bank employee and as the "current best midfielder in France".{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4623484s/f5.image.r=allemane.zoom |title=La finale du championnat de France - Roubaix contre Paris |trans-title=The final of the French championship - Roubaix against Paris |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Auto |page=5 |date=2 May 1908 |access-date=7 February 2025 }}

While at Racing, Allemane did not hesitate to wear other jerseys, playing a few matches for other clubs, such as FC Paris in the 1903–04 season{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4624956h/f5.item.r=allemane.zoom |title=Football association - Championnat de Paris (U.S.F.S.A.) |trans-title=Football association - Paris Championship (USFSA) |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Auto |page=5 |date=22 February 1904 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228150737/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4624956h/f5.item.r=allemane.zoom |url-status=live }} and S.C. Amical in 1908.{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7617158v/f5.item.r=allemane.zoom |title=Les faits du jour |trans-title=The facts of the day |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Le Radical |page=5 |date=14 October 1908 |accessdate=14 November 2024 }} The player was criticized in the press for regularly changing teams, having several licenses in different Parisian clubs,{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7640429t/f4.image.r=allemane.zoom |title=Les causes de la pauvreté du football français |trans-title=The causes of the poverty of French football |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Paris-Soir |page=4 |date=2 August 1925 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228150716/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7640429t/f4.image.r=allemane.zoom |url-status=live }} and was even suspected of selling his services, left and right, to the highest bidder, thus no longer being really an amateur.

In 1909, Racing wanted to stay faithful to amateurism and thus it sided with the USFSA and its rigorism, so Allemane left the club right away and joined CASG Paris, which is the club of Société Générale, the well-known bank who had no sporting ambitions, since it played in the second division, but as the club of "bankers", it was where Allemane had his interests.{{Cite web |url=https://lafter.media/o/MagazineArticle/le-plus-vieux-metier-du-monde_ma_27807372 |title=Le plus vieux métier du monde |trans-title=The oldest profession in the world |language=fr |website=lafter.media |date=13 March 2024 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=25 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240725195021/https://lafter.media/o/MagazineArticle/le-plus-vieux-metier-du-monde_ma_27807372 |url-status=live }} He stayed loyal to CASG for five years until 1914, when Allemane decided to "rather train young players and to become a coach and manager" within USA Clichy, thus retiring from playing at the age of 32.

In 1922, Allemane was described as having "embodied for a whole generation the type of French footballer. He was an ideal captain, possessing the technique and practice of the game, admirably helped by formidable physical means, without however lacking flexibility. He was truly the pillar of the [Racing] team".{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k97903713/f9.image.r=allemane.zoom |title=Une sélection de joueurs à travers les âges du football |trans-title=A selection of players through the ages of football |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Le Miroir des sports |page=330 |date=23 November 1922 |accessdate=14 November 2024 }}

File:France football 1900.jpg

Allemane was listed as a defender for the USFSA team at the 1900 Olympic Games.{{cite web |url=https://www.fff.fr/article/12601-paris-1900-en-sport-de-demonstration.html |title=Paris 1900, en sport de démonstration |trans-title=Paris 1900, in demonstration sport |language=fr |website=www.fff.fr |date=10 July 2024 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=27 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727035341/https://www.fff.fr/article/12601-paris-1900-en-sport-de-demonstration.html |url-status=live }} He was selected for both matches, which ended in a 4–0 loss to Upton Park on 20 September, and in a 6–2 win over a team representing Belgium three days later.{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tableso/ol1900f.html |title=Games of the II. Olympiad |publisher=RSSSF |date=12 May 2022 |access-date=14 November 2024 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709122416/https://www.rsssf.org/tableso/ol1900f.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.11v11.com/players/pierre-allemane-129385/ |title=Pierre Allemane Football Player Statistics |website=www.11v11.com |access-date=14 November 2024 }} The French team came second and Allemane was thus awarded with a silver medal.

In March 1902, Allemane played for a Paris XI that went to London to challenge Marlow F.C., which ended in a 4–0 loss. In March 1904, he played for an unofficial French national team against Southampton, a professional team that had recently beaten the French by the resounding score of 11–0, but with the addition of Allemane in the defense, they lost "only" by 6–1. After the match, he was "acclaimed, because he had never been so brilliant".{{Cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4624977p/f1.item.r=allemane.zoom |title=Southampton contre équipe de France — Un match splendide |trans-title=Southampton vs France - A Splendid Match |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=L'Auto |page=1 |date=14 March 1904 |accessdate=7 February 2025 }} On 5 March 1905, he played for a France XI in a friendly match against a London League XI, which ended in a 3–1 loss. At the time, the English amateur game was a game of avoidance, and not of duels, but Allemane, due to his extraordinary size, did not hesitate to use his weight in charges, thus engaging in pure improvisation (because pressing was not theorized anywhere then), in defensive pressing to hinder the English passing combinations; this caused the English to state that Allemane "is a necessity in your team".

File:Pierre Allemane, capitaine de l'équipe de France de football en 1906.jpg

Allemane was thus set to play for France in their first-ever official match against Belgium on 1 May 1904, but he was unable to do so because he was doing his military service in Châlons-sur-Marne and had not been given leave, and without him, France conceded three goals in a 3–3 draw. The same happened in March 1905, but not in February, arriving at the last minute for the match against Switzerland, for which he was named captain, which at the time were the ones who had the duty of dictating the tactics to be followed and making up the line-ups. In his debut, he captained his team to the first-ever victory in France's history (Switzerland, 1–0), but in his third appearance, he led his team to the heaviest defeat in France's history, a 15–0 loss to England amateurs on 1 November 1906.

On 8 March 1908, in a match against Switzerland in Geneva, France conceded first, but "Allemane gathered his teammates and showed them how to proceed to win", leading his side to a comeback 2–1 victory, being carried in triumph after the match because he had never stopped encouraging and pushing his teammates on the field. In his next match, however, France lost 12–0 to England amateurs on 23 March, and when the game ended, the bitter and demoralized Allemane poured out his heart in the newspapers: "We will never learn anything from the Swiss and the Belgians, who do not know what English football is any more than we do. What profit will we get from this fight [against England]? A complete disgust, an equally complete disillusionment, and the hope of equaling these masters is, in my opinion, unrealizable". A few days later, on 31 March, he announced his retirement from international football at the age of 26, but on 12 April, Allemane played his 7th and final international cap in a friendly match against Belgium, playing below his expected level in an eventual 2–1 loss.{{cite web |url=https://www.equipe-france.fr/football/pierre-allemane |title=Pierre Allemane, footballeur de l'équipe de France de football |trans-title=Pierre Allemane, footballer of the French football team |language=fr |website=www.equipe-france.fr |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004093900/https://www.equipe-france.fr/football/pierre-allemane |url-status=live }}

Allemane was still called up for the 1908 Olympic Games in London, but he ended up not traveling when the USFSA decided to send only two instead of three teams,{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tableso/ol1908f-det.html |title=IV. Olympiad London 1908 Football Tournament |publisher=RSSSF |date=8 September 2024 |access-date=14 November 2024 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111135811/https://www.rsssf.org/tableso/ol1908f-det.html |url-status=live }} which saved him from a humiliation that was undoubtedly worse than the one he had experienced against the English, since it exposed the French team to a resounding 17–1 loss to Denmark.

During the First World War, Allemane was in the 11th Heavy Artillery and received the Croix de Guerre. He remained attached to the artillery, was named lieutenant in 1922, and was still assigned to a battalion of reservists in 1933, at the age of 50.

After the war, Allemane notably coached the first team of the USA Clichy.{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9790575f/f15.item.r=allemane.zoom |title=Quelques anecdotes sur le sport et les sportifs |trans-title=Some anecdotes about sport and sportsmen |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Le Miroir des sports |page=79 |date=1 February 1923 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228150809/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9790575f/f15.item.r=allemane.zoom |url-status=live }} The principles of his tactics were based on precise passes, therefore on a collective game and not based on individual exploits of a gifted or inspired attacker, and on the offensive support of the half-backs. Allemane understood that there must not be too much space between the lines, which is what every coach strives to achieve today, a compact block. At the same time, he occasionally took on the role of sports advisor in the specialist press.{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4518677c/f4.item.r=allemane.zoom |title=Ce que les compétences pensent de notre méthode |trans-title=What the skills think of our method |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Les Sports comtois |page=4 |date=16 September 1923 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228202414/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4518677c/f4.item.r=allemane.zoom |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7637543b/f4.item.r=allemane.zoom |title=Un tract pratique |trans-title=A practical tract |language=fr |website=gallica.bnf.fr |publisher=Paris-Soir |page=4 |date=28 November 1927 |accessdate=14 November 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228150707/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7637543b/f4.item.r=allemane.zoom |url-status=live }}

A stockbroker at the Paris Stock Exchange, he enjoyed an advantageous social position at the time.

After retiring, he moved to a very small village in the Autreville, Aisne (600 inhabitants in the 1950s), where he died on 24 May 1956, at the age of 74.

Club Français

• USFSA Paris Championship: 1899–1900
• USFSA Football Championship runner-up: 1900
• Coupe Manier: 1899, 1900
• Challenge International du Nord runner-up: 1900

Racing Club de France

• USFSA Football Championship: 1903, 1907; runner-up: 1902, 1908
• Dewar Cup: 1905, 1906, 1907; runner-up 1904

France

• Summer Olympics silver medal: 1900

{{reflist}}

• {{Sports links}}
• [http://www.fff.fr/servfff/historique/historique.php?id=ALLEMANE%20Pierre Profile on French federation official site]

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Category:1882 births

Category:1956 deaths

Category:Footballers from Montpellier

Category:French men's footballers

Category:France men's international footballers

Category:Men's association football defenders

Category:Olympic footballers for France

Category:Olympic silver medalists for France

Category:Footballers at the 1900 Summer Olympics

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