Bernard Lacombe

Bernard Lacombe
Lacombe with Lyon in 1977
Personal information
Date of birth (1952-08-15)15 August 1952[1]
Place of birth Lyon, France
Date of death 17 June 2025(2025-06-17) (aged 72)
Place of death Albigny-sur-Saône, France
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position Striker
Youth career
1960–1969 CS Fontaines
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1969–1978 Lyon 222 (123)
1978–1979 Saint-Étienne 32 (14)
1979–1987 Bordeaux 243 (118)
Total 497 (255)
International career
1973–1984 France 38 (12)
Managerial career
1996–2000 Lyon
Medal record
Representing  France
UEFA European Championship
Winner1984
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bernard Lacombe (French pronunciation: [bɛʁnaʁ lakɔ̃b]; 15 August 1952 – 17 June 2025) was a French professional football player and manager. He played as a striker, mainly with Lyon, Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne and the France national team.

Career

Lacombe began his professional career with hometown club Lyon in 1969. One of his teammates, Aimé Jacquet, would be later his team manager (and the manager of the France national team which won the 1998 FIFA World Cup).

Lacombe earned his first cap for France in 1973. He went on to represent his nation at the 1978 World Cup, scoring after only 30 seconds against Italy, the fastest goal ever for a French player, and also the first goal of that tournament. Lacombe also played at the 1982 World Cup and won UEFA Euro 1984.[2]

After a brief stay with Saint-Étienne, Lacombe joined Bordeaux, where he was re-united with Aimé Jacquet. He won three French Ligue 1 championships. Lacombe won the Coupe de France twice (with Lyon and Bordeaux), and scored a goal in the 1973 Coupe de France Final.[3]

With 255 goals scored in Ligue 1, he is the second-best striker of all-time in the French championship, after Delio Onnis.[4]

After his playing career ended, Lacombe joined the technical staff of former club Lyon, first as technical manager (from 1988 to 1996), then as trainer (1996 to 2000) and manager. He was instrumental in the successes of the club in Ligue 1 and also on the European scene, helping lead his side to seven-straight UEFA Champions League appearances. Lacombe served as a "special adviser" to team president Jean-Michel Aulas for twenty years.[5] He also had significant influence on choices made; for example, he helped retain several Brazilian players who would join Lyon during the 2000s, including Juninho, Edmílson, Cris, Caçapa and Fred.

Death

Lacombe died on 17 June 2025, at the age of 72.[6][7]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[8][9]
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lyon 1969–70 Division 1 51—51
1970–71 30—30
1971–72 3619—3619
1972–73 3523—3523
1973–74 31134[a]13514
1974–75 27174[b]43121
1975–76 16500165
1976–77 3621—3621
1977–78 3324—3324
Total 22212385230128
Saint-Étienne 1978–79 Division 1 3214—3214
Bordeaux 1979–80 Division 1 3311—3311
1980–81 3418—3418
1981–82 33173[b]13618
1982–83 33206[b]03920
1983–84 35182[b]03718
1984–85 36228[c]34425
1985–86 2371[c]0247
1986–87 1652[a]0185
Total 243118224265122
Career total 497255309527264
  1. 1 2 Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup
  2. 1 2 3 4 Appearances in UEFA Cup
  3. 1 2 Appearances in European Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[8][9]
National teamYearAppsGoals
France 197310
197432
1975—
197631
197740
197861
197944
198031
198132
198250
1983—
198461
Total3812
Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lacombe goal.
List of international goals scored by Bernard Lacombe
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
127 April 1974Letná Stadium, Prague, Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia2–03–3Friendly
23–2
39 October 1976Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria Bulgaria2–02–21978 FIFA World Cup qualification
42 June 1978World Cup Stadium, Mar del Plata, Argentina Italy1–01–21978 FIFA World Cup
57 May 1979Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, United States United States1–06–0Friendly
62–0
73–0
85 September 1979Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden Sweden1–03–1UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
911 October 1980Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus Cyprus1–07–01982 FIFA World Cup qualification
105 December 1981Parc des Princes, Paris, France Cyprus2–04–01982 FIFA World Cup qualification
113–0
121 June 1984Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France Scotland2–02–0Friendly

Honours

Player

Lyon

Bordeaux

France

Manager

Lyon

References

  1. 1 2 "Bernard Lacombe". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
  2. ↑ "OL: "L'INSTINCT DU FOOTBALL", THE BOOK THAT TRACES THE LEGEND OF BERNARD LACOMBE". www.tonicradio.fr. 24 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "Bernard Lacombe revisits his successes in the Coupe de France". La Montagne. 13 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "OL: Bernard Lacombe, 70 ans d'amour foot" (in French). Le Progrès. 15 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "OL : Bernard Lacombe prendra sa retraite à la fin de l'année" (in French). L'Équipe. 5 November 2019.
  6. ↑ "Bernard Lacombe, ancien footballeur international et champion d'Europe avec les Bleus en 1984, est mort à l'âge de 72 ans". Le Monde. 17 June 2025.
  7. ↑ Bernard Lacombe, ancien footballeur international et champion d’Europe avec les Bleus en 1984, est mort à l’âge de 72 ans (in French)
  8. 1 2 "Bernard Lacombe » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  9. 1 2 Bernard Lacombe at National-Football-Teams.com
  10. ↑ "Lyon 3-2 Montpellier (Aggregate: 4 - 2)". UEFA. Archived from the original on 1 August 2004. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
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