Impact and pain in European football. Former French coach and coach Gerard Houllier died on Sunday night at the age of 73 at his home, days after undergoing a new operation on the aorta in a Paris hospital. Liverpool myth and renowned French football coach had retired 10 years ago and suffered from heart problems.
Champion of France with PSG and Lyon and winner of the UEFA Cup with Liverpool in 2001, Houllier was fired this Monday by the different teams he was the protagonist from the bench, after confirming the information from RMC and L’Equipe. Years ago, he was undergoing treatment with a lot of medication and had undergone a new surgical intervention last October. After being hospitalized again in Paris, he had returned home this Sunday but died at night.
We are mourning the passing of our treble-winning manager, Gerard Houllier.
The thoughts of everyone at Liverpool Football Club are with Gerard’s family and many friends.
Rest in peace, Gerard Houllier 1947-2020. pic.twitter.com/isHGXIfe5E
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 14, 2020
Born in Therouanne, a town in northern France, Gerard Houllier was never a professional footballer but had steps as an amateur player for Hucqueliers and Le Touquet. The Frenchman dedicated himself to teaching: he was a primary school teacher and then an English teacher, but in 1976 he decided to leave school to join as DT of Noux-Les-Mines, a team that played in the second division.
Throughout his career, he also had stepped through Lens (1982-1985), PSG (1985-1988), the French team (assistant in 1988-1992 and DT in 1992-1993), the youth categories of the national team ( U-18 in 1994-1996 and U-20 in 1996-1997), Liverpool (1998-2004), Lyon (2005-2007) and Aston Villa (2010-2011).
We are mourning the passing of our treble-winning manager, Gerard Houllier.
The thoughts of everyone at Liverpool Football Club are with Gerard’s family and many friends.
Rest in peace, Gerard Houllier 1947-2020. pic.twitter.com/isHGXIfe5E
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 14, 2020
His greatest successes were at Liverpool, a club where he became a legend. A golden stage for the institution throughout its cycle won a UEFA, a European Super Cup, two League Cups, an FA Cup, and a Community Shield. Meanwhile, he also won Ligue 1 twice and two French Super Cups with Lyon, one Ligue 1 with PSG, and the UEFA European Under-19 Championship with France.
In the French Football Federation (FFF), he was assistant to Henri Michel and then Michel Platini at the head of the Bleus, before becoming the coach himself after Euro 1992. But it did not go so well. He was in charge in 12 games, but failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, after the failure of France-Bulgaria in 1993: Houllier’s team needed only one local point to win the ticket but lost 2-1 in the last minute after winning 1-0.
His health problems began in Liverpool in 2001, when he suffered a first heart problem. In 2007 he had to leave Lyon for health reasons and, after a final season with Aston Villa, in 2011, the doctors recommended that he stop training due to the dangers to his health. From that moment, Houllier was the world director of the football section of the Red Bull group and a director of Olympique de Lyon.
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
