THE ORIGINAL MONSIEUR HENRI - NO, THAT’S NOT THIERRY

When the winners pick up the European Nations Cup on June 29, the name Henri Delaunay will be engraved across the silver work. In fact it appears above the competition name

Europe Cup

Cup Henri Delaunay

European Championship

Delaunay was a contemporary and colleague of the much better known Jules Rimet who started the World Cup and was a passionate advocate of a European competition. Rimet was the politician and showman, Henri the backstage technician who also helped lay down the rules of the modern game. Rimet is credited with getting France to participate in the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, although Henri was certainly involved. Having a big European team in the South American tournament turned it into the start of the event it is today. Henri started canvassing for a European version in 1927 although the competition only began in 1960 after his death because of fears it would overshadow the fledgling World Cup itself. As a mark of his contribution to international soccer the European tournament still carries his name.

He was born in 1883 and played for a Paris team Étoile des Deux Lacs. When he retired, he became a referee. This career came to an abrupt end. According to Wikipedia “he retired following an incident during a match between AF Garenne-Doves and ES Benevolence, when he swallowed his whistle and broke two teeth on being struck full face by the ball.”

He went into management first with Les Etoiles and then the various bodies which were eventually to become the French Football Federation. He was also a member of FIFA and worked with Rimet to set up the World Cup.

He was French but was fluent in English and spent a lot of time working in England and across Europe compiling tournaments and the laws of the game. His name proved to be politically useful to UEFA who were juggling with titles like Champions League and European Cup for their club competitions. Christening the national team competition after a revered and now dead patriarch was politically expedient, correct and respectfully of one of the game’s unsung legends.

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