Eugène Fraysse

Founding Club Français

Upon his return to Paris, Fraysse eventually met fellow countrymen Charles Bernat, who had also become a football fan during his language study trip across the English Channel, so they decided to join forces to import the sport into France, and together, they founded Club Français in October 1892. While most of the clubs in France founded in the 19th century were the creation of the British who had left their homeland, the Club Français was the work of two Frenchman, becoming the first club reserved exclusively for the French, hence its name. Shortly after its foundation, Fraysse argued with the captain of Standard Athletic Club, Philip Tomalin, which resulted in a match between their clubs on 1 November 1892. Without a designated field, Club Français was forced to tour the several stadiums of western Paris during its first years of existence, but even though the club was constantly changing fields, CF's position remained solid, even institutionally, because many of its members were sitting on the USFSA Football Commission or ensuring media coverage like Weber or André Saint-Ignan. In 1894, he was appointed vice-president and captain of Club Français. In November 1894, Fraysse became president of the (Football) Association Commission of the USFSA. On 17 February 1895, he attended the annual gala dinner of The White Rovers held by its founding president William Sleator, who welcomed the visiting clubs, and Fraysse responded to the "toast" by…

The French champions in 1899 and 1900, Havre AC, were not willing to participate in the 1900 Olympic Games, so the USFSA asked for the runners-up Club Français to participate, possibly to also attract more spectators and keep down expenses, and the three guest players were Fraysse of Racing Club de France, who also played a leading role within the USFSA as the head of its Association Commission, and his Racing teammates Peltier and René Ressejac-Duparc. At the time, the figure of the coach as we know it today did not yet exist, so it was the duty of the captain, Fraysse, to dictate the tactics to be followed and making up the line-ups, and he chose to align, not a heterogeneous selection as in 1896 against the English Ramblers, but a reinforced club, to ensure the cohesion of the team. Furthermore, Fraysse was responsible, along with Léopold Alibert and Neville Tunmer, for training the French team, in which he also played; a sort of player-coach. Fraysse was listed as a forward for the USFSA team at the 1900 Olympic Games. Fraysse captained the French team in its opening match against Upton Park on 20 September, which ended in a humiliating 0–4 loss, thus becoming the first captain of a French national team. The French team came second and Fraysse was thus awarded with a silver medal.

Jean Eugène Fraysse was born in the 18th arrondissement of Paris on 4 May 1870, as the son of a well-off family from the wealthy districts of Paris, and therefore, he was sent to Britain to complete his studies. During his four years there, he developed a deep interest in football, so when he returned to Paris in the summer of 1892, he decided to found a football club.

Fraysse distanced himself from football in 1903, and he later got involved in tennis and even Basque pelota. He became the owner of the tennis courts of rue Delaizementin at the 16th arrondissement of Paris, and in August 1903, he allowed those courts to be used for the tennis championship of the Club Français. It was also in the 16th, rue Borghese, that Fraysse opened a Fronton de pelota basque in 1903.