Jean-Claude Samuel

Club career

Born on 11 November 1924 in Guelma, Algeria, Samuel began his football career at his hometown clubs JS Guelma and RU Alger, from which he joined RC Paris in 1944, aged 20. He made an immediate impact on the team because in his first season there, together with José Luis Molinuevo, Auguste Jordan, and Ernest Vaast, he helped the club win the 1944–45 Coupe de France final, beating Lille 3–0 in the final. He remained loyal to Racing for eight years, from 1944 until 1952, when he joined Olympique Lyonnais, where he retired two years later, in 1954, aged 30.

International career

On 26 May 1945, just 20 after winning the Coupe de France, Samuel earned his first international cap for France in a friendly match against England at Wembley Stadium, which ended in a 2–2 draw. In doing so, Samuel, then a pied-noir of the Air Force, became one of the last amateur players to represent the French national team. He played a further two matches for France, both in December 1945, which ended in defeats to Austria and Belgium.

RC Paris Coupe de France: Champions (1): 1944–45