Pascal Gastien

In his playing days, Gastien played predominantly as a central defensive midfielder. The majority of his playing career was spent in the top two divisions of the French football league system.

Angoulême

Gastien's career started when he signed his first professional contract as an 18-year-old with then Division 2 side Angoulême. However, he found it difficult to break into the first team set up, playing only six league games, and left after just one season as a professional.

Niort

In the summer of 1982, Gastien joined then Division 4 side Niort. In the 1983–84 season, the team were promoted to the third division following a third place in Division 4. He went on to feature in most games during the 1984–85 season as the team were winners of their group in the third division, winning a second consecutive promotion, this time to Division 2. Gastien then played a major role two seasons later as the club secured promotion to the top division of French football, Division 1, finishing as runners-up in Division 2 in 1987. His performances for the club in the top-flight attracted the likes of Marseille, whom he signed for in 1988.

Marseille

Gastien found first team opportunities harder to come by at Marseille, making just 18 league appearances as the club were crowned champions of France and winners of the Coupe de France in the 1988–89 season.

Return to Niort

In order to play more football, Gastien returned to Niort, who had since been relegated…

In the qualifying round for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Gastien played three games without scoring for France as they failed to qualify for the final tournament, finishing bottom of their group.

Niort

After retiring from professional football, Gastien turned his hand to management. In October 1999, Gastien was appointed joint caretaker manager of Niort alongside former Rennes boss René Cédolin, but the pair did not take charge of any league games. In 2000, Gastien was appointed permanently as head coach of Niort's reserve team. In January 2005, Gastien took over from Vincent Dufour as manager of the first team, who were struggling in Ligue 2. Unfortunately, Gastien was unable to avoid relegation to the Championnat National, with the team winning just three of the 17 games he was in charge, and at the end of the season, he reverted to being the reserve team coach, whilst Philippe Hinschberger took control of first team duties. Gastien continued to coach the reserves until the summer of 2009. On 4 June 2009, it was announced that Gastien had been re-appointed as manager of Niort. Gastien led Niort to win the Championnat de France Amateur during his first full season in charge, thereby returning to the Championnat National at the first attempt. In the 2010–11 campaign, Gastien led the club to an eleventh place in the third tier; in the 2011 close season, several new players including Jimmy Roye and Julien Ricaud were recruited and the following season, Niort went on to finish as runners-up to Nîmes Olympique thanks to a 1–0 win away at Gazélec Ajaccio on the final matchday. Niort were consequently promoted to Ligue 2, marking the club's return to the…

Gastien was born in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime. He is the father of footballer Johan Gastien.