Robert Accard

Club career

Born on 26 November 1897 in Lisieux, Calvados, Accard was a member of the Le Havre AC team that participated in the 1915–16 Coupe des Alliés, a knockout competition contested during the First World War, which given the mobilization of Frenchmen to the war, was mainly contested by U20 players, such as the 18-year-old Accard, who started in the semifinals against the eventual champions Stade Rennais. Accard eventually established himself as a solid midfielder and an undisputed starter in the team, playing a crucial role in helping Le Havre win the 1919 USFSA Football Championship, beating Olympique de Marseille 4–1 in the final in May 1919. Together with Henri Gibbon, Bernard Lenoble, and Alfred Thorel, he helped Le Havre reach the 1920 Coupe de France final, which ended in a 2–1 loss to CA Paris. He remained loyal to Le Havre for a full decade, from 1915 until 1925, when he left for Stade havrais, with whom he won the Coupe Normandy in 1930, and where he played for five years, until 1930, when he retired at the age of 33.

International career

On 15 January 1922, the 24-year-old Accard made his debut for France in a friendly match against Belgium at Colombes, helping his side to a 2–1 victory. He had to wait two years until his next international cap on 13 January 1924, when he came off the bench as a first-half substitute for Jean Boyer in another friendly home victory over Belgium. In total, he played six matches for France between 1922 and…

At some point in the early 1930s, Accard became the coach of Stade Français, where he invented the defensive tactic of béton ("concrete") which would serve as a model for the Italian "catenaccio" and then the "Swiss lock", also known as the "Rappan lock", named after the Austrian Karl Rappan, who implemented this system at Servette in 1932.

Le Havre AC USFSA Football Championship: Champions (1): 1919 Coupe de France: Runner-up (1): 1920 Stade havrais Coupe Normandy Champions (1): 1930