Albert Dubreucq

Club career

Born on 3 June 1924 in Lille, Nord, Dubreucq began his football career at his hometown club Olympique Marcquois in 1944, aged 20. He quickly stood from the rest, so in the following season, he was signed by Lille OSC, where he remained for eight years, from 1945 until 1953, scoring 7 goals in 236 official matches. Together with Jean Baratte, Marceau Somerlinck, and Roger Vandooren, Dubreucq was a member of the great Lille team of the late 1940s, which won the 1945–46 French Division 1, the first edition after the end of the Second World War, as well as back-to-back Coupe de France titles in 1947 and 1948, starting in both finals, beating Strasbourg 2–0 in the former and Lens 3–2 in the latter. He also started in the 1949 final, where he assisted one of his side's consolation goals in an eventual 5–2 loss to his future club RC de France. On 24 June 1951, he started in the final of the 1951 Latin Cup, the forerunner of the European Cup, which ended in a 5–0 loss to AC Milan. In 1953, Dubreucq joined RC de France, remaining there for two seasons, until 1955, when he went to CA Paris, with whom he played for two seasons, until 1957, when he moved to RC Vichy, where he retired in 1958.

International career

Dubreucq was called up to the French team during the qualifiers for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, but he had two wait two years, until 26 March 1952, to finally earn his first (and only) international cap in a friendly match against Sweden at the Parc…

Throughout his career, Dubreucq displayed his predilection to coach several times; for instance, when he was giving the pre-match instructions for the 1948 Cup final, the Lille coach André Cheuva "suddenly fell silent", and "he began to burst into tears". He began his managerial career as a player-coach at CA Paris in 1955–56, but soon become a full-time coach, taking charge of many clubs such as Châteauroux (1958–61), Calais (1962–65), Mouscron (1965–1968), Cambrai (1968–71), Excelsior (1975–1977), and Mouscron again (1977–78).

Lille OSC Ligue 1: Champions (1): 1945–46 Runner-up (4): 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51 Coupe de France: Champions (2): 1947 and 1948 Runner-up (1): 1949 Latin Cup: Runner-up (1): 1951