Flashback : Raymond Kéruzoré

Blossoming of a great player

Born on June 17th 1949 in Châteauneuf-du-Faou, Finistère, Raymond Kéruzoré has always been the personification of Breton football for many a fan. In the early 1960s, he was already attracting admiration from his high-school comrades at the Lycée de la Tour-d’Auvergne, Quimper. The young Kéruzoré was clearly gifted for football and was soon playing under the shirt of Stade Quimpérois while continuing his studies.
In 1967, he signed an amateur licence at the Stade Rennais while continuing his studies in Physics and Chimy at the University of Rennes. Seeing him positioned as a playmaker, Jean Prouff found him all the qualities of a professional player. Precocious, he then became part of SRFC’s first team. Under the management of the iconic manager from Morbihan, the Finisterian flew up the ranks and became a key player in the Rennes midfield. The long-haired young student revealed himself as one of the biggest prospects of French football.

A bit before he turned twenty, Raymond Kéruzoré started his professional career in Division 1, on January 26th 1969 against Metz (0-3). He would play two Division 1 games during the 1969-1970 season, as well as a game in the Coupe de France last 16 round, on March 28th, 1970 in Lyon (1-1). Soon, he impressed all observers and became the regulator of Rennes’ game. Even better, in 1971, still with Rennes, Kéru won the Coupe de France against… Lyon (1-0) and offered the club from the Breton capital a second prestigious success.
Jean Prouff himself couldn’t find enough praising words for him: « He was a player of delicacy, a bit like a football embroiderer. He really was a fine footballer, also able to constantly change the pace: his style was pure, people didn’t two back-tackles back then, the ball was rolling fast”. Besides the winning run in France’s queen competition, he also played twenty one league games during the 1970-1971 season, even scoring his first professional goal during the twenty seventh match day, on April 3rd, 1971 against Angers (1-0 victory). Light and floating, uncatchable and fast, he had a game of flicks and an exceptional technic while in movement. The following season, he played during the two games of the European Cup of Cup winners against Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers (1-1 in Rennes, 0-1 in Ibrox Park). In full form, he went on to manage a great season, playing thirty-four D1 games and scoring a goal in Angers (3-1) victory in the twenty-second match day

At the time, his exceptional qualities were already obvious to each and every one. Elegance, technique, accurate passing from the outside foot, Kéruzoré could claim a complete set of abilities. During the 1972-1973 season, “Kéru” was ambitious and targeting the French national team. He played thirty games and scored four goals during the season. The Rennes management planned to build a Breton team and Raymond Kéruzoré was in many ways Rennes’ iconic player. Courted by many clubs including the Olympique de Marseille, Raymond Kéruzoré left his Brittany for the Provence however, to the great sadness of Stade Rennes president Joseph Dault. His two finest seasons in Rennes would have been played under René Cédolin’s management.

Kéru, the flag-bearer of Breton football

At the beginning of the 1973-1974 season, Raymond Kéruzoré was then recruited by OM alongside, among others, Antoine Kuszowski, who arrived from AS Nancy-Lorraine. The two “K” arrived in Marseille together with great ambitions and a thirst for victory. The Breton player benefited of rather important playing time, notably playing four UEFA Cup games. His performances weren’t consistent however, and even disappointing for a player targeting a national team selection.
The constant managerial changes at the head of OM were also a brake to his progression. Raymond Kéruzoré was confused. In spring 1974, the Finisterian seemed lost on the Canebière, and certainly not feeling in the right place. After a long and difficult adaptation to the climate and to the Phocean team, he was unfortunately handicapped by a sprain during a game against SCO Angers on November 16TH, 1973, before suffering a nasty flu that would affect him for long weeks. He finally came back against… Rennes on February 24th at the Stade de la Route de Lorient. Stade Rennes won by 3 goals to 1, and “Kéru” pulled a muscle after only twenty minutes in the game. Fate seemed to be against him.

At the same time, his huge transfer fee in the area of 700,000 francs (a bit more than 100,000 euros) seemed to be a huge burden which the Finisterian was truly struggling to cope with. “Kéru” was only dreaming of a return to Rennes. He eventually played twenty-five games with Marseille, for two goals. At the end of his difficult season, he returned to Rennes, seduced by the words of the Rennes management who aimed to build a great team.
After a promising start, he soon got in conflict with his management and most of his team-mates. The return of the great Kéru to Rennes turned sour. Soon injured at the beginning of the season, poorly taken care of by the club’s medical staff, the Finisterian entered into an open conflict with the president Lemoux, who called him a… « leftist intellectual ! ». Eventually, his contract was broken by the club, which would result in Stade Rennes being condemned in court later on.

For his return, Kéruzoré only played nineteen games in the league. On the pitch, and despite the sacking of René Cédolin during the season, the Rennes player and his substitute Antoine Cuissard couldn’t invert the bad dynamic. Stade Rennes finished the season in nineteenth position in Division 1 despite the fourteen goals by their start striker Laurent Pokou, and returned to the second division for the first time since the 1958-1959 season.

Rejuvenating experience in Mayenne

Recruited to everyone’s surprise in 1975 by Michel Le Milinaire (SRFC’s future coach), he then signed for Stade Lavallois for a new challenge in D2. Despite the painful ending of his Rennes comeback, he immediately set himself as his new team’s natural leader. A real poet of football, he soon charmed the Mayennais public by his kindness, his simplicity and human and sportive values. A magnificent play-maker for the Tangos, he piled up classy performances during several months. The “druid from Kergrist-Moëlou » therefore named him in all logic as Laval’s new captain.
In its columns in 1976, France Football commented: “We all know his style, all in fluidity, his changes of direction that leave the opponent confused, his instant vision of the game, the high look and this technique from the outside foot that allow him to give inch-perfect passes that Blanchet used perfectly. Kéru gest on very well with Smerecki and Camara, and these three are the best midfield in D2 ».
Attack-minded and puzzling, but also aggressive and not ready to accept everything without a complaint, Kéruzoré enjoyed himself in Laval and found the taste for the game again. Thanks in part to his phenomenal talent, Laval was promoted to D1 for the first time in the club’s history, to the great surprise of French football. In 1976, he was close to signing for Nantes however, but the Laval staff managed to keep him at the club in some way. The decision was good, since he went on with a very high-level 1976-1977 season. Particularly inspired all over the season, he was accessory in maintaining his club in the French top flight. On a personal point of view, he was rewarded with a first cap for France, on November 17th, 1976 against Eire (2-0 win).
Laval was a bit like him and he felt good there. For their first season in first division, the “minnows” of the French league gave difficulties to the “big boys of the pitches” and the qualities of the Finisterian were highly visible to everyone. The image of the cash-strapped club drew sympathy from many supporters all around the country, happy to see, every week-end, a David survive in a world of Goliaths. Raymond Kéruzoré and the Stade Lavallois enjoyed an incredible popular support.

Proud and independents, the former captain of the French U21 team confirmed his good performances, so much that Michel Hidalgo decided to select him for a second time with the greats, alongside Michel Platini, Maxime Bossis and Marius Trésor for a victory against Iran by 2 goals to 1, on May 11th 1978. He was also included in the pre-selection for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, but the Breton player was possibly not normal enough, and wasn’t finally invited to take part in the tournament.
Gifted with a rebel side, his strong character may well have cost him a permanent slot in the France team, when many considered him the first substitute to Michel Platini. He played a final season in Laval. The club from Mayenne struggled to remain in the division, but the straight-haired Breton shone again and again, scoring no less than seven goals in the league season. His experience in Mayenne certainly remains the summit of his career. With the Tango shirt from the Stade Lavallois, he managed four full seasons and in 1979, he decided to join Brest.

A manager like no other

Indeed, despite a body damaged by numerous injuries, "Kéru” accepted a final challenge to become the play maker of Finistere’s first professional team, and signed a contract with Stade Brestois at the dawn of the 1979-1980 season. Newly promoted in Division 1, the team from Finistere finished last for their first season in the French top flight. Despite the relegation, Raymond Kéruzoré decided to remain in the Ponant city. Unfortunately for him, another nasty ankle injury kept him out for most of the season and he would only contribute very little to Brest’s return to Division 1.
In 1981, he moved to Guingamp as a player-manager, starting his reconversion. Raymond Kéruzoré would spend five years in the Côtes d’Armor, first as a player-manager, then as a full time manager from 1984. During the 1982-1983 season, the club then in Division 2 managed a superb run in the Coupe de France before losing to Tours at the competition’s quarter-finals stage.

Now a coach, he favoured a football made of passing and fun reflecting the player he used to be. On the year of the thirteenth World Cup (1986), he joined Brest where he coached among others Paul Le Guen. Results were soon following and the club finished in 8th position in Division 1 (the best result in the club’s history). In 1987, Jean Prouff gave this tribute to Kéruzoré : « We’ve known each other since the early 1970s. For his first season in Rennes, Raymond could only play in the third team because of the regulations, which slowed down his progression by one or two years, else I think he would have become an international much earlier. I included him in the professional squad after a Division d’Honneur game at the Stella Maris, to the great surprise of the club’s management, and he never left the squad. When Raymond became the coach in Guingamp, six years ago, Noël Le Graët called me since he hadn’t got his second coaching badge yet, but Raymond was always the one directing the team. When I was going to quit, I will soon be 68, he insisted for me to follow him in Brest. I’m pleased about it since we are seeing the emergence of a great team in Brest and it reminds me of the Nantes from years 1964-1965. We are living an outstanding experience”.

In disagreement with Brest, he got in conflict with François Yvinec and was forced out of the club after only one season. From 1987 to 1991, he then became Rennes’ manager. During his first season, the club finished tenth in D2. The next year, Rennes reached the podium but failed to clinch the promotion during the play-offs (defeat in Nîmes 1-0). Stade Rennes also managed a good run in the Coupe de France, only losing to Olympique de Marseille in the quarter-finals (1-5 in Marseille, 2-2 in Rennes). He finally allowed Rennes to return to Division at the end of the 1989-1990.
Unfortunately, the return to the top-flight was dramatic and, as Kéru got rejected by the management and most people in Rennes, the team finished last. Raymond Kéruzoré was consequently sacked by the club. The divorce was confirmed between Kéru and Rennes. In 1992, he arrived in Indre-et-Loire to manage Tours, in second division. At the end of the season, the club went into administration and Raymond Kéruzoré was forced out. He then trained Quimper for two seasons in the National, before taking control at the Dernières Cartouches de Carhaix, a club playing in the Regional leagues of Brittany, during the 1998-1999 season. The experience wasn’t positive since the Finisterian club ended the season on a relegation.

Struggling with seriousl health issues, he definitely left football in 1998. The final word is for Christian Gourcuff, who said about him: “The epitome of the Breton player, to me, is name Raymond Kéruzoré. He was a talented player who symbolises and synthetises all the qualities of the Breton player: intelligence, generosity, a lot of activity and a fine technique. His personality was also very strong. He had done studies, he had a very strong character and he was a man enjoying life”. Raymond Kéruzoré now lives in Thorigné-Fouillard, close to Rennes, and remains a regular at the Route de Lorient.

His playing career

1966-1967 : Stade Quimperois
1967-1972 : Stade Rennais FC (124 games / 7 goals)
1973-1974 : Olympique de Marseille
1974-1975 : Stade Rennais FC
1975-1979 : Stade Lavallois
1979-1981 : Stade Brestois
1981-1986 : EA de Guingamp
1967-1986 : 406 professional games / 35 goals

His coaching career

1981-1986 : EA de Guingamp (player-manager then manager)
1986-1987 : Brest Armorique FC
1987-1991 : Stade Rennais FC
1992-1993 : FC Tours
1994-1997 : Stade Quimpérois
1997-1998 : DC Carhaix

Sources :
- Wikipedia
- forum footnostalgie

Photos :
- forum footnostalgie