Serge Roy (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 9 November 1932[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Beaune, France[1] | ||
| Date of death | 26 December 2025 (aged 93) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Beaune | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1952–1957 | Racing Besançon | 104 | (56) |
| 1957–1962 | Monaco | 127 | (62) |
| 1962–1963 | Marseille | 36 | (14) |
| 1963 | Valenciennes | 6 | (0) |
| 1964 | Nice | 15 | (5) |
| Total | 288 | (137) | |
| International career | |||
| 1960–1961 | France B | 2 | (0) |
| 1961 | France | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Serge Claude Roy (9 November 1932 – 26 December 2025) was a French footballer who played as a forward. He won the 1959–60 Coupe de France and 1960–61 French Division 1 with Monaco. He played one international game for France in 1961, as well as two for the France B team.
Club career
Born in Beaune in Côte-d'Or on 9 November 1932, Roy began his youth career with local AS Beaune before starting his senior career with Racing Besançon in 1952.[1][2] He played for Monaco between 1957 and 1962, winning their first Coupe de France in 1960 and a Division 1 title in 1960–61.[3] He scored 62 goals in 127 games for the club from the principality.[1] He later played for Marseille, Valenciennes and Nice.[4]
After ending his professional career, Roy remained playing amateur football in the city of Nice while working for Le Coq Sportif. In 1973, he had a testimonial match and invited his friend Alfredo Di Stéfano, who brought his former Real Madrid teammates Ferenc Puskás, Paco Gento and José Santamaría to play as well; through Le Coq Sportif's connections to Ajax as their kit suppliers, Johan Cruyff was also enlisted.[2]
International career
Roy played two games for the France B team, those being two 2–2 draws, one away to their Portuguese counterparts on 8 December 1960, and one at home against the Belgian B side on 15 March 1961.[2]
On 2 April 1961, Roy played his only game for the France national team, a 2–0 loss to Spain at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.[5] Manager Georges Verriest played him in attack alongside Raymond Kopa.[4] He was called up again on 12 November for a crucial 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifier away to Bulgaria but withdrew with a calf strain.[2]
Personal life and death
Roy was married to Danièle. Their son Éric Roy was also a footballer, for clubs including Nice and Marseille, and manager of clubs including Nice and Brest.[2][3][4] Roy died on 26 December 2025, at the age of 93.[3] Between the September 2023 death of Dominique Colonna and his own death, he was the oldest living international footballer to play for France,[4] a record that passed to Serge Masnaghetti.[3]
Honours
Monaco
References
- ^ a b c d Quesnot, Louis (26 December 2025). "Carnet noir : le Beaunois Serge Roy est décédé ce vendredi" [Note of death: Beaune-born Serge Roy died on Friday]. Le Bien Public (in French). Retrieved 31 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Coudrais, Richard (27 December 2025). "Serge Roy, un prince chez les Bleus" [Serge Roy, a prince among Les Bleus]. Chronique des Bleus (in French). Retrieved 31 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f "Football : Serge Roy, doyen des internationaux français et père d'Éric, est mort" [Football: Serge Roy, oldest of the French internationals and father of Éric, has died]. Le Parisien (in French). 27 December 2025. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d Herbet, Philippe (26 December 2025). "Ancien joueur de l'OGC Nice et l'AS Monaco, Serge Roy n'est plus" [Former OGC Nice and AS Monaco player Serge Roy has passed away]. Nice-Matin (in French). Retrieved 31 December 2025.
- ^ "Ancien du Racing Club Franc-Comtois, le doyen des Bleus Serge Roy nous a quittés" [Former Racing Club Franc-Comtois player, oldest of Les Bleus, Serge Roy has left us]. L'Est Républicain (in French). 2 April 1961. Retrieved 31 December 2025.