Guy Roux breaks silence to pay tribute to friend François Patriat

Guy Roux broke his usual discretion on Tuesday to attend the funeral of François Patriat at the Notre-Dame Collegiate Church in Semur-en-Auxois. The former senator for Côte-d’Or and ex-president of the Bourgogne regional council, who died on August 19 at the age of 83, was a close friend of the former Auxerre coach.

Among the many personalities gathered in the collegiate church were Emmanuel Macron, who came “as a friend”, as well as several government members and numerous figures from French political life. The presence of Guy Roux, amid this gathering, told a different story: that of a long-standing proximity built around AJ Auxerre.

François Patriat was not a mere football enthusiast. A devoted AJA supporter, he had maintained close relations with the club and its management for years. President of the Bourgogne regional council from 2004 to 2015, he notably worked in favor of elite sport in the region. Following his death, the Auxerre club hailed him as a “devoted and dynamic supporter”, announcing that a tribute would be paid to him at Abbé-Deschamps before the reception of Angers in the 2nd matchday of Ligue 1. Guy Roux is expected to be present in the stands on that occasion.

This appearance in Semur-en-Auxois is all the more noteworthy given that the former coach, 87 years old, now leads a life far removed from media agitation. He who led AJA to the French championship title in 1996 and won four French Cups continues nonetheless to follow the club’s news and still speaks out when he deems it useful.

A few days before the funeral, he had expressed himself on the appointment of Zinédine Zidane as France national team coach. “When you are first, you cannot do better. He was already in a dead end, as he had won the European Cup three times, then the Spanish championship, then the Spanish Cup, he could not do better, and people kept asking him to do better”, he confided, before adding: “France has the fortune of not having needed to quibble, to discuss to designate Didier Deschamps’ successor so it was obvious, there is unanimity. And then barring repeated setbacks, his past is a protection for him.”