Georges Mérignac

Georges Mérignac

Personal information
Date of birth	(1921-07-10)10 July 1921
Place of birth	Poya, New Caledonia
Date of death	30 October 1992(1992-10-30) (aged 71)
Position(s)	Central-defender
Youth career
	Indépendante de Nouméa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Indépendante de Nouméa
1946–1953	Bordeaux	158	(1)
Total		158	(1)
International career
1939	New Caledonia
Managerial career
	New Caledonia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Georges Mérignac (10 July 1921 – 30 October 1992) was a New Caledonian footballer who played as a central-defender.

Early life

Born in Poya, New Caledonia, to a Melanesian mother and European father, Mérignac spent his childhood between Poya and Nouméa, where he took an interest in tennis, boxing, athletics and football. He worked as a farmer during his time on the islands.

Club career

Having played football in his native New Caledonia with Indépendante de Nouméa, Mérignac enlisted in the Free French Forces in September 1941, and took part in the Battle of Bir Hakeim in Libya the following year. It was here that he met René Gallice, who had played for French side Bordeaux before the war. Following the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945, Gallice suggested to Bordeaux's coaches, who were looking for a new central-defender, that they sign Mérignac, and the New Caledonian joined the club the following year.

Despite being relegated in his first season with the club, he spent two seasons in the French Division 2, before returning to the French Division 1 for the 1949–50 season, in which Bordeaux won the title. In the same season, he featured in the Latin Cup, where Bordeaux lost in the final to Portuguese side Benfica after an extra-time replay loss following a draw in the first game. He retired in 1953.

International career

Mérignac represented the New Caledonia national football team in 1939.

Coaching career

Following his retirement and return to New Caledonia, he managed the national football team.

Death

Mérignac died in October 1992. In 2007, a sports complex in Tina-sur-Mer in the capital of New Caledonia, Nouméa, was named in his honour.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Coupe de France		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bordeaux	1946–47	French Division 1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	1947–48	French Division 2	32	0	4	0	0	0	36	0
	1948–49		30	0	1	0	0	0	31	0
	1949–50	French Division 1	32	1	0	0	3	0	35	1
	1950–51		24	0	1	0	0	0	25	0
	1951–52		19	0	3	0	0	0	22	0
	1952–53		19	0	1	0	0	0	20	0
Career total			158	1	10	0	3	0	171	1

Notes

External links

• Georges Mérignac at La Légende des Girondins de Bordeaux