Franz Pleyer
Encyclopedia
Franz "François" Pleyer was a naturalized French
professional football player.
, the capital city
of Austria
. He played for Brigittenauer AC in his home country before moving to France in 1933 to play for Stade Rennais UC. Pleyer spent the rest of his career playing for Rennes appearing in over 200 matches for the club. In 1935, he played on the team that reached the final of the Coupe de France
. In the final, Rennes were defeated 3–0 by Marseille
. In December 1936, Player acquired French citizenship and adopted the name François, the French anglicisation
of Franz.
In 1939, Pleyer's football career was put on hold due to World War II
. He served for France during the war and, following its conclusion, returned to Rennes. Pleyer spent his latter years with the club serving in a player-coach role. His final appearance with Rennes was in May 1951 at the age of 40.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
professional football player.
Career
Pleyer was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the capital city
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. He played for Brigittenauer AC in his home country before moving to France in 1933 to play for Stade Rennais UC. Pleyer spent the rest of his career playing for Rennes appearing in over 200 matches for the club. In 1935, he played on the team that reached the final of the Coupe de France
Coupe de France
The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
. In the final, Rennes were defeated 3–0 by Marseille
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
. In December 1936, Player acquired French citizenship and adopted the name François, the French anglicisation
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
of Franz.
In 1939, Pleyer's football career was put on hold due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He served for France during the war and, following its conclusion, returned to Rennes. Pleyer spent his latter years with the club serving in a player-coach role. His final appearance with Rennes was in May 1951 at the age of 40.