Jean-Baptiste Sarrazin
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10:04 p.m., April 03, 2023
On the occasion of the arrival, in “Europe 1 Sport” of Dominique Tapie, widow of Bernard Tapie, former president of Olympique de Marseille, the former football player Alain Roche recounted his transfer from Bordeaux to Marseille in 1989 A somewhat eventful arrival for the former centre-back.
At OM despite himself. Former footballer Alain Roche remembered the day of his transfer to Marseille, July 1, 1989. Then at the Girondins de Bordeaux, the ex-central defender was pushed towards the Marseille city against his will, Marseille and the Girondins being rivals at the time. In front of Dominique Tapie, widow of the former president of OM Bernard Tapie, Alain Roche told this anecdote with irony in the program Europe 1 Sport (every evening from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. live on Europe).
Behind this transfer, was actually Bernard Tapie. The former manager of Marseille insistently flirted with the international tricolor and absolutely wanted him in his team. At that time, Bordeaux was in a delicate financial situation and Alain Roche had no choice but to play for his former enemy. Summoned urgently to the office of its Bordeaux president Claude Bez, the central defender remembered this precise moment: “The president said to me: ‘You have to leave and you are leaving with Jean Tigana'”. A shock for the then 19-year-old player. “I will not go there,” he initially retorted to his president. But he had no choice and had to make up his mind. Jean Tigana also.
The economic argument also played a part in this transfer. “Bernard Tapie told me on the phone: ‘My little Alain, do you want to play in D2 or with Francescoli and Papin? How much do you earn? I’ll give you four times as much’. After that, you go home and you think” , remembered Alain Roche in Europe 1 Sport.
A heated friendly match
Once arrived in the Marseille city, the beginnings are difficult for the two stars of the Girondins. “We are arriving at a training camp in Marseille. There is a friendly match and things are not going very well between the supporters and Jean Tigana. It was difficult. Bordeaux, Marseille and Tapie were aware of what had happened , but they did not have the precise information”, said Alain Roche. “Around 1:30 a.m., phone call to the hotel. And I hear: ‘I’m Bernard Tapie. Alain, how are you? Am I not waking you up?'”: the OM president came to the news after this eventful start of the two players with the supporters.
An anecdote that Alain Roche evokes today with irony even if this arrival in hostile land marked him deeply during his career. But the former player could count on the support of his president at the time, Bernard Tapie, who watched over his troops in a paternal way. As soon as the former president of OM had something in mind, he got it, as evidenced by the two “forced” Bordeaux arrivals. A “way of seducing and convincing” specific to Bernard Tapie and which his widow Domine Tapie described as “incredible” in Europe 1 Sport.