Gaston Peltier (2 August 1877 – 8 October 1951) was a French footballer who played as a Forward and who competed in the football tournament at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, winning a silver medal as a member of the USFSA Olympic team representing France, which was primarily made up of Club Français players.[1][2]

Gaston Peltier
Peltier in 1900
Personal information
Full name Gaston Peltier
Date of birth (1877-08-02)2 August 1877
Place of birth Rouen, France
Date of death 8 October 1951(1951-10-08) (aged 74)
Place of death Bayonne, France
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1895–1903 Club Français
1900 Racing Club de France
International career
1900 France (Olympic) 1 (2)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  France
Football at the Summer Olympics
Silver medal – second place 1900 Paris Team Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Club career

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Peltier (seated on the floor, third from left) with Club Français in 1896.

In the semifinals of the inaugural USFSA championship between Club Français and The White Rovers, Peltier served as a linesman under referee Georges Caizac as Rovers won 1–0.[3] Together with Lucien Huteau, Marcel Lambert, Georges Garnier, and captain Eugène Fraysse, Peltier was a starter in the Club Français team that won the 1896 USFSA Football Championship, doing so without losing a single match.[4]

On 26 December 1897, Peltier started in the very first football match in the history of the Parc des Princes in front of 500 spectators, in which Club Français was defeated 1–3 by the English Ramblers.[5] On 28 March 1898, Peltier started in the 1898 Coupe Manier final at the Vélodrome de Vincennes, helping his side to a 10–0 win over Paris Star.[6] In the following week, on 3 April, he started in the final of the 1898 USFSA Football Championship against Standard AC at Courbevoie, scoring the opening goal in an eventual 2–3 loss.[7] In the following year, on 16 April 1899, he started in the play-off match against Standard AC to decide the 1898–99 USFSA Paris championship [fr], scoring his side's third goal in a 3–2 win.[8] This victory qualified the club to the 1899 USFSA national championship, in which Club Français withdrew from the final before facing Le Havre AC.[9] Later that year, on 23 October, Peltier started in the 1899 Coupe Manier final at Suresnes, scoring a first-half goal to help his side to a 6–0 win over RC Roubaix.[10]

 
Peltier (2nd row, second from left) with Club Français in 1899.

On 29 April 1900, Peltier started in the 1900 Challenge International du Nord final in Tourcoing, which ended in a 2–3 loss to Le Havre AC.[11] In the following week, on 6 May, he started in the 1900 USFSA Football Championship final against Le Havre AC, which ended in a 0–1 loss; he had a good chance to equalize in the second half, but slipped and hit the post, and then he had three goals ruled offside, although the third was perfectly legal.[12] Later that year, on 23 December, Peltier started in the 1900 Coupe Manier final against UA I arrondissement, in which Français played the entire first half with 10 men because of the absence of Laisné.[13] At half-time, however, Peltier managed to discover a former Français player among the many spectators, the "ancient" Weber, thus playing with 11 men in the second half, in which he scored the only goal of the match to seal a 1–0 victory.[13] The French newspaper L'Auto described this goal as Peltier dribbling "as only he knows how".[13]

Peltier played as a striker for Club Français and then Racing Club de France.[14] On 4 January 1903, Peltier started in the 1902 Coupe Manier final against Olympique Lillois, scoring once and assisting an own goal to help his side to a 7–0 win.[15] On 15 March 1903, he started in the 1903 Coupe Dewar final against United SC, scoring twice in a 3–4 loss.[16]

International career

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Peltier (seated on the floor, first from left) with the French team at the 1900 Olympics.

The French champions in 1899 and 1900, Havre AC, were not willing to participate, so the USFSA asked for the runners-up Club Français to participate, possibly to also attract more spectators and keep down expenses, and the three guest players were Peltier, Eugène Fraysse, and René Ressejac-Duparc of Racing Club de France.[1][17] Peltier was listed as a forward for the USFSA team at the 1900 Olympic Games.[18]

Peltier was not selected for the opening match against Upton Park on 20 September, which ended in a humiliating 0–4 loss, so he was then picked up for the second match three days later, scoring twice to help his side to a 6–2 victory over Belgium, which was mostly made up of students from the French-speaking Université libre de Bruxelles.[17][19] The French team came second and Peltier was thus awarded with a silver medal.[1][19] With two goals, Peltier was the joint top scorer of the tournament alongside Britain's John Nicholas.[20]

Later life

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Peltier fought in the First World War, during which he was poisoned by a gas shell; he was decorated with the Croix de guerre 1914–1918.[14]

Peltier died in Bayonne on 8 October 1951, at the age of 74.[1]

Honours

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Club

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Club Français

International

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France MNT

Bibliography

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  • Gachet, Stéphane (2023). JO d'été: tous les médaillés français de 1896 à nos jours [Summer Olympics: all the French medalists from 1896 to the present day] (in French). Paris: Talent Sport. ISBN 9782378153427.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Gaston Peltier". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Gaston Peltier - Player profile - Football". www.eurosport.com. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  3. ^ "White Rovers contre Club Français" [White Rovers against Club Français]. babel.hathitrust.org/ (in French). 28 April 1894. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  4. ^ Denaunay, Stéphane; De Ryswick, Jacques; Cornu, Jean; Vermand, Dominique (July 1989). 100 ans de football en France [100 years of football in France] (in French). Paris: Atlas. p. 27. ISBN 9782731207434. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
  5. ^ "Ramblers contre Club Français" [Ramblers against Club Français]. www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 27 December 1897. p. 1. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  6. ^ "La Coupe Manier". www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 28 March 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  7. ^ "Le Championnat de France - Victoirie du Standard" [The French Championship - Victory of Standard]. www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 4 April 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Championnat de Paris - Club Français contre Standard Athletic Club" [Paris Championship - Club Français against Standard Athletic Club]. www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 17 April 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  9. ^ "1898-99 season in France". RSSSF. 29 August 2024. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  10. ^ "La Coupe Manier". www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 23 October 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Le Challenge du Nord - Victoire des Havrais" [The Challenge of the North - Victory of Le Havre]. www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 30 April 1900. p. 3. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Championnat de France - Club Français (1) contre La Havre AC (1)" [French Championship - Club Français (1) against La Havre AC (1)]. www.retronews.fr (in French). Le Journal des sports. 7 May 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  13. ^ a b c "La Coupe Manier". gallica.bnf.fr (in French). L'Auto. 24 December 1900. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  14. ^ a b Gachet 2023, p. 89.
  15. ^ "Coupe Manier - Le Club Français vainqueur dans la finale" [Manier Cup - The French Club wins in the final]. gallica.bnf.fr (in French). L'Auto. 5 January 1903. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  16. ^ "Coupe Dewar finale" [Coupe Dewar final]. gallica.bnf.fr (in French). L'Auto. 16 March 1903. p. 7. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  17. ^ a b "1900 - Paris". www.iffhs.de. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ^ "Paris 1900, en sport de démonstration" [Paris 1900, in demonstration sport]. www.fff.fr (in French). 10 July 2024. Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Games of the II. Olympiad". RSSSF. 12 May 2022. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Complete list of Olympic football winners". footballwhispers.com. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
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