Bernard Lacombe

1969/78 Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) 257 matches, 148 goals

(French Championship: 222 matches, 123 goals)

(French Cup: 27 matches, 20 goals)

(UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 4 matches, 1 goal)

(UEFA Cup: 4 matches, 4 goals)

1978/79 Saint-Etienne (FRA) 37 matches, 18 goals

(French Championship: 32 matches, 14 goals)

(French Cup: 5 matches, 4 goals)

1979/87 Bordeaux (FRA) 296 matches, 137 goals

(French Championship: 243 matches, 118 goals)

(French Cup: 31 matches, 15 goals)

(European Champions Cup: 9 matches, 3 goals)

(UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 2 matches)

(UEFA Cup: 11 matches, 1 goal)

With the National Team :

38 caps, 12 goals

(Friendly matches: 16 caps, 6 goals)

(World Cup qualifiers: 9 caps, 4 goals)

(World Cup: 5 caps, 1 goal)

(Euro qualifiers: 4 caps, 1 goal)

(Euro: 4 caps)

1st cap: September 8, 1973 against Greece (3-1)

Last cap: June 27, 1984 against Spain (2-0)

Bernard Lacombe

Born August 15, 1952 in Lyon (FRA)

French, Striker, 1m71

Nickname: Nanard

Bernard Lacombe was born on August 15, 1952 in Villefranche-sur-Saône, France. He began his career in 1969 with Olympique Lyonnais where he sought to become like his childhood idol: Fleury Di Nallo. With Lyon he won the 1973 Coupe de France where he scored in the final after controlling the ball with his hand. He reached the Coupe de France final again in 1976 but where he did not score and lost 2-0 against Olympique de Marseille.

A lover of Olympique Lyonnais, he was forced to leave the club in the summer of 1978 because of financial problems encountered by the club which had just narrowly escaped relegation. The player who was elected French revelation of the year in 1977 then joined the sworn enemy, Saint-Etienne.

With ASSE, the player had a good 1978/79 season with a total of 21 goals in 39 games and formed a great duo with Dominique Rocheteau who also performed enormously. His season was marked by a return to Lyon during the Olympique Lyonnais - ASSE match where he had gone to the wrong locker room due to habit. On the pitch, he received a standing ovation from the Lyon crowd.

His adventure with ASSE was short-lived because with the arrival of Johnny Rep at the club, Lacombe was pushed towards the exit and therefore left to join another legendary club in the French championship: the Girondins de Bordeaux in the summer of 1979.

At 27, Lacombe still had a bright future ahead of him, and despite a disappointing first season with only 12 goals scored in 37 games in all competitions, he came back stronger the following season. His 1980/81 season was his second most prolific of his career with 26 goals in 44 games.

Alongside legendary players like Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana, the striker enjoyed himself and had a string of good seasons. Out of the 8 seasons he spent at the club, he scored more than 20 goals in 5 of them. And he was a major factor in the club's successes, including the French championships he won in 1984 and 1985.

In his last two seasons, his performance declined but he still won the 1987 French championship, the 1986 and 1987 French Cups and the Champions Challenge in 1986. At the end of the 1986/87 season, during which he played 21 games for 5 goals, he ended his career.

On the French national team side, Bernard Lacombe had a very good career, he made his debut with France on September 8, 1973 during a friendly match against Greece. He was the originator of the first goal on a magnificent one-two. And he followed up with a second match against Czechoslovakia where he scored a double.

In total, he played 38 times for 12 goals. He participated in the 1978 World Cup after 12 years of French absence in the competition. He also became at that time the fastest scorer in a World Cup with a goal against Italy scored in the 38th second.

He also participated in the 1982 World Cup but was injured in the first match and could not be part of the legendary team that reached a historic semi-final. Present at Euro 1984, he did not impress but played a major role in the French success because he was the one who caused Michel Platini's winning free kick in the final. After this historic victory, he ended his international career.

- French revelation of the year in 1977

- In 2022, So Foot magazine ranked him in the top 1000 best players in the French championship, in 12th place

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