Julien Darui

1935/37 Charleville (FRA) 73 matches

(French Championship D2: 64 matches)

(French Cup: 9 matches)

1937/39 Olympique Lillois (FRA) 57 matches

(French Championship: 44 matches)

(French Cup: 13 matches)

1940/42 Red Star (FRA)

1942/43 Olympique Lillois (FRA)

1943/44 EF Lille-Flandres (FRA) 27 matches

1944/45 Lille OSC (FRA) 12 matches

1945/53 CO Roubaix-Tourcoing (FRA) 245 matches

(French Championship: 234 matches)

(French Cup: 11 matches)

1953/54 Montpellier (FRA) 24 matches

(French Championship D2: 23 matches)

(French Cup: 1 match)

1954/55 RC Vichy (FRA)

With the National Team :

25 selections

(Friendly matches: 25 selections)

1st selection: March 16, 1939 against Hungary (2-2)

Last selection: May 12, 1951 against Northern Ireland (2-2)

Julien Darui

Born on February 16, 1916 in Oberkorn (LUX)

Died on December 12, 1987 in Dijon (FRA)

French, Goalkeeper, 1m68

Julien Darui was born on February 16, 1916 in Oberkorn, Luxembourg, but he moved to Lorraine and became a naturalized French citizen. The son of café managers, he played football and had a growing reputation despite a disadvantageous physique for his position, he was only 1m68 tall.

To compensate for his small size, he adopted a style of play inspired by Pierre Chayriguès. With his excellent relaxation, he was very good on his line, but he preferred to throw himself directly at the feet of his opponents. Very brilliant in aerial outings, he used to work on his passing skills by going into the forest and aiming for trees.

One of his great qualities was his recovery play, both with his feet and with his hands, it was one of his great strengths, always right in the exercise. Criticizing the goal-line play of goalkeepers in the 1930s, such as Chayriguès, he will move forward and play an active role in his teams.

He joined the French national team in 1932, during a match against Hungary on March 16, final score 2-2. In the French national team, he was the main goalkeeper for 12 years! Proof of exceptional longevity and regularity. He will also be selected as the goalkeeper of the European team that faces the English national team in Glasgow in 1947. During his match, he faces his rival to find out who was the best goalkeeper of the 1940s: Frank Swift.

His club career is just as exceptional. In 1936, he reached the final of the Coupe de France with Charleville, a club in the French second division, he was then 20 years old and was spotted by the biggest French clubs.

Unfortunately, after he had already been in Marseille for two years, the Second World War put an end to his career in 1939. He left Olympique de Marseille and joined Red Star in 1940, where he once again won. In 1942, he won the 1942 Coupe de France.

He then left for the North of France in 1942, joining Olympique Lillois before joining CO Roubaix-Tourcoing, where he would experience the greatest success of his career: winning the French championship in 1947. He won this championship in a dual role as coach and player at the age of 31.

He played as a regular in the French national team until 1951, and in total he played 25 times for the French team, being one of the great architects of a historic victory for France against England in 1946. He was also the first goalkeeper to captain the French team.

At a time when the French national team was considered bad, he was one of the great figures of the team and the strong link in the team. He finally retired in 1955, at the age of 39. He was finally elected in 1999 by a jury of journalists as the best French goalkeeper of the 20th century, ahead of Barthez, Bats or Ettori.

- Voted best French goalkeeper of the 20th century by the newspaper L'Équipe in 1999

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