Raoul Diagne

Raoul Diagne (10 November 1910 – 12 November 2002) was a French footballer who played defender professionally in France and for the French national football team. He worked as a coach after his playing career.

Raoul Diagne

Diagne pictured in November 1938
Personal information
Date of birth	10 November 1910
Place of birth	Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guiana, France
Date of death	12 November 2002(2002-11-12) (aged 92)
Place of death	Créteil, France
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1930–1940	RC Paris
1940–1944	Toulouse
1944–1946	FC Annecy[2]
National team
1931–1940	France	18	(0)
Teams managed
1960–1961	Senegal
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Born in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni French Guiana, Diagne, son of politician Blaise Diagne, was raised in Paris. The young Diagne was a brilliant student, but his passion for football was much stronger than that for studying, despite pressure from his father. Initially cut by French professional football team Stade Français, Raoul Diagne signed at the age of 16 with Racing Club de Paris. A tall, elegant, and versatile defender who was excellent in the air, Diagne was the first black player to be selected for the France national football team.[3] He earned 18 caps with the national team. The French press nicknamed Diagne the “Black Spider”, given his impressive height (1.87 m) and limb reach. Playing in Paris, Diagne was close to the star Josephine Baker, who affectionately called him "my little brother.” He was a prominent figure in the "black Paris" of the time, alongside boxer Panama Al Brown.  

Raoul Diagne could play any position on the field, goalkeeper included. Despite his imposing size and his primary role as a defender, his preferred position was as a right wing. It was as a very offensive-minded right back defender that he made his career in the French team.  In fact, it was not uncommon to see Raoul exchange his position with the actual right winger in order to seek a result at the end of the game.

At the end of the 1940s, after finishing his playing career in Toulouse (until 1942), Annecy (1942-1945) and Nice (1945-1947), he obtained his coaching diplomas and practiced in Belgium, Algeria, and Normandy. Of Senegalese descent, in the early 1960s Diagne became the first coach of the Senegal national football team.[4]

Raoul Diagne died on November 12, 2002 in Créteil, a southeastern suburb of the Paris metropolitan area. The "Black Spider" was 92 years old and French football mourned the loss of a star and pioneer.