Jean-Marc Furlan

Jean-Marc Furlan
Personal information
Full name	Jean-Marc Furlan
Date of birth	November 20, 1957 (age 66)
Place of birth	Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, France
Position(s)	Defender (retired)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1973-1979	FC Girondins de Bordeaux
1979-1980	Stade Laval
1980-1982	Olympique Lyonnais
1982-1985	Tours FC
1985-1986	SC Bastia
1986-1988	Montpellier HSC
1988-1989	RC Lens
1989-1992	AS Saint-Seurin
1992-1993	AS Libourne
Managerial career
1993-February 1997	AS Libourne Youth team
March 1997-1998	AS Libourne
1998-2004	FC Libourne-Saint-Seurin
2004-2007	Troyes AC
2007-2009	RC Strasbourg
2009-2010	FC Nantes
2010–2015	Troyes AC
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jean-Marc Furlan (born November 20, 1957, Sainte-Foy-la-Grande) is a French soccer manager. He played as a sweeper from 1975 to 1993 and has worked as a manager since 1997.

Club career

From 1975 to 1993, he played 420 games as a professional in the sweeper position. In that position his physical stature (1.87 m, (6 ft 2 in)) and his temper would prove invaluable. His career started at FC Girondins de Bordeaux, where he signed his first professional contract in 1975. One year later (1976) he won the Coupe Gambardella (French Under-18 Cup). He then played at Montpellier HSC, Stade Laval, Olympique Lyonnais, Tours FC (French Ligue 2 Champion), SC Bastia, Montpellier HSC (French Ligue 2 Champion), RC Lens and Saint-Seurin-sur-l'Isle in 1993 (where he retired).

Managerial career

He retired as a player at Saint-Seurin-sur-l'Isle Ligue 2 where he later opened a sport shop. He felt the need to share his soccer passion and did so by volunteering as a coach for his son’s little league team. His aim was to develop the talent of young players. Due to financial difficulties, the club merged into Libourne/Saint-Seurin and started over in CFA 2 (League 5). Satisfied with the results of the youth team, he was asked to manage the first-team squad (1997-2004). This was a success; four seasons in a row he went to the round of 32 in the Coupe de France (eliminating Ligue 1 teams such as Olympique Lyonnais and FC Metz) and one season making it to the quarter-finals. At the same time, he promoted the club from CFA 2 (League 5) to CFA (League 4) and then National (League 3). During his time at Libourne-Saint Seurin he is widely credited with having overseen the progress of youngsters such as Chalmé (Girondins de Bordeaux) and later Valbuena (Olympique de Marseille).

Furlan’s performances as a manager drew the attention of several professional teams. He signed his first professional contract as a manager at Troyes AC (Ligue 2) in 2004/05. His first season was very successful as Troyes AC was promoted to Ligue 1 and he was personally awarded Manager of the Year, being considered to be a shrewd tactician with collective spirit made up of well-oiled offensive tactics.

He was appointed manager of RC Strasbourg from 2007 to 2009 and then of FC Nantes in 2009/10.

In 2010/11 he returned at Troyes AC and the team was promoted to Ligue 1 the following season. Again in 2014/15, Troyes AC was promoted to the Ligue 1 with ease (4 games before the end of the season) and won its first national title: French Champion of Ligue 2.

Despite a very low budget, Furlan developed the talent of very good players such as Perquis (Real Betis), Gomis (Olympique Lyonnais), Matuidi (Paris SG), Sidibe (Lille OSC), Obbadi (AS Monaco ), N’sakala (Anderlecht)…

Club honours

420 games including 273 in the Ligue 1 and 147 in Ligue 2
French Champion of Ligue 2 in 1984 at Tours and in 1987 at Montpellier HSC
Coupe Gambardella (French Under-18 Cup) in 1976 at Girondins de Bordeaux
International A’ French Team

Managerial honours

1 promotion from CFA 2 (League 5) to CFA (League 4) in 1998/99 at Libourne-Saint Seurin
1 promotion from CFA (League 4) to National (League 3) in 2002/03 at Libourne-Saint Seurin
3 promotions from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 in 2004/05, 2011/12 and 2014/15 at Troyes AC
French Champion of Ligue 2 in 20014/15 at Troyes AC
Coupe de la Ligue: quarter-finals in 2012/13 at Troyes AC (Ligue 1) and semi-finals in 2013/14 at Troyes AC (Ligue 2)
Coupe de France: quarter-finals in 2001/02 at Libourne-Saint Seurin (CFA) and semi-finals with Troyes AC (Ligue 1)
2 trophies Ligue 2 Manager of the Year (UNFP) in 2004/05 and 2014/15 at Troyes AC

References

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