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René Fontès

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Fontès at Stade Marcel-Michelin, 2010

René Fontès (11 June 1941 – 17 March 2019) was a French rugby union executive and politician. He was the club president of Top 14 side Clermont Auvergne from 2004 to 2013. He was also mayor of the Eygalières commune in Bouches-du-Rhône from 2008 until his death in 2019.

Biography

Born in Saint-Martin-de-Crau, Bouches-du-Rhône, Fontès joined the tyre manufacturer Michelin in 1964 as an electrical engineer. He spent a total of forty years at Michelin, and, from 1986, was director of the company's European operation before leaving in 2004.[1][2][3] He succeeded Jean-Louis Jourdan as club president of rugby union club Clermont Auvergne in July 2004.[4] During his time as president, Clermont were victorious in their 2006–07 European Challenge Cup campaign, and also won their first domestic league title in 2009–10.[5] He also oversaw expansion of the club's stadium, Stade Marcel-Michelin, whilst serving as president. Fontès left his role at Clermont in June 2013, and was subsequently replaced by Éric de Cromières.[6]

Fontès was elected mayor of the Bouches-du-Rhône commune of Eygalières, in March 2008. He was re-elected in March 2014,[7] and died in office in 2019. From 2011 until his death, Fontès was a board member of the National Rugby League (LNR),[8] and represented the LNR on the committees of European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) and the French Rugby Federation (FFR).[9][10]

Fontès was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 2011.[11] On 17 March 2019, he died of a sudden heart attack in Eygalières, at the age of 77.[2][8]

References

  1. ^ "3. Une omniprésence de Michelin dans le club". Institut Numérique (in French). 9 June 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b Genet, Cyrille (17 March 2019). "ASM Clermont : l'ancien président René Fontès est décédé". France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (in French). Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  3. ^ Dawson, Brad (6 July 1998). "Michelin to build addition to earthmover tire plant". Tire Business. Lexington, South Carolina, US. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  4. ^ Pastural, Laurent (15 July 2015). "Jean-Louis Jourdan, ancien président de l'ASM Clermont Auvergne de 1996 à 2004, est décédé". France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (in French). Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  5. ^ Jackson, Peter (28 May 2014). "Bath chief Bruce Craig will be director of new Champions Cup". The Rugby Paper. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Clermont : Eric De Cromières, un président trop discret ?". La Dépêche du Midi (in French). 4 June 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Elections municipales à Eygalières". Annuaire Mairie (in French). Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Quarter-final tribute for key EPCR figure". European Professional Club Rugby. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  9. ^ Rogers, Gareth (21 July 2014). "What you need to know about the Rugby Champions Cup". Wales Online. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  10. ^ "La liste de Bernard Laporte en tête à l'élection du comité directeur de la Fédération française de rugby (FFR)". L'Équipe (in French). 3 December 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  11. ^ "René Fontès est à la tête du club clermontois". La Montagne (in French). 11 December 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
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