Charles Simon (sports manager)

Charles Simon
Charles Simon in 1915
Secretary General of the FGSPF
In office 1905–1915
President of the French Interfederal Committee
In office 1907–1915
Succeeded by	Henri Delaunay
Secretary General of the FGSPF
In office 1911–1915
Succeeded by	Armand Thibaudeau
Personal details
Born	Charles Maurice Simon (1882-09-25)25 September 1882 16th arrondissement of Paris, France
Died	15 June 1915(1915-06-15) (aged 32) Écurie, Pas-de-Calais, France

Charles Maurice Simon (25 September 1882 – 15 June 1915) was a French lawyer and a sports manager who served as the secretary general of the FGSPF and FICEP, from 1905 and 1911, respectively, until his death 1915. In order to defend the development of football, he founded and presided over the short-lived French Interfederal Committee (CFI), which would later become the French Football Federation (FFF) in 1919. The name of Charles Simon has been attached to the Coupe de France since its creation in 1917.

In addition to sports, he was also a lover of the French language, poetry, and music.

Early life and education

Charles Simon was born in the 16th arrondissement of Paris on 25 September 1882, into a bourgeois family originally from Normandy, as the son of Aimable Corentin Simon, a doctor in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, and Elise Mouchet, a housewife. He grew up in a modest home and had a hard-working childhood, which resulted in a humility that would mark Charles' personality, remaining a reserved person, even for his close friends throughout his life.

His family was rather inclined towards the masses, and therefore, Simon began frequenting the patronages very early on, notably that of the parish of Saint-Honoré d'Eylau in the 16th arrondissement. Simon was thus a fervent Catholic.

After studying at the Lycée Buffon, Simon enrolled in the law faculty and obtained his degree in 1902, and after completing his military service, he registered for the internship on 2 December 1904. He was also a Laureate of the Faculty of Law of Paris.

Sports managerial career

First years

During his time at the parish of Saint-Honoré d'Eylau, Simon discovered the appeal and the educational interest of sports in its football team, the Étoile des Deux Lacs, led by Father Abbé Biron, who was thus quickly assisted by Simon and then by Henri Delaunay. He quickly climbed the ranks within the FGSPF, where alongside Doctor Paul Michaux, a surgeon at the Paris hospitals, he became president of the Association Football and Athletics Commission, and such, in late 1904, he organized the first edition of the FGSPF Football Championship (an annual federal championship), which was won by the association that he chaired, the Étoile des Deux Lacs in April 1905. On 15 July 1905, the federation relocated to its first premises at 5 Place Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin, with Léon Lamoureux assuming administrative responsibilities on 14 November, later joined by Simon, who became sports secretary general of the FGSPF at the 1905 congress.

At the same time, Simon began campaigning at the international level in favor of Catholic sport, and therefore, in October 1905, the committee of the FGSPF, following the example of the major daily newspapers, decided to have a special envoy for the upcoming Vatican Sports Congress, but since the president could not go due to personal reasons, FGSPF's representative in Rome was Simon; he returned to Paris with the pontifical blessing of Pope Pius X, for all patronages and families. This congress was attended by 900 athletes, and Pope Pius X strongly encouraged foreign gymnasts to return, and Simon ensured that this wish was granted when this gathering was renewed in 1906, and then in 1908, despite the hostility of the French public authorities, which was joined by the USFSA, among others, whose opposition was based on the law concerning the separation of Church and State was promulgated on 9 December 1905, which kickstarted the war between secular footballers and the federation of patrons, each excluding the other.

In October 1906, the "Paris Committee" reminded clubs that they must request the requalification of people who have been part of other federations (mainly the FGSPF) before requesting their admission to the USFSA; however, Ernest Weber, the star football journalist of L'Auto (the future L'Équipe), noted that this official statement was nothing, but a "good trick on the FGSPF", and thus, Simon visited the L'Auto newsroom to thank them, stating that the "ridiculous decision affecting the members of other federations made by the leaders of the Paris Committee has no value since it does not come from the power leaders of the USFSA", which Simon knew well from his short stay there.

French Interfederal Committee

Simon, General Secretary of the FGSPF and founding Chairman of the CFI, in his office at 5, place Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin.

To defend football from the inertia of the USFSA, Simon decided to spearhead the establishment of the French Interfederal Committee (CFI) on 26 March 1907, becoming its first president. This committee, oriented towards football, was open to all without discrimination of any kind, thus bringing together a total of 490 sports societies (although not all of them played football), including the federations that had been excluded by the USFSA (due to the latter's opposition to professionalism in sport), which ended up regrouping under the banner of the CFI, who thus became a superstructure grouping the likes of FGSPF, FCAF, and Jules Rimet's LFA, plus other regional federations, such as the Lyon and South-East Cycling and Athletics Federation (FCALSE), exceeding 400 members. Simon's CFI was then seen as a rival organization to the USFSA, and after they slammed the door on FIFA in 1908, the CFI, on the lookout, rushed to take the vacated place. On 13 February 1908, Simon supported the CFI's application for membership in FIFA, and in December 1908, he went to London, to the FIFA headquarters, and obtained for the CFI the status of the sole French football representative recognized by FIFA. The headquarters of the CFI remained at the same location as the FGSPF: 5 Place Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin in Paris.

In 1907, Simon launched an appeal in the press to demand from the French Olympic Committee (COF), the right of the CFI to participate in the upcoming 1908 Summer Olympics, arguing that it was not reserved exclusively for the USFSA; the Olympic Games were not formally organized by FIFA, so the rule of exclusivity granted to a single federation did not apply. This appeal failed, but when the CFI joined FIFA, Simon was subsequently appointed secretary of the French Olympic Committee by Pierre de Coubertin, who then had excellent relations with Simon, who took advantage of the rules to register a second French team, hence why two French teams participated in the 1908 Olympics, one controlled by the USFSA and the other by CFI/FIFA.

French Football Cup Trophy (Charles Simon Cup).

In 1907, Simon's CFI organized its inaugural championship, the so-called Trophée de France, which featured a trophy donated by Pierre de Coubertin himself. All the federations making up the CFI kept their autonomy, so each of them had selectors for the French national team, but in December 1912, after successive mergers between rival federations, the selection committee (SC) of the CFI became composed of 12 members, including Simon, who in May 1909, chose the 11th player for a friendly match against Belgium. By 1909, he received a salary of 3,000 francs per year, thus becoming one of the first permanent directors appointed in the world of sport.

In 1910, Simon took a trip of several months with his friend Louis Raveton, and together, they visited Greece, Asia Minor, Mount Athos, and Constantinople. Simon is also the creator of the FGSPF regional unions of Algeria, Oran, and Tunisia. The CFI gradually received the support of all football defenders, particularly that of Jules Rimet, founder of Red Star, who joined the CFI in 1912 with its LFA. In 1913, the USFSA had to capitulate and request its registration to the CIF, which means that at that time, Simon was the unofficial first president of a French Football Federation (almost, since it lacked the "socialists" of the FSAS).

UIOCEP

In 1911, at the international gymnastics competition in Nancy, Paul Michaux took the initiative to create the International Union of Catholic Works of Physical Education (UIOCEP), and while Michaux was elected vice-president, Simon became the entity's first General Secretary, and it is agreed that the head office would be that of FGSPF, located at Place Saint-Thomas d'Aquin 5, Paris. In December 1911, this union convened in Rome to establish its statutes with the encouragement of Pope Pius XI.Jouaret 1999a, p. 168 Two years later, at the end of 1913, the first General Assembly of the Association of Athletes was held in Rome.

Musical and writing career

His artistic sensitivity was heightened by listening to religious music, particularly ancient chants from the time of the cathedrals. In 1906, he participated with 6 friends in the creation of the Manécanterie des Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois, a children's choir to revive the love of Gregorian chants, which was established in the 15th arrondissement; each member contributed 20 francs per quarter. The first rehearsal took place on 10 January 1907 and the first concert on 18 July 1907 at the Catholic Institute.

Nature inspired him to write poems, and in 1912, his first collection, La Flûte enguirlandée, was published by Jouve, as well as two plays in verse, Pierrots de France, a fairy tale, and L'Hôtellerie du Pot d'Etain, a comedy, completed in 1914 and which were to be performed in two Parisian theaters, but the outbreak of the First World War interrupted these projects.

Death

Death certificate of Charles Simon, who died for France in Écurie in 1915.

On 2 August 1914, Simon was mobilized in the 28th Infantry Regiment and joined Évreux as a sergeant. The troops were quickly sent by train to occupied Belgium, and the regiment took up position on the Sambre before it repositioned itself near Guise where it was ordered to prevent the enemy from crossing the bridges. This regiment experienced uninterrupted bombardments before the bloody hand-to-hand combat to defend every inch of ground. In September, he took part in the First Battle of the Marne, remaining there for four months in the Maricourt sector, training in trench warfare.

At some point, Simon became a soldier in the 205th infantry regiment, registration number 014750, and was killed by bullets at Écurie, Pas-de-Calais, during the Second Battle of Artois, on 15 June 1915. The transcription of his death took place in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. Some sources state that he disappeared during a hand-to-hand fight on 26 May 1915, and following an investigation in 1920, the Army awarded him a decoration, convinced that he was "killed by the enemy". On 18 July, a gathering of civil and religious authorities attended the ceremony organized by the FGSPF in the Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin church where the band of the Union athlétique du chantier sounded the service in front of the flags of more than forty associations, including four from the provinces.

Legacy

Following his death, Henri Delaunay took over his responsibilities at both the FGSPF and the CFI. The Trophée de France and the FGSPF Football Championship, which had lasted for ten seasons, were interrupted by the war and eventually faded away in favor of the creation of the Coupe de France, which was itself replaced by the 1917–18 Charles Simon Cup, created by the CFI in honor of the fallen hero. The final of the second edition on 6 April 1919, was refereed by Simon's friend Armand Thibaudeau, who replaced him as the UIOCEP's secretary general.

The CFI was officially renamed the French Football Federation (FFF) on 7 April 1919, with Jules Rimet as president and Henri Delaunay as general secretary.

The participation of the FGSPF in the various competitions organized in the Saint Damase courtyard of the Vatican earned Charles Simon the cross of the Order of St. Sylvester in July 1915, while the military medal was awarded to him posthumously in 1923. Pierre de Coubertin recognized him as "a remarkable organizer as well as an ardent apostle".

Bibliography

• Hervet, Robert (1948). La Fédération Sportive de France (1898-1948) (in French). Paris: Henriot et Guyot. OCLC 66302325.
• Jouaret, Jean-Marie (1999a). Petite histoire partielle et partiale de la Fédération sportive et culturelle de France (1948–1998) (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: FSCF. ISBN 2-9528387-0-4.
• Jouaret, Jean-Marie (2012). La fédération des sections sportives des patronages catholiques de France (1898-1998) (in French). Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 978-2-296-55969-1.