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Reims unveil statue of Just Fontaine
A life-size statue of footballer Just Fontaine, a legend of Stade de Reims who passed in 2023, was unveiled on Sunday in Reims near the Stade Auguste-Delaune before Reims faced Montpellier HSC (4-2).
Just Fontaine, who died at the age of 89, "will always be our strength, that of a club, that of an entire city", declared Jean-Pierre Caillot, the president of Stade de Reims, during the ceremony in the presence of the footballer's widow, Arlette Fontaine.
"This statue will be, for our players, our supporters and all football lovers, a daily reminder of what it means to be a great player and above all to be a great man", he added.
🌟 Retour sur l'inauguration de la statue de 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞, qui trône désormais sur le parvis du Stade Auguste Delaune.
🗞️ https://t.co/zK7fuGZJgH #TeamSDR pic.twitter.com/F162tGBqQb— Stade de Reims (@StadeDeReims) October 8, 2024
The work was erected a few meters from that of Raymond Kopa, unveiled in 2018, a year after the death of this other Stade de Reims legend. Four times champion of France (three times with Reims, once with OGC Nice), Fontaine was instrumental as the club reached the final of the 1959 European Cup. In six seasons, the striker played 152 matches and scored 145 goals, twice finishing as the league's top scorer -- in 1958 and 1960) before retiring at just 28 in 1962.
Now, Fontaine has become the fifth player to have a statue raised in his honor in France after Kopa, Jean Prouff (Stade Rennais), Henri Michel (FC Nantes) and Raymond Keruzoré (Carhaix).
This bronze sculpture was made by the Franco-Peruvian artist Juan Carlos Carrillo.
Born in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, then a French protectorate, Fontaine arrived in 1956 at Stade de Reims from OGC Nice to replace Kopa who left for Real Madrid.
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