Lucien Huteau


Lucien Paul Noël Huteau was a French footballer who played as a goalkeeper and who competed in the [Football at the 1900 Coupe Manier|1900 Summer Olympics|football tournament] at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, winning a silver medal as a member of the USFSA Olympic team representing France, which was primarily made up of Club Français players.

Early life

Lucien Huteau was born in Paris on 26 May 1878, and together with his brother, Georges Garnier and Fernand Canelle, he was a member of the small group of middle school students from the Lycée Chaptal who, in 1893, founded an unofficial club called the Etoile Sportive Parisiennne, which played on the pitch at the Château de Madrid in the Bois de Boulogne, and which was soon absorbed by Club Français, so called because it did not include any English players. His father became the secretary of Club Français.

Playing career

Club career

Club Français joined the USFSA in March 1894, and on 22 April of the same year, the 16-year-old Huteau started as a goalkeeper in the semifinal of the [1894 Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques|USFSA Football Championship|inaugural USFSA championship], which ended in a 0–1 loss to The White Rovers. Together with Marcel Lambert, Gaston Peltier, Georges Garnier, and captain Eugène Fraysse, Huteau was a starter in the Club Français team that won the 1896 USFSA Football Championship, doing so without losing a single match, and conceded just two goals in eight matches: one against Rovers and one against Standard.
On 25 April, Huteau started in the final of the inaugural Coupe Manier against the newly crowded champions of France Standard AC, helping his side to a 4–3 win after extra-time. A few months later, on 26 December 1897, he started in the very first football match in the history of the Parc des Princes in front of 500 spectators, in which Club Français was defeated 1–3 by the English Ramblers. On 28 March 1898, he started for Club Français in the 1898 Coupe Manier final at the Vélodrome de Vincennes, helping his side to a 10–0 win over Paris Star. In the following week, on 3 April, he started in the final of the 1898 USFSA Football Championship against Standard AC at Courbevoie, which ended in a 2–3 loss. In the following year, on 16 April 1899, Huteau started in the play-off match against Standard AC to decide the, helping his side to a 3–2 win. This victory qualified the club to the 1899 USFSA national championship, in which Club Français withdrew from the final before facing Le Havre AC. Later that year, on 23 October, he started in the 1899 Coupe Manier final at Suresnes, helping his side to a 6–0 win over RC Roubaix.
Huteau was a member of the Club Français team that won the 1899–1900 USFSA Paris championship. On 29 April 1900, Huteau started as a goalkeeper in the final of the 1900 Challenge International du Nord against Le Havre AC, but following an injury on Garnier, they switched positions in an eventual 2–3 loss. In the following week, on 6 May, he started as a half-back in the 1900 USFSA Football Championship final against Le Havre AC, which ended in a 0–1 loss. Later that year, on 23 December, Huteau started in the 1900 Coupe Manier final against UA I arrondissement, and due to the absence of Laisné, Français played the entire first half with 10 men, but Huteau managed to stop every shot to keep the match tied. At half-time, they found a former CF player in the crowd, Ernest Weber, who was placed in goal, thus forcing Huteau to play the second half in the right wing, from where he helped his side to a 1–0 victory.
According to Reeves, captain of the West Norwood and Selhurst FC interviewed in October 1900, Huteau would have held his place very well in a great English team.

International career

Huteau was listed as a goalkeeper for the USFSA team at the 1900 Olympic Games. He was selected for both matches, which ended in a 0–4 loss to Upton Park on 20 September, and in a 6–2 victory over Belgium, which was mostly made up of students from the French-speaking Université libre de Bruxelles. The French team came second and Huteau was thus awarded with a silver medal.

Later life

Having retired from the field in the early 1900s, Huteau and his father remained closely linked to football, attending the final of the 1907 USFSA Football Championship between RC France and RC Roubaix on 7 April, alongside other former CF players, such as Garnier and René Ressejac-Duparc. In the following month, on 9 May 1907, he attended André Billy's Paris-Nord meeting, which served as annual test matches for the French national team. Huteau was president of the Association Commission of the Paris Committee for the 1908–09 season.
Recalled to military activity at the outbreak of the First World War, Huteau joined the 24th Territorial Infantry Regiment before moving to the 19th Train Squadron, seconded to the French military mission near the British Army as an interpreter. He was decorated with the Commemorative war medal and the Victory Medal.

Honours

Club

;Club Français

International

;France MNT