Paris (AFP)

The RC Lens orphan of his "Druid": Daniel Leclercq died at the age of 70, announced Friday the club artesian, that the technician, atypical figure and apostle of the "football plume", had led to the title of champion of France in 1998.

Leclercq, who earned the nickname of "Druid" for his technical skills as well as for his recognizable physique with his sparse white hair, died out following a pulmonary embolism, according to the daily newspaper La Voix du Nord.

"It's a part of RC Lens that goes," said Gervais Gervais Martel, former president of the club. "At first he was a great player, then as a coach he brought us to the top, it was unthinkable to be champion of France, I do not know if we will relive that one day. moments, and that reassured the players, even if sometimes they feared him. "

Man of the North, born in Trith-Saint-Léger, in the suburbs of Valenciennes, Leclercq has spent his whole career as a coach in this region and in neighboring Belgium, including mandates as coach of Lens (1997-1999) then as sports director of the artesian club (2008-2011) and two passages at VAFC (1986-1987 and 2003-2005).

- Mythical -

But before skating the banks of Bauvin, Bavay, Guesnain, Billy-Berclau, the Louviéroise (Belgium), Arleux-Fechain and finally Douai (experience ended in 2017), Leclercq had a first career as a professional player of good level , as a central defender.

He has counted more than 350 L1 matches, including the Olympique de Marseille (1970-1971 and 1972-1974) but especially those of Lens (1974-1983).

With the "Blood and Gold", Leclercq wrote his legend in 1998 during a season that will remain legendary for all regulars at the Bollaert stadium.

"He was an idol for fans, and when we were a champion, he was proud and so happy for them," said Martel. "He often said to me: + we gave pride to people + when life was difficult with the mines that had closed and many people who were unemployed, it was part of RC Lens's heritage and the mining area."

- "Revolutionary" -

That year, just before the triumph of the French team at home at the World Cup in 1998, Leclercq managed to draw the quintessence of its workforce, with the figurehead of players like Tony Vairelles, Guillaume Warmuz, Jean-Guy Wallemme or Frédéric Déhu, Vladimir Smicer and Anto Drobnjak.

"In the 1990s, we were in a football space reduction, more tactical.He had the idea of ​​a football panache.That was revolutionary," told AFP the former goalkeeper Guillaume Warmuz. "In January 1998, he asked us each in the locker room if we wanted to be champion of France, individually, he had that deep in his guts."

Leclercq won the title of champion, the only one in the history of Lens, after a great mano mano with Metz, only ahead of goal difference.

The same season, the techncien leads his troops to the Stade de France, for a Coupe de France final lost against the Paris SG Raï.

But in 1999, still at the Stade de France, he took his revenge by registering another line in the charts Lensois: he won the Coupe de la Ligue, beating Metz in the final (1-0). The second of two titles in the history of his dear RC Lens.

© 2019 AFP