El Hadji Diouf, John Terry, Luis Suarez, Diego Costa, and Sergio Ramos are possibly amongst some of the most hated footballers to have played the game. Their on and/or off field actions have angered many supporters of rival clubs and ensured that, despite their differing levels of ability, their legacy will remain tarnished.

However, the actions of these more modern examples of players pale into insignificance when viewed through the prism of the actions of French footballer Alexandre Villaplane.

He is certainly not a household name, and his life has been thankfully overlooked and cast aside. However, it is important to revisit his story as it shows that footballers are not born role models and have their own lives off the pitch.

Players such as Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson today attract a lot of attention for the right reasons, for being bold enough to stand up for what is right.

People like Alexandre Villaplane need to be examined to highlight how important the morally righteous players are, as they use their positions of power to good. Villaplane was certainly not a footballer with the public reach of players today, nevertheless, he had a position of responsibility and his evil and psychotic ways saw him executed due to his involvement in the malevolent Nazi party.

Alexandre’s Algerian Ancestry
Born in Algiers, the modern-day capital of Algeria, 안전놀이터 endured a modest upbringing in the French territory. Being born into an immigrant family in 1905 meant that he received little access to education during his formative years. He spent 16 years in Algeria before his family split up and he was sent to live with his Uncle in Cette (modern-day Sète) on the South Coast of France.

His performances on the pitch were gathering Villaplane welcome attention, the tough-tackling, high energy, combative midfielder was making a name for himself. Still a teenager at the time, his on-field displays illustrated his eye for a pass and tremendous heading ability, and it was inevitable that he was destined for bigger and better things.

As the professional game in France had not begun, players could not be paid to play the sport. Despite this, owners of the ‘bigger’ French clubs found ways to financially reward their players which often coaxed the better players to the richer teams. Villaplane was one of the men who had his head turned.