Philippe Godoy, a name forever associated with the heyday of Grenoble football. Over the course of eight years, interspersed with a few escapades, this 1.69m pocket attacker weighing 69kgs has aroused enthusiasm and admiration in the spans of the municipal stadium, the fiery Charles Berty stadium. Race, explosive, technical, winner … Philippe Godoy will have caused many miseries to the opposing defenders and does honor to the colors of Dauphinoise.
A forerunner in this area, the native of Grenoble was among the first to attempt the bet across the Atlantic to taste soccer and his exotic MLS … A distinguished striker made in Grenoble coupled with a hectic life, all deserved to be tale.
Interview with a former darling of the stadium, beautiful mouth and kidney breaker … Philippe Godoy, the Grenoble pioneer!
Hello Philippe, first of all, how is this confinement going? Everything is fine ?
I’m ok thanks. The whole family is doing well. One has health, unlike others, it is the most important.
Doesn’t time seem too long?
It’s a special time, unique to each of us, that makes you see things differently. You come back to things more down to earth, you get closer to yours.
You just turned 49 (April 23), what are you up to?
I work in Aix en Provence and with the approach of confinement, I wanted to return to my mom and my family, so I have been in Grenoble for two months.
45 days without rain, so it was you who brought us the good weather?
(Laughs) I don’t know, but it’s pretty crazy anyway.
Come on Philippe, let’s dive into your past if you don’t mind…
(He cuts) That’s good, I’m at my mother’s, I searched the cupboards a bit and I came across all the press clippings about myself, my old jerseys and the trophies. My mom kept everything (laughs). Anyway, I haven’t forgotten anything. Sometimes I can no longer remember what I did the day before, but I still have all my matches in mind. You see there, at the same time as I speak to you, the images pass before my eyes (laughs).
You were born and trained in Grenoble. How many years in total to wear the Dauphinoise colors?
Since a beginner, I have done all my classes in Grenoble, it must be 18/20 years in all. I lived in Mistral and training was at Bachelard. I just had to cross the road, it was convenient.
It was during the Football Club Association Sportive de Grenoble and Football Club de Grenoble Dauphiné (from 1984). What memories do you keep from your young years?
Only good times, honestly delicious memories. There was respect between parents and children, friendliness and solidarity between us, it was beautiful. In fact there is so much to tell that I don’t know where to start (laughs).
By your fondest memory for example during your youth?
I remember being champion Rhône-Alpes in juniors but the best memory remains this final of the Gambardella cup lost against Brest in 1990. It seems to me that we are the last team from Grenoble to have gone so far in the competition. We lost 3-1 against Stade Brestois in the final. In the eighth we beat Strasbourg at La Meinau, Lens at the municipal stadium in a quarter with a big atmosphere and we fell the PSG in half at Châteauroux. And this final, I still have it across my throat (laughs).
Why, were you robbed?
No, not necessarily, let’s say I don’t like to lose (laughs). And then it’s a defeat in the final, it is still not digested.
Grenoble had a good generation of young people?
Yes it is certain. You realize that three years before us, Grenoble had already gone to the final of this competition (Editor’s note: 2-1 defeat in the final against Colombes in 1987). It was then the generation Youri Djorkaeff, Clément Garcia, Bob Laplace, Frank Jakubowiez, Frank Zingaro. Two finals in three years is still revealing, it proves that in Grenoble we had great potential.
Did you evolve with Youri Djorkaeff, future world champion?
He was older than me, we got to know each other but I never had the chance to play with him. When I arrived in Pro, he was going to Strasbourg.
Have you always had the goal of making football your job?
Yes I always had this will, it was rooted in me.
Paradoxically without having gone through the club’s training center?
In fact, something happened to me when I was 17 years old. During an international tournament in Pibrac, near Toulouse, I was named the best player in the competition. Jean-Louis Gasset, in charge of the Montpellier training center, Sheffield United and Boa Vista contacted me to join them. The FCGD had to issue a letter of exit but never wanted to let me go. Since that day, I switched to the pros and everything went on … (laughs). Like what we can succeed without going through a center.
You then join the first team for the first time at 17 and a half. It was season 87/88. What feeling prevails at the time. Pride ?
Yes, it was a lot of pride. I think then of my father, my mother, my family, my friends. Just talking about it gives me chills, it touches me a lot.
Grenoble then plays in D2. Do you remember your first pro match?
Yes perfectly, it was against Orleans at the municipal level. We do it everywhere.
Have you been good?
I had been good, unpretentious, and I had almost scored. Except that before the action, there is a defender who puts me a huge tackle, he takes my ankle apart (laughs). I could not run anymore and missed a great opportunity … I was 17 and a half years old, I wanted to break everything, but I came across old critters, they quickly calmed me. You had a lot of defenders at the time, guys with vice. They weren’t in control, it wasn’t because they were bad, it was just to let you have the ball and put your sole behind (laughs).
And your first Pro coach?
Patrick Parizon, an old green. He was a great coach, a guy who was very respectful of his players.
Your first goal?
This too I cannot forget. It was in Grenoble against FC Mulhouse and their Bulgarian international goalkeeper Borislav Mikhailov. I am 25 meters away, I dribble the defender and strike. He releases the ball and it enters. It was an important goal because we lost 1-0. I remember a huge feeling after goal, like I was somewhere else for a second or two. I saw the audience, I heard the noise, but I was no longer there. I was in a daze, an unforgettable feeling.
What position were you in?
On the wings, on the right most often and sometimes on the left.
Who were your teammates at the time?
Olivier Saragaglia, Clément Garcia, Rodolphe Elmira, Jacky Perdrieau, Stéphane d´Angelo the goalkeeper. I was intimidated, I dared not sit in the locker room. It was the elders who gave me a place.
You who were born in Grenoble, how was it to defend the colors of your city?
I was born here, I was pro here, I gave everything for my club … It’s a huge pride, a great feeling. Grenoble gave it back to me by giving me the city’s Oscar and the public has always been very caring for me.
You spend a total of eight professional years in Grenoble. Were you playing in the middle of the second division table?
Yes, we were often in the middle of the table and even went down to the third division, before going up by going to win at the Vélodrome against Endoume.
A match that marked the history of the Grenoble club?
I don’t know if he made history, I just know that you had to have heart and heart to win that night. If we hadn’t had a temperament, we would have gone by the wayside.
Can you make us relive this magic moment?
It was extraordinary. The match took place on Saturday evening (note May 18, 1991). First anecdote, We arrived the day before at the hotel and Stéphane Garcia, Clément’s brother, gave us an allergy attack at Pollen. He was swelling so much that the UAS moved to give him an injection (laughs). That same Friday evening, OM played the title against AJ Auxerre at the Vélodrome. Marseille wins 1-0 and becomes champion of France. I’m not telling you the party in Marseille and the positive energy that reigned in the city. On our side we were on the block, we knew that with a victory we were going up, while Endoume could be satisfied with a draw. Patrick Parizon puts us the music that goes well in the bus and we take the direction of the stadium under police escort. Slowly, we begin to enter the match. And there we arrive at the Velodrome.
So it was beautiful?
It was magical, there was a sick atmosphere, and a world … So much so that the kick-off was delayed by a quarter of an hour. To support us, five coaches of supporters (including my parents) had made the trip, not counting those who had gotten out in a personal car. The craze in Grenoble was enormous. It was hot with Marseille people who wanted to enter the Grenoble grandstand. I remember, our supporters were in front of the honor stand. There was even Bernard Tapie and the OM players in the gallery. In short, we go out to recognize the lawn and there we meet our opponents. We got insulted properly.
Did it have the merit of announcing the color?
And still it is nothing. When we get back to the warm-up do you know what they’re doing to us? Something I had never seen. At the end of the Velodrome corridor, there were the stairs to access the lawn, and up there, they make us a guard of honor. Can you imagine? A guard of honor. We had to pass through them. And there we were insulted and spit on like never before. This is surely when we won the match.
What do you mean ?
As I told you earlier, if you were afraid, you would lose. In fact they thought to intimidate us but it had the opposite effect, they put us in a rage, the demon … They did not know that with us too there were a lot of players from the neighborhoods, guys with character. We had for example Olivier Saragaglia from Teisseire, Abdel Bouhazama from La Villeneuve, I was from Mistral. At the collective warm-up we all looked each other in the eye, we said we are going to “kill” them. We were 2000% motivated.
So how is this match going?
Tense, very tense. At halftime, the Marseilles even wanted to enter the Grenoble stands. On the pitch, the danger was not when we had the ball, but when we didn’t have it. We were taking shots from behind, it came from everywhere. They made a mistake and played this intimidation match, but in this area we were able to respond. Fortunately also that we had a super referee, Mr. Claude Bouillet, then international. He made his match and was not afraid. We win in the end 2-0.
You mark?
No, I have a great opportunity after 5 minutes of play. Abdel Bouhazama overflows, center back, I control, dribble my defender and shoots. It should pass 20 cm from the post. We’re talking about it there and I’m dribbling and hitting in my living room (laughs). Abdel (Bouhazama) and Stéphane Garcia scored.
The joy must have been great?
It’s crazy. We are all on the ground singing with our supporters. We go back to the locker room and there are the Endoume players waiting for us under the tunnel. It starts in a fight. We took shots but we did too, worry (laughs). José Anigo, Marcel De Falco, the Marseille minots have found whom to talk to. We left the stadium after one in the morning with all our supporters and under police escort. Like my mom said, we’ve never driven so fast on a bus in town, we’ve run out of red lights (laughs).
Is that your best memory in Pro with Grenoble?
Yes, it’s wonderful, talking about it still does something to me. We even had a summary on Telefoot on Sunday.
Eight years in pro in Grenoble to oscillate between D2 and D3 without ever knowing the first division. Is it a regret?
Of course, I would have liked to go to the first division with my club, my city.
A division that you have never approached in your career?
I almost knew this joy in 1991.
Godoy Vs Lizarazu (September 90), a match in the match
With which club?
Bordeaux, I had to sign there but unfortunately it did not happen.
How were the contacts made?
The year we go back to D2, the Girondins de Bordeaux were in our pool. We play twice against them and twice I come out of big games, with Lizarazu as direct opponent.
Did you make him miserable?
Oh yes (laughs). Besides at the municipal stadium, at halftime, we find ourselves walking side by side to return to the field. He winks at me and says, “Take off.” Unpretentious, he hadn’t seen the color of the ball. There too this part remains a sacred memory. It was September 91 and two hours before the start of the game, the municipal stadium was already full. There was a communion with the public, it was beautiful, I still have chills. Evariste Dibo hits the bar, we set them on fire, we eat them… We have to win it 200 times this match but in the end we lose it 2-0. Bordeaux will go up in D1 at the end of the season.
And so Bordeaux spots you?
Yes at the end of the season, Patrick Battiston, then sports director of the Girondins, and Gernot Rohr, coach, contact me. At that time, the clubs played the League Cup after the championship and they could try players. So here I go for a week in Bordeaux at the Château du Haillan. Bordeaux may be in our pool but infrastructure and training level was another world. It was going at 200 an hour. In short, the warm welcome, Lizarazu, very friendly recognizes me and everyone puts me in good mood. At the end of the week we play their derby against FC Nantes at Parc Lescure. I remember the tunnel, you arrived on the ground you were already tired (laughs). I play left winger with Lizarazu behind me. We win 2-0 against the big team from Nantes, that of the Pedros, Loko and Karembeu (it was he who marked me). After the scrub the next day Gernot Rhor asked me to follow him into his office and he told me that he is counting on me for next season. I was terrified, over the moon (laughs).
“Put to the test a young player from Grenoble who had posed some problems for the Girondins in the championship”
And that hasn’t happened?
And no, yet even on the Team I was announced to start (laughs). Ten days later my dad received a call from Battiston to confirm that he was counting on me and was looking for an agreement with the Grenoble president. My father was proud of me, he who always came to the stadium or listened to all my matches on the radio. He was happy. An agreement that they never found, it blocked the financial plan …
Is that the biggest regret of your career?
Yes. The club went up in D1. In addition this season there Zidane arrived from Cannes. I would have progressed with him, Lizarazu or even Dugarry, progressed with them, and perhaps the chance of having a better career. Even international, who knows (laughs)?
In 1993, the club experienced financial problems and you will have your first experience far from Isère. Are you leaving Grenoble with a heavy heart?
Grenoble is short of money, but that’s not why I’m leaving. In December 1993 I lost my dad, I could no longer stay in Grenoble, it was too hard, impossible to see the family bakery for example (Editor’s note place Saint Bruno). Overnight, I make my decision. I went to see the coach to warn him. In the process I signed in Tours.
A lease that lasts six months. Then you sign in Brest and in Spain in D2 in Sabadel. Great experiences?
Yes it allowed me to see something else, other mentalities, other structures, and to meet beautiful people. In Spain for example my trainer was José Luis Romero, future coach of Atlético Madrid.
Back to the fold in 1994 at the OGI. Did you need to get closer to yours?
Yes quite. A nice return because in addition we go from National 2 to National 1 (third division). We finish fourth in Pool B (Editor’s note: Cannes and Monaco, respectively 1st and 2nd could not go up) and we play the back-and-forth jump against Le Touquet, second in Pool A. We win 2-0 at home and 1-0 at home. There too the journey had been long. We invited our supporters to the hotel and celebrated this climb with them. It was memorable.
Bottom, second right
You had a big love affair with the demanding public at the municipal stadium. Can you explain it?
I had the love of the jersey, the love of my city. When I was in the field, the spectators saw that I was not a cheater, I always gave my best. I also never forgot where I came from. My parents started from scratch and worked all their lives to build something. It is a source of pride for me, the sons of immigrant workers, to have seen them get out of it. I was value for money, I respected the public, the guys who worked all week and paid to come and see us. Spectators were my driving force. I entered the field with the desire to give pleasure to people, they appreciated. And then at the time we were affordable and simple. When the match was over, I was cooked, but never in my career did I refuse an autograph. Besides, I take this opportunity to send a big thank you to Grenoble residents because without the support of the public, I would not have had this same success.
Philippe, you can feel your passion for Grenoble. Did you like this jersey?
Oh yes, everywhere and always. Even far from home, I had Grenoble in my heart. Wherever I have grown, I have always wanted to represent my friends, my family and my city. I also played for them. Without taking myself for what I am not, I always did my best by telling myself all the time that I represented Grenoble and its inhabitants. I always had this idea in mind and through my performances, I wanted to give a beautiful image of the city.
Did you have a nickname at Charles Berty stadium?
Not particularly, I heard the master key or the wisp (laughs).
1.69 m 69 kgs, your greatest quality was not the head game, okay?
Yes it’s true (laughs).
More liveliness, percussion? Here is for example a short extract to find by clicking here .
That’s right, I was a dribbler. I liked to go ahead. In this sense I think that football before was better.
That is to say ?
There was passion and combat, it was physical. Today’s players are much more protected than we are. Especially us attackers, we took these soles, we stole (laughs).
Tell me about this municipal stadium, a stadium that marked you?
From a very young age. When we were kids, my parents took us to the stadium, it was the end of the week. At halftime we played soccer with the cans on the bike path … What could we do with crazy parties with friends (laughs). These are happy memories of my youth. So playing Pro with Grenoble was fantastic. Yes this stage is anchored in me.
The SDA Philippe, is it as beautiful as the municipal stadium?
It is beautiful, but there were bound to be more emotions at the municipal level. The SDA does not have the same soul, not the same experience.
It will come over time?
Perhaps, I wish it to the GF38. Our city has always been a city of football enthusiasts and current leaders should not forget that this club has a history, that there have been guys who fought for this jersey and who wrote pages of his adventure. Grenoble played in the first division that I was not even born, we must remember and above all not forget our elders. I’m thinking of guys like Bernard Moraly, Micky Selmane, Franck Desrosiers, Christian Clerc, Bruno Guiguet and others Pascal Di Tommaso, these are the guys who gave us love for football and Grenoble.
Is it perhaps linked to the evolution of modern football?
Certainly but all the more reason not to forget its past. Our jersey color for example. Grenoble was blue and red. On the road, our supporters waved blue and red flags. When after the merger with Norcap the leaders changed the name, they also changed the colors. But those who know football in Grenoble, know blue and red, the real colors of the jerseys. In rugby it stayed. I do not understand that it is blue and white. Somewhere they have erased the club’s past.
With 20 years less, we would still see you at the four corners of the SDA defending our colors?
Yes, obliged.
Do you follow GF38 news?
Not especially. I have trouble identifying with the club. There would be some elders of my time or even the one before, that would be beneficial, continuity would be assured with the past. There you have leaders who are not from Grenoble and who will leave at some point. It lacks jersey love.
Back to the Philippe municipal stadium, what are your fond memories there?
I remember an archicomble stadium with big atmospheres. When Toulon, Nice, Marseille and St Etienne, Bordeaux came here, I can tell you that it made noise. You even had spectators hanging on the lampposts, others on the bulletin board, and others above the stands (laughs), that was something.
What if you only had to retain one?
(Long hesitation) This question seems easy but it is not, there are so many. La Gambardella, my first pro game… I will still say at the reception of Bordeaux. The atmosphere was just amazing. When we are out on the lawn, I will never forget that feeling at the top of the stairs. There were people everywhere, almost two hours before kick-off. It was incredible.
At the bottom right
Are there any anecdotes that come to mind in Grenoble?
Communion with the public left a deep impression on me because it was a warm, knowledgeable Mediterranean audience. After I have an anecdote which is perhaps a little less positive, it was during the visit of Endoume to Grenoble. Compared to our stormy victory at the Vélodrome, there was a dispute between the supporters. They had been clever and must have thought that in Grenoble, they were tender. There were still a lot of people at the stadium and the public that evening had invaded the field. I can tell you that the players of Endoume had received dear. I even saw armed guys come down from the stands. I also have a nicer anecdote that comes to mind. After a victory at home, Didier Christophe, international teammate who had played in Monaco and Rennes, had made a gesture of great class by leaving me his match bonus. I was 17 and a half, it marked me.
Do you know your stats? The number of goals scored for Grenoble?
No, I don’t remember. I just know that I scored either important goals or pretty goals (laughs).
And your prettiest then?
It may not be the most important, or my most beautiful in the aesthetic sense of the term, but it is a goal in a derby, so it counts double (laughs). You know that in Grenoble, there have always been good football clubs in each district, and the rivalry was very great, especially with the Jojos and Norcap. So it was at the Municipal Stadium against Norcap, in the Coupe de France. We were in the third division and they were in the fourth. Olivier Saragaglia, our stopper, finds himself on one side and gives me a great center … Boom, volley and goal. We win 1-0 and we qualify. This one has a special flavor.
Who was the most impressive teammate?
It’s hard to say. Out of respect for all the colleagues I have played with, I will not answer (laughs), I will forget about it. I especially remember the human qualities of my teammates. When we meet again on occasion there is a lot of respect between us. However, I can give you the names of particularly strong opponents.
Which ?
Hristo Stoïchkov, I ate with him after a meeting in the USA. Eric Cantona when he came to Grenoble with Marseille. It reminds me of an anecdote about it. We enter the players and then greet the audience. And here is Canto who arrives after everyone shirtless trying to put on his shirt. This is Cantona (laughs). Obviously there was Zidane when he played at Cannes, Lizarazu, Karembeu…
We continue to go up the thread of your career Philippe. In 1997, the year of the merger between OGI and Norcap, you decided to leave. Why ? You did not want to play with the “enemies” of N.O?
No (laughs). I liked that time, I often went to see the Jojos and Norcap play and they too often came to the stadium. There was rivalry, we defended our colors but there was respect. On the contrary, I would have liked to play with them, I had fond memories of them. And I think the converse is true (laughs). It is especially that the scar linked to the death of my papa never closed, I always had the impression to see him again at the stadium. It was too hard.
You then signed two years at Olympique Alès in Cévennes in the third division. Why this choice ?
I had a good contract and the infrastructure was fine. I’m keeping a very good memory of it. Wherever I have played, I have always had very good relations with the public, this was also the case in Ales where there again I had the big rib with the supporters. For me it is priceless.
Year 2000, you take the leap. Play in the United States. Few people had imagined this bet before you. Where did this idea come from?
I was about 30 years old and in France, unfortunately, you were immediately labeled as an old man. Yet I had an impeccable lifestyle. I didn’t drink or smoke (this is still the case today). So at 30 years old and I made a crazy bet: to go to the US, blaze, get naturalized and play the World Cup for the United States. In recent decades, if you look closely, the USA has almost always been in the final stages of the World Cup. So I had this slightly crazy goal. I asked Noël Tosi, my former trainer in Grenoble, if he had contacts there. It was. Then head to America.
In the colors of Atlanta
The great adventure?
Oh yes ! I thought he knew a coach, a guy from a staff. He was only an American acquaintance and it took some steps to find a club. The Americans were great, but when it came to sports, because of their dominance, they were arrogant at times. In Soccer for example, they took themselves for what they were not. And I had to prove my level, being pro in Europe was not enough for them. I had to take tests, even if they had square feet (laughs).
A conclusive essay therefore since you will stay six years in the country of Uncle Sam (Cincinnati Riverhawks, Milwaukee Rampage and Atlanta Silverbacks). What corresponded to what level in France?
D3, D2, it was a physical championship.
Six years of happiness Philippe?
Yes, a very nice experience, it was magnificent. So certainly I did not reach my initial goal but I am regaled in MLS, it was an enthusiastic and euphoric championship. And then I have been on the All Stars team several times.
Was it the American dream?
You do not think so well because in parallel with football I had even set up my business, a food concept to avoid weight gain. I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve been to Puerto Rico for example and lots of other great places. I discovered beautiful, extraordinary places. We don’t realize it because we have prejudices seen from Europe, but this country is superb and the Americans very welcoming.
Do you consider yourself a privileged person?
Yes absolutely and all thanks to football. I can never thank my sport enough for allowing me to travel and to make me discover other horizons.
You return to France in 2006. Why?
I missed my family terribly. My paternal grandfather, for example, died when I was there and I couldn’t even go to his funeral, it’s horrible. I had to get closer to mine.
You are 36 years old and you signed up for AC Seyssinet Pariset. Did you like the ball too much?
Yes it’s my passion. I would have liked to complete the circle and finish in Grenoble, in my club, but that did not happen, I must have been too old. I spent a year there before setting up my business on the French Riviera.
In your 32-year career Philippe, what is your greatest pride?
It is to have signed my first professional contract in my city, in Grenoble, and to have made my dad happy and proud. I am also proud to have ridden twice with Grenoble and to have had this very strong relationship with the public.
Contre Martigues (D2)
Philippe merci pour tout. Tu portes Grenoble dans ton coeur, sache que les grenoblois ne t’ont pas oublié non plus. Tu souhaites ajouter un dernier mot ?
Un énorme merci à tout ce peuple grenoblois et à toutes les personnes qui m’ont soutenu tout au long de ma carrière. Je voulais remercier également ma maman et mon papa et leur dire que sans les valeurs qu’ils m’ont transmis, je ne serais pas l’homme que je suis aujourd’hui. J’adresse aussi un coup de chapeau à tous ces corps de métiers qui s’occupent de la population actuellement et bon courage aux personnes qui souffrent à cause de ce virus. Pour finir, comme c’est la période, je souhaite un bon ramadan à tous mes amis musulmans.
Un clin d’œil peut-être à glisser à ton frère Fred ? Il parle toujours autant ?
Oui toujours. Je l’embrasse. Mon frère Fred c’est une très belle personne.
Sur le même thème
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