Arrived very young at RC Strasbourg, Gérard Hausser awakened to football at the same time as the club regained its colors in the 1960s. As a left winger, he became a reference to the point of being called up to fourteen times in the French team.
In Alsace, it was under the orders of Paul Frantz, his mentor, that he lived his best period in Racing between 1964 and 1967. A club that he left to join Germany and Karlsruhe – “a fiasco” – before to join FC Metz in 1968.
It is Robert Szczepaniak, his former teammate in Strasbourg, who breathes his name to Carlo Molinari. “Clubs like Nantes or Marseille wanted me,” recalls Gérard Hausser. “But Mr. Molinari came to Karlsruhe to see me and I ended up following up on his requests. In addition my wife wanted to find the east of France and between Metz and Strasbourg, it is only an hour and a half away. “
“Coming to Metz, I have never regretted it. On the contrary, ”says the person concerned. Especially since for his first season in garnet, the Alsatian contributes to the excellent results of the Lorrainers who will finish on the third step of the podium. “After the first day and a draw (1-1) at Valenciennes, a journalist from the Republican Lorrain came to see me to ask when I was going to show my talent as a scorer,” smiles Gérard Hausser. “The next match, against Rouen, we won 7-3. I score four goals, my first quadrupled with the pros… ”
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“And who had to cut the tree down the next day?” Carlo Molinari “
Winner of the Coupe de France in 1966 with Strasbourg, the former striker of the France team does not necessarily regret having come close to a title of champion of France with FC Metz three years later . “Honestly, it’s not a disappointment because I think we got the most out of this team,” he says. “Besides, it was already not so bad to qualify for a European Cup and to face teams like Napoli and Hamburg. “
The two following seasons, the Messins will finish eighth each time. But beyond the results, Gérard Hausser especially remembers the men. Players like “his friend Robert Szczepaniak” with whom he spent “three extra years”, but also “the Lensois Richard Krawczyk, Johnny Léonard the Luxembourgish” or “Jacky Pauvert who came from Mutzig and whom I had taken his wing “.
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But he also remembers (above all) a president “very close to his players and their family. Carlo Molinari was very outgoing. At any point of view. This is also why Metz had good results at the time. He came to training every day, he asked for news of the children… ”
And, on occasion, he donned the outfit of a lumberjack … “Oh yes! », Laughs Gérard Hausser. “At the time, I lived in one of the buildings right next to the Saint-Symphorien stadium. On the eleventh or twelfth floor. There was a tree that made it difficult to see the land properly… My children were still young and one day my wife told me that this tree was still a nuisance. Suddenly, I am going to see President Molinari and I ask him to do something… He answers me: “Gérard, if you score two goals tomorrow, I will have this tree cut down! And who had to cut the tree down the next day? Carlo Molinari because I scored a double… ”
In 1971, Gérard Hausser returned to Strasbourg before hanging up his crampons on May 30, 1974 after a friendly match against… Brazil, world champion, Mario Zagallo and Rivelino. A few months later, the former Metz striker joined the Adidas company as a sales representative with the help of François Remetter, a goalkeeper who also wore the colors of RC Strasbourg and FC Metz …
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