The French football world was shocked on Thursday by the death of Christophe Revault. The former goalkeeper of, among others, Paris Saint-Germain, 49 years old, is according to reports Le Courrier Cauchois found dead at home in Le Havre. The exact circumstances of his death have not been disclosed.
Revault was born in Paris, but joined the Le Havre youth academy and broke into professional football at that club. He was initially second choice, but caused a furore at Le Havre in particular between 1994 and 1997. Revault played all 38 games for three consecutive seasons, was called up several times to the national team of France and in 1995, 1996 and 1997 France Football voted best goalkeeper of the Ligue 1.
After 5 years and 134 performances, Revault switched to PSG, to succeed Bernard Lama who left for West Ham United. After several unfortunate appearances, including the lost Champions League match against Bayern Munich (5-1) in which he blundered twice, he was expelled from the starting line-up by Vincent Fernandez. Revault was not allowed to play in the two cup finals that PSG won that season; his bad form presumably cost him a place in the 1998 World Cup selection.
Revault left for Stade Rennes after one season, moved to Toulouse after two years and played 219 games for that club between 2000 and 2006. During that period, in 2001, the keeper was startled by the ‘AZF disaster’, the explosion at the AZF chemical plant in Toulouse. Part of his house was destroyed as a result. In 2003, Revault was named the best goalkeeper in Ligue 2. A return to Stade Rennes was not what he had hoped for and Revault ended his career with three seasons at Le Havre, promoting to Ligue 1 and then relegating again. In 2008 he was again named the best goalkeeper of the Ligue 2.
Christophe Revault after being voted Ligue 2’s best goalkeeper in 2008.
In May 2010, Revault ended his career. He became an advisor to Le Havre chairman Jean-Pierre Louvel and was appointed interim manager of the club on 13 November 2012, for a period of seven games. He won six of them and therefore seemed to be allowed to stay on, but decided to stop himself. On September 28, 2015, Revault was re-appointed as interim coach, taking the club from 15th to 4th place in Ligue 2, before being relieved by Bob Bradley in November. He then became a sports director at his beloved club.