Louis Bach
French footballer (1883-1914)
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Louis Désiré Bach (14 April 1883 – 16 September 1914) was a French footballer who played as a defender and who competed in the football tournament at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, winning a silver medal as a member of the USFSA Olympic team representing France, which was primarily made up of Club Français players.[1][2]
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Bach (standing, third from left) with the French team at the 1900 Olympics | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Louis Désiré Bach | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 14 April 1883 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | 10th arrondissement of Paris, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 16 September 1914 (aged 31) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Servon-Melzicourt, Marne, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defender | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1897–1901 | Club Français | ||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1900 | France (Olympic) | 2 | (+0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Playing career
Club career
Louis Bach was born in 10th arrondissement of Paris on 14 April 1883, and he began his football career at his hometown team, Club Français.[1][3] On 23 October 1899, the 16-year-old Bach started in the 1899 Coupe Manier final at Suresnes, helping his side to a 6–0 win over RC Roubaix.[4] Bach was a member of the Club Français team that won the 1899–1900 USFSA Paris championship.[5]
Together with Lucien Huteau, Georges Garnier, and Gaston Peltier, Bach was a member of the Club Français team that won the 1899–1900 USFSA Paris championship.[6] On 29 April 1900, he started in the final of the 1900 Challenge International du Nord in Tourcoing, which ended in a 2–3 loss to Le Havre AC.[7] In the following week, on 6 May, he started in another final against Le Havre AC, this time in the 1900 USFSA Football Championship, and even though he "worked wonders after wonders", Club Français lost 0–1.[8] Later that year, on 23 December, Bach formed a defensive partnership with Pierre Allemane in the 1900 Coupe Manier final at Joinville, keeping a clean-sheet in a 1–0 win over UA I arrondissement.[9]
According to M.C.E. Reeves, the captain of the Norwood and Selhurst Football Club interviewed in October 1900, Bach was "one the best defenders he had watched playing".[10]
International career
Bach was listed as a defender for the USFSA team at the 1900 Olympic Games.[11] Having just turned 17-years-old, Bach was the youngest member of the team.[1] He was selected for both matches, which ended in a 0–4 loss to Upton Park on 20 September, and in a 6–2 win over a team representing Belgium three days later.[12] The French team came second and Bach was thus awarded with a silver medal.[1][12][13]
Later life
Bach enlisted in the French Army in 1904, but left in 1906, although he stayed in the reserves.[1] When the First World War broke out in August 1914, he was called up and joined his old regiment, the 128e Régiment d’Infanterie, being killed in action in Servon-Melzicourt, Marne, on 16 September 1914, at the age of 31,[1][3][13][14] and was buried in the Nécropole Nationale de Saint-Thomas-en-Argonne.[1]
Honours
Club
- Club Français
- USFSA Paris Championship:
- Champions (1): 1899–1900
- USFSA Football Championship:
- Runner-up (1): 1900
- Coupe Manier:
- Champions (2): 1899 and 1900
- Challenge International du Nord:
- Runner-up (1): 1900
International
- Summer Olympics:
- Silver medal (1): 1900
