He was a historical figure of the Girondins de Bordeaux. Jean-Didier Lange, former president and co-president of the club from 1991 to 1999, died on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday at the age of 75 following a long illness. Lange, lawyer by profession passionate about football, had worked in 1991 to take over, with the optician Alain Afflelou, the Navy and White, then immersed in the legal proceedings of their historic and media president Claude Bez, which will result in the filing of bankruptcy, judicial liquidation and finally the relegation of the club to D2 in July 1991.
At the end of his first year in office alongside Afflelou, Bordeaux will return to the elite and four years later, with the future world champions Bixente Lizarazu, Zinédine Zidane and Christophe Dugarry in its ranks, reach the final of the UEFA Cup, lost to Bayern Munich. From 1996, Jean-Didier Lange will be joined in the presidency by Jean-Louis Triaud, a winemaker who owns several châteaux in the Médoc, to whom he will leave the definitive reins of the club in 1999 when it is acquired by the audiovisual group M6 .
A tribute to come against Brest
Since then, this leader had remained loyal to the Girondins, by sitting on the board of directors as an ultra-minority shareholder, which he remained for more than 20 years even during the takeovers by the American investment funds GACP and King Street. or this summer after the club was taken over by the Spanish-Luxembourg businessman Gérard Lopez. This last “wish sends all its condolences to the family of Jean-Didier Lange. It is with great emotion that the whole club learned of this sad news ”. The club will pay tribute to him at the next reception at Stade Brestois on November 28.
It is with sadness that we learned of the death of Jean-Didier Lange.
He will remain the key man who ensured the club’s survival in the early 90s.
Thoughts of his family, and his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/3GnQiz691i
— Ultramarines 1987 (@ub87officiel) November 17, 2021
For the Ultramarines, the largest group of Girondins supporters, he “will remain the key man who ensured the club’s survival in the early 90s.”
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