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Charles Mathon

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France international rugby league & union player (1905-1944)

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Charles Mathon
Portrait of Charles Mathon in 1930
Personal information
Born(1905-12-01)1 December 1905
Oyonnax, Ain,
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Died9 June 1944(1944-06-09) (aged 38)
Druillat, France
Playing information
Rugby union
PositionHalfback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1923–30 C.S. Oyonnax
1930–31 U.S. Bressane
1931–34 C.S. Oyonnax
Total 0 0 0 0 0
Rugby league
PositionHalfback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1934–36 U.S. Lyon-Villeurbanne
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1934–34 France 1 0

Charles Mathon, (Oyonnax, 1 December 1905 – assassinated during World War II in Druillat, 9 June 1944), was a rugby union and an international rugby league player in the 1920s and 1930s.

Whilst growing up in Oyonnax, he discovered rugby union and played for C.S. Oyonnax. Over the next ten years, he was the scrum half of this club, alongside Captain Georges Ofidan. He settled into their half-backs with the latter from the age of 17 and took an active part in the success of the club which he led to integrate the elite of the French Rugby Union Championship at the end of the 1920s. He tried a single season at U.S. Bressane before returning to C.S. Oyonnax and closed his chapter in rugby union in 1934. Often cited in the preselections, he never won an international cap for the France team.

Approached by Jean Galia in March 1934, who launched the rugby league code in France, Charles Mathon denounced the fake amateurism that raged in the world of rugby union and which he himself was confronted with. He then decided to join the inaugural tour of the French rugby league selection in England called "Les Pionniers" and took part in the first official meeting of the French team in April 1934. He joined the newly created club, the U.S. Lyon-Villeurbanne, for two seasons, of which he took the captaincy and with which he won the Coupe de France in 1935. He retired from sport in 1936.

During the World War II, he joined the Resistance and consolidated an active network. He was assassinated in June 1944 in troubling circumstances against a backdrop of quarrels between resistance groups. The town of Oyonnax named its rugby stadium in his memory, Stade Charles-Mathon, at the end of the war. Oyonnax Rugby still plays there today.

Biography

Childhood, youth and rugby union star at C.S. Oyonnax

Charles Mathon was born in Oyonnax, nicknamed the « Museum of the Comb ». He's the son of Charles Mathon (1879-?), worker in the manufacture of comb, and Marie Morel (1883-1935), housewife. He married for the first time the 12 August 1926 with Gabrielle Alliata (1907-1928), commercial employee, then a second time the 28 April 1932 with Marcelle Besson (1910-1995), also commercial employee.

1923-1930 : Charles Mathon makes his career in rugby union at CS Oyonnax which he takes to the French championship and is very close to the French team

Charles Mathon grew up in the town of Oyonnax and devoted from an early age to rugby union. He thus joined the city's flagship club: the red devils of CS Oyonnax. He made his debut at the age of seventeen as a scrum half following the injury of Gilbert Augon, the usual holder of this position. His debut was promising and Mathon quickly became a starter for this club, it is a good club in the Lyonnais Championship with the C.S. Vienne. From the year 1923-1924, he made up the hinge of this team with his captain and opening half Georges Orfidan. The CS Oyonnax in these years fight for integrate the French Championship.

During the 1924-1925 season, before celebrating his twenties, he took the role of captaincy of CS Oyonnax from G. Orfidan and now successfully organized the game around him despite not qualifying to compete in the French Championship. That year, he made his debut in occasional selections, for example one called the Haut-Jura selection bringing together the best players from the FC Saint-Claude, CS Vienne, including Jean Etcheberry and CS Oyonnax to face English club Cambridge University.

The following year, in March 1926, he was called up to join the French army team while he was serving in the 47th artillery regiment, where he met Joseph Pascot, Yves du Manoir and Raoul Bonamy and he make a game noticed by observers despite the defeat against their English counterparts. In May 1926, he made the tour of the French army team in Romania where he also distinguished himself and was cited as one of the best players. He also joins the Lyonnais selection in end-of-season made up of the best players from Saint-Claude, CS Bourgoin-Jallieu, Lyon O.U., Vienne and FC Lyon, whose captain is J. Etcheberry. Following these meetings, C. Mathon was approached by many clubs to recruit him, first of all the Parisian club Stade français which entered into discussions with the player but Mathon didn't give follow-up, as well as the Stade dijonnais.

The start of the 1926-1927 season confirms the efficiency and the attraction of the hinge of Oyonnax composed of C. Mathon and G. Orfidan who constitute the soul of this team. The club is now multiplying the blows of splinters in the Lyonnais championship and is becoming an increasingly tough opponent and twice was a finalist in the Lyonnais Championship in 1926 and 1927 against the Lyon O.U. He kept his status as a military international in 1927 and was now part of the Longvic aviation team in the Air Force, ainsi que de l'armée française He retained his military international status in 1927 and was now part of Longvic's aviation team in the Air Force, to which he declined selection following the death of his son.

The 1927-1928 season brings more hope for CS Oyonnax whose young players trained by the club are gradually reaching maturity. C. Mathon is the figurehead and despite these qualities showcase by the press, he is ignored by the coaches of the team of France. The club has narrowly failed each season for promotion to the French Championship despite convincing victories. C. Mathon then points the finger at arbitration decisions, in particular with regard to Lyon clubs, which earned him a six-month suspension in February 1928 by the Lyonnais committee, putting an end to Oyonnax's ambitions at the end of the season.

CS Oyonnax team in 1930. Charles Mathon is the first seated on the left.

He found his way back to the lawns at the start of the school year in September 1928 and remained a reference cited for the position of scrum-half on the national level just like during the 1929-1930 season when CS Oyonnax finally managed to dominate the Lyonnais Championship thanks to a performance alignment where C. Mathon regularly cited as the best player in the meetings. He also finds the selection of the Lyonnais where he is also cited as one of the best players by showing himself to be the initiative of many attacks, and was finally called up at the end of 1929 to the national team to play friendly matches and position himself as a possible international. The Oyonnax club rose in power that season at the start of 1930 and achieved performances noticed by the press, with a hinge experienced C. Mathon-G Orfidan. Thus, CS Oyonnax qualified for the group of nine of the French Championship, a first for C. Mathon, and face big clubs accustomed to national matches : le CA Périgueux, le RC Toulon, le Stade toulousain et le Stade français, but only the last three named qualify for the next round.

1930-1931 : little interlude at the US Bressane

1930-1931 is the season chosen by C. Mathon to leave CS Oyonnax and join US Bressane de Bourg-en-Bresse which is also competing in the Lyonnais Championship. However, he retains his place in the Lyonnais selection of which he is one of the key elements in the victory of this selection in the Maori Cup. He accompanies the club in the French Championship, eliminated in the poule des cinq by the SU Agen, the US Dax et the CS Vienne.

1931-1934 : Charles Mathon returns to CS Oyonnax and brushes the French team again

The stadium in which Charles Mathon played for more than ten years in Oyonnax bears his name : the stade Charles-Mathon.

Charles Mathon returns to CS Oyonnax, which therefore finds its captain in October 1931 after a year in Bourg-en-Bresse. The French Rugby Federation suffered a fracture within it with the constitution of the Union française de rugby amateur, upsetting the national team. In December 1931, C. Mathon was called up to the French team to determine the holders for this year 1932 during a selection match in Clermont-Ferrand. The coaches decide to test him for the position of hooker which he had never exercised in his career. After part of this meeting in this position where he seems lost, he is repositioned as an opening half with more success. During the following match, in Brive-la-Gaillarde, he was then put into the halfback and rubbed shoulders on the field Max Rousié, Jean Galia, Marius Guiral et Joseph Choy. The coaches finally decide that Mathon will not be in hinge, betting the duo Rousié-Édouard Coulon, but named Mathon like replacing in the event of withdrawal of one of the two; however, he disputed a meeting of the XV of France against RC Toulon in January 1932 but at the post of Flanker. With Oyonnax, he achieved a rather successful season, even with which he won in particular against his former club US Bressane and is presented as the soul of this team. He took part in the French Championship where the club was eliminated in poule de cinq against the US Thuir, the US Quillan, the Racing CF et the FC Oloron. On the French team side, Max Rousié started alongside Antonin Barbazanges on 17 4 1932 against the Germany, letting C. Mathon on the bench.

1934-1936 : end of the rugby union chapter and Pioneer of rugby league in France

Resounding departure in rugby league in March 1934

In March 1934, the banished from the French Rugby Union Federation, Jean Galia, decided to set up the first rugby league team in France in connection with the English Rugby League Federation and to tour there. In this initiative, he contacts many players banned or in difficulty with the rugby union system because of false amateurism. Charles Mathon, having experienced many canvassings from upscale clubs such as Stade Français during his career, hears and shares these same arguments around this general hypocrisy. He lets himself be convinced by Galia who has come on the Lyonnais before the tour to see him as well as Laurent Lambert. C. Mathon joined this team, then called Les Pionniers, and denounces in the press the practices in French rugby union. Never selected in the France team, the selection committee had even allowed itself to make him play on the positions of hooker or prop in selection meetings when his talent in scrum half was no longer to be demonstrated according to the press. C. Mathon then reported in the press on numerous proposals by Lyon clubs, including the double-champion of France in 1932 and 1933, Lyon OU, which to bring him to play did not hesitate to offer him significant financial advances and jobs, accusations immediately denied by the club cited while its recent success is due to the recruitment of many players from the South of France and surrounding areas.

Honours

Rugby union

Career statistics

Season Championship Selection
Comp. Ran. Comp. M Pts T. G. Dp.
1923-24 France C.S. Oyonnax French championship of 2e série
1924-25 French championship of 2e série
1925-26 French championship of 2e série
1926-27 French championship of 2e série
1927-28 French championship of 2e série
1928-29 French championship of 2e série
1929-30 French championship Poule de cinq
1930-31 France U.S. Bressane French championship Poule de cinq
1931-32 France C.S. Oyonnax French championship of 2e série
1932-33 French championship Poule de neuf
1933-34 French championship Poule de neuf

Rugby league

International games

Date Opposition Result Tournament Position Points Tries Goals Drops
1. 15 April 1934 England England 21-32 Test-match Halfback - - - -

Career statistics

Saison Championship Cup Selection
Comp. Rank. Comp. Rank. Comp. M Pts T. G. Dp.
1934-35 France U.S. Lyon-Villeurbanne French Championship 3rd Coupe de France Winner 1 0 0 0 0
1935-36 French Championship Semi-final Coupe de France Quarter-final

Notes

  1. Passamar 1984, p. 56.

References

  1. ^ "Archives départementales de l'Ain, commune d'Oyonnax, année 1905, acte de naissance No. 185, vue 98/104". archives.ain.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  2. ^ Annick Moretti. "Charles Julien Mathon". Filea. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  3. ^ Allombert, Félix (22 September 1923). "Valence à Oyonnax". L'Auto.
  4. "Les oyonaxiens (sic) attendent". L'Auto. 3 December 1925.
  5. Allombert, Félix (22 October 1923). "Orlidan se distingua à Oyonnax". L'Auto.
  6. Allombert, Félix (10 November 1923). "Championnats régionaux sur toute la ligne". L'Auto.
  7. "La grande finale entre Oyonnax et Vienne". L'Auto. 1 December 1923.
  8. "Les Clermontois à Oyonnax". L'Auto. 9 February 1924.
  9. Allombert, Félix (1 December 1924). "Oyonnax l'emporte sur la fin". L'Auto.
  10. Allombert, Félix (29 November 1924). "Les Roannais à Oyonnax". L'Auto.
  11. "Cambridge à Saint-Claude". L'Auto. 1 April 1925.
  12. "En vue du match Armée française-Armée britannique". L'Auto. 25 March 1926.
  13. Bénac, Gaston (19 April 1926). "Pour le match cloture - L'armée britannique bat l'armée française". L'Auto.
  14. J. Mériel (18 May 1926). "La tournée française en Roumanie". L'Auto.
  15. "L'université d'Oxford à Lyon". L'Auto. 26 March 1926.
  16. "Autour des touches". L'Auto. 2 June 1926.
  17. "Autour des touches". L'Auto. 13 October 1926.
  18. "La fougue l'emporte". L'Auto. 20 September 1926.
  19. Allombert, Félix (25 October 1926). "Mathon et Orfidan se distinguent". L'Auto.
  20. "Autour des touches". L'Auto. 24 November 1926.
  21. "Le Lyon Olympique est champion". L'Auto. 20 December 1926..
  22. F. Vieux (18 December 1926). "La finale Oyonnax-Lyon O.U." L'Auto.
  23. "Le Championnat de France". L'Auto. 24 February 1927..
  24. "Les soixante militaires convoqués à Joinville". L'Auto. 2 March 1927.
  25. "Autour des touches". L'Auto. 30 March 1927.
  26. ^ Allombert, Félix (25 August 1927). "AU C.S. d'Oyonnax". L'Auto.Ph. Vieux (4 September 1927). "AU C.S. d'Oyonnax". L'Auto.
  27. Allombert, Félix (11 February 1928). "Avignon-Oyonnax". L'Auto.
  28. "Lyonnais-Rugby". L'Auto. 15 February 1928.
  29. Allombert, Félix (22 October 1928). "Oyonnax partit trop tard". L'Auto.
  30. "L'entraînement". L'Auto. 20 January 1929.
  31. "Lyonnais". L'Auto. 18 September 1929.
  32. "Mathon fut le meilleur". L'Auto. 21 October 1929.
  33. Bénac, Gaston (4 November 1929). "La sélection du Lyonnais bat Blackheath grâce à la supériorité de ses lignes arrières". L'Auto.
  34. Lafourcade, Jean (30 November 1929). "le match de sélection de Biarritz". L'Auto.
  35. Ph. Vieux (15 January 1930). "Lyonnais". L'Auto.
  36. "Les qualifiés pour les poules de 3". L'Auto. 17 February 1930.
  37. Ph. Vieux (17 September 1930). "Lyonnais". L'Auto.
  38. "Autour des touches". L'Auto. 21 March 1931.
  39. Ph. Vieux (6 May 1931). "Lyonnais". L'Auto.
  40. Ph. Vieu (14 October 1931). "Lyonnais". L'Auto.
  41. ^ "Commentaires sur la journée de dimanche". L'Auto. 8 December 1931.
  42. ^ "Voici l'équipe de la F.F.R." L'Auto. 21 December 1931.
  43. "La sélection de la F.F.R. disposa nettement du R.C.Toulonnais". L'Auto. 2 January 1932.
  44. "Deux dropped-goals ..." L'Auto. 18 January 1932.
  45. "Mathon fut le meilleur". L'Auto. 15 February 1932.
  46. "L'équipe française de la F.F.R. battra-t-elle celle d'Allemagne aujourd'hui, à Francfort ?". L'Auto. 17 April 1932.
  47. ^ Philippoff, Dimitri (3 March 1934). "Les joueurs de la première équipe française de rugby à treize sont arrivés hier à Paris". L'Auto.
  48. Crétin (4 March 1934). "La passage de Mathon d'Oyonnax chez Galia". L'Auto.
  49. Perrier, Robert (5 March 1934). "Révélations, précisions ... Encore !". L'Auto.
  50. Perrier, Robert (10 March 1934). "Le L.O.U. ne tiendra pas compte de nos révélations". L'Auto.
  51. Villetan, Geo (18 April 1931). "Une belle équipe lyonnaise". L'Auto.

Works cited

  • Passamar, André (1984). L'Encyclopédie de Treize Magazine. Toulouse: Treize Magazine. OCLC 461737232.
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