In 1930 French captain Alexandre Villaplane
was taking his team to the first ever World Cup
He was leading his team and his country at the biggest event in world football
While his fine individual performances were not enough to prevent
France from crashing out of the World Cup
Villaplane was able to hold his head high despite finding himself on the losing side
Fast forward a decade and Villaplane was leading a new wholly different team of men
He swapped his French jersey for the uniform of an SS Obersturmfuehrer
and his French teammates for a ruthless brigade of thugs and mercenaries
But how does a man who was once the star of French football
become a killer, torturer and blackmailer for the occupying forces?
And more importantly, what happens when Villaplane finds himself
on the losing side once again?
Alexandre Villaplane was born in Algiers, French Algeria in 1905
As a working class family the Villaplanes did not have much in the way of money
and as a result he received very little formal education
At age 16 he left Algeria for France's south coast where he settled with his uncles
What Villaplane lacked in formal education
he more than made up for with his footballing ability
He was first noticed by FC Sète's Scottish manager Victor Gibson
and began his footballing career at just 16
Villaplane quickly realised that football would provide him with opportunities
that he would otherwise be unable to reach
given his modest upbringing and lack of education
The lack of money in his childhood likely created a drive for
Villaplane to look out for himself above all others
A theme which would become apparent in his career
And it was this outlook which would see him leave FC Sète
at 18 after just a season and a half
when offered better terms by Vergéze in the second division
A side financed by the mineral water company, Perrier
However, just a season after joining Vergéze
Sète realised the mistake they had made in letting Villaplane go
They quickly offered him better terms to return to the club
and it was at this time that international recognition came for Villaplane
In 1925 he was selected for a 'North African XI' to face France's 'B' team
which caught the eye of national scouts
A year later he was called up to the French national team
quickly becoming an automatic choice in the starting XI
Villaplane's importance to the French national team becomes clear when you look at
the team's results during his injury plagued 1927 season
Without Villaplane in the squad, the French were demolished by Portugal 4-0
Spain 4-1, England 6-0, and Hungary a staggering 13-1
After returning from injury in 1928
Villaplane would go on to play in 20 successive international matches
before his international career was brought to an abrupt halt in 1930
when he was just 24 years old
While no footage exists of him playing
reports from the time highlight his unmatched ball control
complimented by his physical strength and his aerial prowess
Villaplane's return to FC Sète in 1924 with more favourable terms
showed him that by moving clubs he could often gain a better wage
At the time, French football remained amateur
However, it was widely accepted that top clubs would create fictitious jobs
in order to attract the best talent
Villaplane was smart enough to realise that he could use this to fund
a luxurious lifestyle by playing clubs off against each other
This resulted in a habit where he would change clubs ever few years
He would leave Sète again in 1927 for SC Nîmes
before uprooting and leaving again to the Parisian, Racing Club in 1929
Each move solely motivated by the promise of a better wage
The move to Racing Club was brought about by the club president's desire to replace
Red Star as the top Parisian team
prompting him to spend fortunes on gathering the best players in the country
Villaplane, as one of the best, was naturally one of his first targets
Almost as soon as Villaplane entered Paris, he began to spend his lucrative wages
in cabarets, casinos, fine restaurants, and at racecourses
some of the favourite hangouts of Paris' criminal underworld in the 1920s and 30s
A world the easily corruptible centre-half quickly slid into
As a recognisable footballer, Villaplane quickly gained a reputation
His notorious behaviour cost him his place on the national team
with the French Football Federation deeming it unsuitable behaviour for
a national player, let alone the captain
This all came despite his stellar performances in the 1930 World Cup
against Mexico, Argentina, and Chile
The 1930 World Cup would turn out to be the last time he would represent France
By 1932 professionalism was sanctioned by the French authorities
and Villaplane moved back down south to Antibes
Here he led Antibes to the top of the league
setting them up for the grand final which determined the league champion at the time
Word quickly spread that a crucial game against SC Fives had been fixed
While Antibes' coach received a life ban
Villaplane, who had played a key part in the match fixing
received a slap on the wrist and
a recommendation that he look for a different livelihood
He quickly moved on to OGC Nice
where his life and career unravelled for good
He showed up late for training and was thoroughly disinterested
in the team which he had been made captain of
Nice would be relegated by the end of the season
One year later, Villaplane would earn his first conviction for fixing horse races
a jail term which would turn out to be the first of many
Not long after, war broke out, and Villaplane saw the biggest opportunity of his life
Germany's rapid occupation of France and the signing of the Armistice in June 1940
resulted in open season for France's underworld
Initially Villaplane tried his hand at racketeering and blackmail
mainly targeting black marketeers and Jewish people
but was immediately arrested for handling 'hot' goods
While in jail, Villaplane met Henri Lafont
a gangster who was to become one of the most hated figures of the occupation
Lafont was an opportunist who convinced the Germans
that he could do business with them by assisting them in the destruction
of a Belgian resistance network
In return for this favour he was made head of the French Gestapo by the Nazis
Here, Lafont, tortured and murdered his way to a fortune
alongside the disgraced former head of French police, Pierre Bonny
Initially, Villaplane was recruited to be Lafont's chauffeur
before receiving his own big break in 1944
As the resistance to the Germans began to rise in power
the Germans created a North-African Brigade
with the intention of cleaning up various elements of the resistance
Villaplane was appointed as the head of this brigade
a role which he took very seriously
When the Reich finally crumbled, Villaplane was quickly caught and tried
a trial which highlighted the extent of his crimes
According to the prosecutor
If they had the money, the unfortunate victim would pay
Then Villaplane would leave them to the mercy of his thugs
North-African mercenaries whose savagery is remembered
in southern France to this day
According to the survivors, Villaplane did not join in on the beatings, torture or killings
Instead, he watched while counting his money
Except for one occasion
Once when 11 resistance members did not have the money to pay for their survival
Villaplane joined in on their execution
The oldest of these resistance members was 26
the youngest of them was just 17
The prosecutor did not have to work hard to get the death sentence for Villaplane
He was executed, alongside Lafont and Bonny, by firing squad at Fort de Montrouge
on the 26th of December in 1944
Villaplane the footballer died long before his execution in 1944
And when he died, so too did his memory
both due to the passing of time and the attempts
at covering up the once French captain's horrible misdeeds
Descent into criminality was seemingly unstoppable following his move to Racing Club
But he descended to depths much lower than minor gangster
To traitor
and war criminal
It may be tempting to attempt to separate the footballer
from the man who emerged in the war
Blame the war for creating a monster
A monster wholly different from the man who
had so proudly led his country at the World Cup
But to do so would be incorrect
and give far too much credit to a sadist
for whom the war was just an opportunity to act
on the barbaric nature he had shown glimpses of throughout his life