50 years of MHSC: Bruno Martini, old-school player and goalkeeper from another era

Bruno Martini, ici devant Hervé Alicarte lors de l'entrée sur le stade de La Mosson. Midi Libre – Dominique Quet

The French team goalkeeper signed for Montpellier in 1995. A cerebral and solitary player, he integrated to the point of becoming assistant director of the training center. Before disappearing too abruptly in 2020.

Our 84-page special issue

Condensing half a century of history into 84 pages. This is the challenge taken up by the sports editorial team at Midi Libre in this special edition on the 50th anniversary of the MHSC. Available on newsstands on December 11 for just 5 euros, this glossy magazine will allow you to relive the great moments in the history of the Montpellier club through our “50” who made the MHSC. Players, coaches and builders, of course, starting with this “Nicollin Saga”, told by Laurent and Colette, the wife of the late Loulou. A special issue packed with anecdotes and unpublished photos with an exclusive interview with Olivier Giroud.

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A special issue available on newsstands Midi Libre

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Bruno Martini and Montpellier, it's the marriage of water and fire. In 1995, when the international goalkeeper (31 caps) went into exile from Auxerre, his heart broken and his knee chewed up, La Paillade was experiencing the twilight of his roguish years.

Cerebral, solitary and a chess player, Martini only talks about what he knows. Montpellier more than ever embraces Loulou's moods, lives by instinct, multiplies poker moves, plays belote and tells improbable stories, full of bad faith.

Cartesian and meticulous man

“Bruno, conscientious and meticulous, was surprised by certain things”, euphemizes Pascal Baills, one of Montpellier's memories.

For his first European match with Montpellier, against Sporting Portugal of Lisbon (1-1, 1-0) in September 1996, Loulou calls on a magician and forces his team to wear yellow jerseys, vectors “positive vibes”. Lost bet.

Deputy Director of the Training Center

Bruno Martini lives the nightmare of the Vélodrome (5-4) against OM before ending his playing career one evening of defeat in Monaco. Coach of the goalkeepers of the French team, this Cartesian man, meticulous and precise, sets up the diploma of goalkeeper coach. Work of the shadow of a man with a temperament as serious as his voice.

Victim of a stroke in 2020

Returning to Montpellier in 2013, as deputy director of the training center, he has an experience on the bench alongside Pascal Baills. A painful month-long interlude for this caring man with traumatic stress.

On October 12, 2020, Bruno Martini suffered a stroke in Grammont. On the field of an unwavering passion. Neither Jonathan Llorente nor Pascal Baills could revive him. He died a week later. And plunged the entire Hérault club into silent sorrow.

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