# Georges Bon > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Georges_Bon > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Georges_Bon.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Bon > Source revision: 1324805699 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Georges Gabriel Bon** (14 July 1886 – 18 December 1949) was a French [footballer](/source/Association_football) who played as a [forward](/source/Forward_(association_football)) for [US Boulogne](/source/US_Boulogne) in the early 20th century.[2] He also played one match for the [French national team](/source/France_national_football_team) in 1907.[3][4] ## Career Georges Bon was born in [Boulogne-sur-Mer](/source/Boulogne-sur-Mer) on 14 July 1886, as the son of a customs officer.[1] He began his football career at his hometown club US Boulogne, whose [pitch](/source/Football_pitch), called the Moulin Wibert, was perched on top of a cliff, thus being both steep and exposed to all the winds.[1] At the time, Northern France had two separate regional championships: the land and the maritime, whose winners were opposed in a final, and Boulogne therefore usually played against Dunkerque FC and its main rivals [RC Calais](/source/RC_Calais) in the maritime championship, and then only met [RC Roubaix](/source/RC_Roubaix) or [US Tourcoing](/source/US_Tourcoing) in the regional final, which they lost regularly; and in fact, in Bon's first such final in 1906, Boulogne was beaten 1–0 by Roubaix thanks to a goal from [André François](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Fran%C3%A7ois_(footballer)).[1] Bon was 1.79 meters tall (the equivalent of over 1.90 m at the time), so he was comfortable with being more physical on the pitch.[1] On 1 November 1906, probably because of his size, Bon was pre-selected for his first international match for France, a [friendly](/source/Exhibition_game) against [England amateurs](/source/England_national_amateur_football_team), with the following comment: "Completely unknown in Paris, he is considered one of the best forwards in the North".[1] However, he remained an unused substitute, thus avoiding being part of a 15–0 humiliating defeat.[1] Basically, Boulogne, Calais, and Dunkirk played in a closed environment, so international football was far from their concerns, but his performance in the 1907 match between the [Nord](/source/Northern_France_football_team) and [Paris](/source/Paris_football_team) (scored once in a 4–1 win), which served as annual test matches for the French national team, convinced France's [head coach](/source/Manager_(association_football)), the Northerner [André Billy](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Billy_(football)), to give him a chance in a friendly match against [Belgium](/source/Belgium_national_football_team) at [Uccle](/source/Uccle) on 21 April 1907.[3][4][1] During the match, he co-scored the winning goal (2–1), which was described in the press as follows: "[Puget](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Puget_(footballer)) crosses the ball into the area where; at the same time, François, Bon, and [Camard](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Camard) push the Belgian [goalkeeper](/source/Goalkeeper_(association_football)) [Robert Hustin](/source/Robert_Hustin) together, and the four men roll into the net".[1] The goal is generally attributed to François, but, given the size of Bon, it is quite possible that it was he who sent Hustin to the back of his goal; no one interviewed the players to clarify this point.[1] After this match, France's [captain](/source/Captain_(association_football)) [Fernand Canelle](/source/Fernand_Canelle) congratulated Bon, stating that he was "an example to French forwards; he knew how to mark his opponent the moment they received the ball, and this saved his half-backs and full-backs unnecessary work"; in other words, Bon was the first French forward to carry out defensive work in international matches, doing so spontaneously (because there was no coach at the time).[1] Despite Canelle's compliment, Bon never became unanimous, and likewise, he was not selected in any of the next three Paris-Nord meetings between 1908 and 1910, but when he finally got another chance in 1911, he delivered two assists in a 3–1 win.[1] His unanimousity was such that ahead of the [football tournament](/source/Football_at_the_1908_Summer_Olympics) of the [1908 Olympic Games](/source/1908_Olympic_Games) in [London](/source/London), the [USFSA](/source/Union_des_Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9s_Fran%C3%A7aises_de_Sports_Athl%C3%A9tiques) selected him only for the [would-be France C squad](/source/Football_at_the_1908_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men's_team_squads#France_C) that was originally listed to compete in the tournament, but Bon ended up not traveling to London because the USFSA decided to send only two instead of three teams.[5] When the USFSA left [FIFA](/source/FIFA) in 1908, the [CFI](/source/French_Interfederal_Committee) took its place, but the northern clubs remained loyal to the Union, and on 12 March 1910, the USFSA assembled a national team to face [England AFA](/source/Amateur_Football_Alliance) in order to show the press that its team was superior to that of the CFI, beaten 11–0 in 1909, but ended up being humiliated with a resounding 20–0 loss.[1] Bon was praised as France's best player, being the author of France's only shot on target, thus giving the "English goalkeeper its only opportunity to make an effort".[1] After the match, he was also described by the French press as "a solid, very powerful guy, who never misses the opportunity to place a remarkably precise shot".[1] ## Later life and death Outside of football, Bon was a customs officer in Boulogne, just like his father.[1] He remained the captain of US Boulonnaise until the outbreak of the [First World War](/source/First_World_War), during which he was sent to the front, before being discharged in 1916 for [bronchitis](/source/Bronchitis), which was serious enough to send him to the hospital in [Brest](/source/Brest,_France).[1] He was then assigned to the auxiliary services of customs officer, becoming a customs lieutenant in [Dieppe](/source/Dieppe).[6] In 1934, Bon obtained an assignment to [Marseille](/source/Marseille), where he ended his career in the Customs department in 1944.[1] He subsequently retired to [Forcalquier](/source/Forcalquier), where he died on 18 December 1949, at the age of 63.[3][1] ## References 1. ["Les premiers Bleus: Georges Bon, comme son nom l’indique"](https://www.chroniquesbleues.fr/Georges-Bon-portrait) [The first Blues: Georges Bon, as his name indicates] (in French). *www.chroniquesbleues.fr*. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2024. 1. ["Georges Bon"](https://www.worldfootball.net/person/pe98529/georges-bon/). *www.worldfootball.net*. Retrieved 24 November 2024. 1. ["Georges Bon, international footballer"](https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=2239). *eu-football.info*. Retrieved 24 November 2024. 1. ["Georges Bon"](https://www.fff.fr/equipe-nationale/joueur/6735-bon-georges/fiche.html) (in French). *www.fff.fr*. Retrieved 24 November 2024. 1. ["Football Tournament 1908 Olympiad - Squad Lists"](https://www.rsssf.org/tableso/ol1908f-det.html#sq). [RSSSF](/source/RSSSF). 8 September 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024. 1. ["Ce que sont devenus les anciens champions"](https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9788090m/f4.image.r=bon.zoom) [What happened to the former champions] (in French). *gallica.bnf.fr*. Le Miroir des sports. 4 November 1925. p. 341. Retrieved 1 December 2024. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Georges Bon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Bon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Bon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.