Gilbert Brébion

Gaston Louis Brébion (20 March 1887 – 21 September 1970) was a French footballer who played as a forward for Étoile des Deux Lacs and the France national team between 1906 and 1910.

Early life Gaston Brébion was born on 20 March 1887, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, barely 300 meters from the parish church of Saint-Honoré d'Eylau, where the Étoile des Deux Lacs was based. The Étoile club was one of the many Catholic clubs affiliated with the Gymnastic and Sports Federation of French Patronages (FGSPF), whose general secretary Charles Simon, was also the head of the Étoile club.

Club career Together with Henri Bellocq, Henri Mouton, and Jules Verbrugge, Brébion was a member of the Étoile team that was proclaimed champion of the patronages in 1904, and as such, the club then faced the champions of Paris, United SC on 1 May 1904, which ended in a 5–1 loss. In the following year, in April 1905, the local press stated that "Brébion, 18 years old, comes from the second team where he occupied the left back position; with the habit of playing as right back, he will become a very good player". Brébion and Simon Sollier, the two fullbacks of France, were blamed for this humiliating result by the local press, who stated that they were the team's weak point, "especially in the first half, where they committed serious mistakes and even managed two own goals"; the English sources of this match do not mention any own goal, but since at least two goals are attributed to Harry Stapley with a header, it is possible that one of them was the work of Brébion, still under the charge.

It was perhaps because of this catastrophic performance that marked a turning point to a trajectory that had been upward until then, as he then suddenly disappeared from the Étoile line-ups after 1910, and his place was taken by Félix Romano.

Later life and death Brébion was mobilized at the outbreak of World War I, but was discharged in 1915 because of rheumatic endocarditis and cardiac hypertrophy, so he was assigned to a squadron of the quartermaster corps in 1917.

After the War, he settled in Montpellier; he never returned to Paris, dying in La Garde, Var on 21 September 1970, at the age of 83.

Legacy Just like many French internationals from the start of the 20th century, Brébion was the victim of mistakes by historians, being initially given the first name of Gilbert, which was actually his younger brother, who also played at Étoile, making his debut in the first team in 1913, but he was born only in 1896, and thus only 13 years old during Brébion's international debut in 1909.

Honours Étoile des Deux Lacs FGSPF Football Championship: 1904–05, 1905–06, 1906–07 Trophée de France: 1907