Nearly three months after Éric Roy's death, Jérôme Alonzo made no secret of his anger. A close friend of the former Stade Brestois coach, the ex-PSG goalkeeper strongly regretted that no official, widespread minute of silence was observed by the League during the first matchday of Ligue 1. He found this absence difficult to understand given Éric Roy's prominent role in French football.
A few days after the technician's death, Jérôme Alonzo had already given a moving account of his last moments with his friend , explaining that he left their final meeting knowing he would probably never see him again. Éric Roy died on June 17, 2026, at the age of 58, after a three-and-a-half-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
"I am extremely disappointed and extremely sad."
Jérôme Alonzo directly criticized the League's lack of a general decision regarding the resumption of the championship : "I am extremely disappointed and extremely sad that the League did not impose a minute of silence during the first matchday."
The former goalkeeper wonders in particular how such a situation would have been handled in other major European leagues : "I don't know if it would have happened in England , Spain , or Italy ."
For Jérôme Alonzo, the situation is all the more difficult to accept as Éric Roy was still in charge of Brest just a few weeks before his disappearance.
"A coach on the bench in May who dies during the summer..."
Jérôme Alonzo emphasizes the close connection between Éric Roy's last matches and his death : "Frankly, a coach on the bench in May who dies during the summer, and you don't have an official minute of silence? I find that extremely inappropriate..."
Éric Roy continued to work throughout his illness, which he had long kept out of the public eye. His wife, Loëtitia, recently recounted how the coach carried on in Brest despite chemotherapy, pain, and his deteriorating health. She explained that he would hide his chemotherapy medication under his coat during training sessions.
No minute of silence imposed on the entire Ligue 1
Jérôme Alonzo's criticism is indeed about the absence of an official minute of silence decided for the whole of Ligue 1 , and not about a total absence of tributes paid to Éric Roy.
Several initiatives were undertaken after his death, but the League did not mandate a minute of silence across all pitches during the first matchday of the championship. It is precisely this lack of a collective gesture that has provoked Jérôme Alonzo's anger.
Eric Roy had continued to coach despite his cancer.
Having arrived in Brest in January 2023, Éric Roy initially ensured the club's survival before leading it to an exceptional third place in Ligue 1 and then to a first participation in the Champions League.
His journey took on an even more special dimension after his wife revealed his battle with illness. The coach had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer shortly after arriving in Brittany , but continued to coach for more than three years.
His passing has left its mark on French football. For Jérôme Alonzo, who had a particularly strong relationship with him, there was still a lack of symbolic gesture at the national level: a minute of silence decided by the League and observed everywhere during the resumption of the championship.
