lit a candle 3h ago81 is a good long innings. Condolences to his wife and children.
Their story
Alain Piana was a French footballer and sports organiser who played two seasons as a professional defender for AS Monaco, helping the club win promotion back to the top division in 1971, before finishing his playing career with Sporting Club de Toulon. He later became known in Menton, on the…
Alain Piana was a French footballer and sports organiser who played two seasons as a professional defender for AS Monaco, helping the club win promotion back to the top division in 1971, before finishing his playing career with Sporting Club de Toulon. He later became known in Menton, on the French Riviera, as the creator of the town's sporting races. He died on the evening of Sunday 18 October 2026, aged 81.
Piana was born in Toulon, in the Var department, on 3 June 1945. He came through the amateur section of AS Monaco and made his professional debut in the 1969 to 1970 season, under coach Robert Domergue, in a Second Division match against Dunkerque on 13 August 1969. That season he played 21 league matches and three in the Coupe de France as Monaco finished eighth.
In 1970 to 1971, under Jean Luciano, Monaco topped the South East group of the Second Division with 47 points and returned to the First Division, narrowly missing the overall title to Paris Saint-Germain. Piana played alongside Jean Petit, Armand Forcherio, Pierre Mosca and Georges Casolari. He made about 42 or 43 appearances in the club's red and white shirt, but never played for Monaco in the top flight, leaving in 1971 for his home city club, SC Toulon, where he played three seasons until 1974.
After football he settled in Menton, where Nice-Matin described him as the creator of the town's sporting races. For many years he was a familiar figure in local sport, organising races and community events in the town. He kept his ties with Monaco and in 2024 joined other former players at the club's centenary celebrations, around a win over Montpellier.
AS Monaco announced his death on 19 October 2026, a day after the death of another former defender, Daniel Zorzetto. The club's players wore black armbands in memory of both men at home to Lille on 25 October. His funeral was held at the Basilica of Saint Michel in Menton on 27 October 2026. No cause of death was made public. Tributes from the club and from supporters' sites recalled a defender from the amateur ranks who played his part in a promotion season and then gave decades to sport in his adopted town.
Biography adapted from AS Monaco, La Diagonale, ASM by Stf and XaVero and Nice-Matin.
Photos
1Alain Piana (among the former AS Monaco players pictured) at the club's centenary celebrations in 2024
by People Forever
He gave Menton decades of his time, more than most ever do.