What is shocking is not only the fact of his death but also the incredible resilience of this man. It turns out Roy had been battling pancreatic cancer for three and a half years. Until the announcement of his death, there was no public information about this.
Photo: Franco Arland — UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Here's what Roy's family wrote: "All this time he continued to live with a strength of spirit that still impresses us, inspired by his love for his family, for football, for his work, driven by a passion that never left him. The achievements of recent years will forever remain something exceptional for us. Going through such an ordeal and simultaneously managing a club says a lot about the kind of person he was."
Kind, gentle, honest, and decent. He knew how to encourage, guide, and inspire others to self-improvement. He combined demandingness, fairness, and humanity.
He loved football boundlessly. His adventure at Brest became one of the most beautiful periods of his entire life. This work gave him energy, joy, and a reason to move forward even in the most difficult moments. He created a rare bond with his players. He loved them very much and was proud of them, very proud to be their coach.
"Brest fans, we want to say thank you. Your support deeply touched him. Your love meant much more to him than you can imagine," writes Sports.ru.
The statement mentions Roy's great achievements at Brest. And indeed, he did something incredible: with Eric, Brest qualified for European competitions for the first time in its history. For the Champions League!
Which, in turn, gave rise to jokes in the Belarusian internet segment that it was the Belarusian "Brest" that reached the main stage of the Champions League.
Brest finished third in the French championship in the 2023/24 season, despite having one of the most modest budgets. Moreover, the club performed successfully in the Champions League: it finished 18th in the overall stage and reached the playoffs, where it lost to PSG in the play-off round.
In 2024, Roy received the award for the best coach in Ligue 1.
Brest failed to secure a permanent spot among the European qualification positions, but this is economically unrealistic: it's too modest a team without serious investment. The main thing is that Brest remained a strong club: it combined its successes in the Champions League with a ninth-place finish in Ligue 1, and in the 2025/26 season, it finished 12th, not having to worry about relegation.
When sporting director Grégory Lorenzi put his trust in Roy during the 2022/23 season, many called Brest a clear contender for relegation. But Roy saved the club from relegation, and in the very next season, he led them to the Champions League.
Roy officially became Brest's coach on January 3, 2023. It turns out he learned about his terrible diagnosis either right before his appointment or immediately after.
Roy continued to coach until his last day and never lost his sense of humor at press conferences. For example, before the match against PSG, he remarked: "Another match against PSG feels worse than a trip to the dentist."
Earlier, when Eric was reminded that he was expected to be relegated, he would reply with great irony: "If I were a sporting director, I wouldn't have appointed myself as coach."
Roy's Brest will be remembered as an extremely combative team. In its breakthrough season, it literally swept away opponents. The team raised the bar for duels to a level that was exceptional even for the French championship. It led in the number of won duels, crosses, and high ball recoveries. Unyielding, tough, strong, disciplined — that's how almost every Brest footballer could be characterized.
Brest fans were delighted with Roy: for his humor, for his closeness to the fans, for having embraced the spirit of the city, for instilling appropriate work values in the team, and for always wearing a pirate hat — one of the main fan attributes.
He was nicknamed King Eric. Brest's success became one of the most beautiful stories in European football in recent years.
Now that it is known that the coach was battling a serious illness and kept it private, Brest's story appears even more incredible and dramatic.
Photo: x.com/nblanzat
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