Julien Stephan has an incredible family story QPR fans may not know | OneFootball

Julien Stephan is currently making a name for himself as QPR head coach, but his father is also a famous football figure.

Queens Park Rangers will be hoping for another season of progression in the Championship under the guidance of head coach Julien Stephan.

Stephan is entering his second season in charge of QPR, and after an inconsistent first campaign at Loftus Road, he will be hoping that his side can be among the contenders to reach the new, expanded play-offs.

Julien Stephan will have clear QPR dream after turbulent Loftus Road start

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Stephan took over at QPR last summer following the controversial departure of Marti Cifuentes, and it is fair to say that his first year in charge was a season of two halves.

The R's sat as high as seventh in the table in late December after a strong first half of the season, but they won just six of their final 24 games on the way to a 15th-placed finish, which matched the outcome of the previous campaign under Cifuentes.

However, while the season ended in frustrating fashion, there was a view among the Hoops faithful that Stephan had introduced a more expansive, attacking brand of football at Loftus Road, and, with better luck with injuries, he could be the man to lead a promotion charge.

It seems the QPR board shared that confidence in Stephan, with the 45-year-old signing a new contract in July, and after an exciting summer transfer window that saw the likes of Pierce Charles, Tariq Lamptey, Dennis Cirkin and Glen Kamara arrive, the West London outfit could be one of the dark horses in the Championship this season.

After an impressive start to his managerial career in his native France, Stephan is making a name for himself in English football, but R's fans may not be aware that his father is also a famous football figure.

QPR head coach Julien Stephan's father is a French World Cup winner

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Stephan may now be carving out a coaching career in his own right, but he is following in the footsteps of his father, Guy, who has had high-profile involvement in the football world himself.

Stephan senior spent his entire playing career in France with Guingamp, Rennes, Le Havre, Orleans and Caen before moving into coaching when he took over the reserve team of the latter in 1987.

After managerial spells with Montceau, Annecy, Lyon and Bordeaux, Stephan made the switch to the international stage, first coaching the French Under-17 team before being handed the reins of the Senegal national team in 2002, where he won nine, drew six and lost seven of his 22 games in charge before being relieved of his duties in 2005.

Stephan then spent almost two years as assistant manager of Turkish side Besiktas before teaming up with Didier Deschamps, with the pair initially working together for three years at Marseille.

Deschamps then appointed Stephan as his assistant for a second time with the French national team in 2012, and that marked the start of a 14-year partnership as the duo oversaw an incredible period of success.

Under Deschamps and Stephan, France reached the final of Euro 2016, where they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Portugal, but they did not have to wait too long to get their hands on silverware as, just two years later, they won the World Cup after a 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final in Russia.

France then came agonisingly close to retaining their World Cup trophy as they were beaten on penalties by Argentina in the final in Qatar in 2022 after playing out a 3-3 thriller, and that proved to be the beginning of the end for Deschamps and Stephan, with their side crashing out at the semi-final stage of the next two tournaments.

Despite widely being considered as the favourites for this summer's World Cup in the United States, France were beaten 2-0 by eventual winners Spain in their semi-final before being denied a bronze medal after a chaotic 6-4 defeat to England in their third-placed play-off.

While Stephan largely remained in the background, he took charge of France for one of their World Cup games in the summer after Deschamps returned home following the death of his mother, with the 69-year-old overseeing a 4-1 win over Norway in the final group stage game.

Julien Stephan will be hoping to emulate his father's remarkable coaching success

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While Stephan senior's managerial career was not particularly notable, his spell as assistant with the national team has certainly made him one of the more respected names in French football.

It seems that Stephan was inspired by his father's coaching exploits, as he took over the Rennes reserve team in 2015 before being given responsibility for the first team at Roazhon Park three years later following a brief interim spell after the sacking of former Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi.

Rennes reached the last 16 of the Europa League in Stephan's first season in charge, where they were knocked out by Arsenal, before he led them to their first trophy in 48 years in the Coupe de France after a penalty shoot-out victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

Stephan's success at Rennes continued into the following season, and his side qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history, having sat third in the table when the campaign was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but he resigned in March 2021 after a poor run of form.

Four months after leaving Rennes, Stephan was appointed as manager of Strasbourg, but after guiding them to a sixth-placed finish in Ligue 1 in his debut season at the Stade de la Meinau, he departed in January 2023 following a run of just one win in 17 games that plunged the club into serious relegation danger.

Stephan then returned to Rennes for a second spell in November 2023, but while he was unable to replicate his previous success and lasted less than a year, QPR clearly saw enough in his managerial stints in France to convince them to bring him to Loftus Road last summer.

While Stephan is yet to fully convince all R's supporters, he has shown plenty of promise during his time at the club so far, and he will be hoping that the potential of last season can be turned into a sustained promotion challenge this campaign.