Loetitia, the wife of Éric Roy, pays a poignant tribute to her husband | OneFootball

Loetitia Roy has spoken for the first time about her husband Éric’s illness, saying he battled stage 4 pancreatic cancer from December 2022 while continuing to coach Brest and keeping it largely private. He died on 17 June 2026, aged 58, after three and a half years that made him a club legend.

“The doctors thought we were a bit crazy,” she said of their decision to carry on, speaking to Le Parisien.

Married for 31 years, they resolved to honour the contract he had just signed with Brest in December 2022, even as heavy treatment took its toll behind the scenes.

He chose to confide only in club executives and a few close friends such as Jérôme Alonzo, whom Roy treated like an older brother. “When I told him, he was in a terrible state, he almost vomited,” Loetitia said.

By his final season, she felt he had nothing left to give. She phoned their children with a stark message: “Dad, it is soon. You need to come back.”

After weeks of severe decline, Éric passed away on 17 June 2026. “It was a relief for him, but also for us,” she said, calling him “an exceptional human being, and an incredible dad”.

Source: L'Équipe

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”