Robert Herbin, the coach of the successful Saint-Etienne teams of the 1970s and 1980s, has died at the age of 81, club president Roland Romeyer told AFP on Monday.

Herbin won the French league five times as a player with Saint-Etienne before guiding the club to another four titles as coach. He also led them to the 1976 European Cup final, losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich in Glasgow.

Herbin had been in a Saint-Etienne hospital since the start of last week with serious heart and lung failure, a condition unrelated to the coronavirus.

He earned 23 caps for the France national team and took part in the 1966 World Cup in England.