Aston Villa boss Remi Garde reveals 'scary' moment he found out teenage daughter was in Paris on night of terror attacks

  • Remi Garde has revealed his teenage daughter was in Paris on Friday night
  • French capital was targeted by a series of co-ordinated terrorist attacks
  • Garde was travelling back to his homeland when extremists attacked Paris 

By Laurie Whitwell for MailOnline

Published: 06:18 EST, 19 November 2015 | Updated: 07:22 EST, 19 November 2015

Remi Garde has revealed his panic at realising his teenage daughter was in Paris the night of the terror attacks and how he endured a wait for confirmation of her safety.

The Aston Villa manager was flying back to his homeland as extremists attacked the French capital and learned the horrifying developments on a taxi radio en route to his house in Lyon.

‘I was listening to France vs Germany on the taxi radio and they said there was an explosion outside the stadium,’ said Garde. 

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde has revealed his daughter was in Paris on the night of the terror attacks

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde has revealed his daughter was in Paris on the night of the terror attacks

Garde did not know she was in the French capital until after he learned of the atrocities on Friday night 

Garde did not know she was in the French capital until after he learned of the atrocities on Friday night 

‘We didn’t know too much at this time, then I went home and learned that my daughter was in Paris for the weekend. I didn’t know that.

‘I was scared a little bit but just for two hours because I had her on the phone and it was OK. Everyone in France has a cousin or daughter or friends in Paris. All the country was scared. It was very hard.

‘When you know your family is safe it’s one point. But when you saw what happened – everybody has been affected a lot. We are still affected by that. It is such a nightmare to see such an attack.

‘My daughter was not near the place where it happened. She stayed in the apartment and understood quite quickly it was not the night to be out in Paris.

The Stade de France was one of six locations targeted by terrorists as 129 were killed in Paris

The Stade de France was one of six locations targeted by terrorists as 129 were killed in Paris

The former Lyon boss was named the new manager of Aston VIlla earlier this month replacing Tim Sherwood

The former Lyon boss was named the new manager of Aston VIlla earlier this month replacing Tim Sherwood

'We speak every day on the phone and I have seen her and my family since.

‘My family is OK but nobody is feeling really completely safe because if you listen to French radio or TV, 24 hours a day there is something about that. You cannot live without thinking about that.

‘This is a problem that politicians should look at. We are here to play football and entertain people and if it is not safe to play we won’t. If not, we have to play and enjoy.’

Comments (1)

Share what you think

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now