BORDEAUX: Former France international goalkeeper Dominique Dropsy has died from leukaemia at the age of 63, his former club Bordeaux announced on Wednesday.

Capped 17 times for his country between 1978 and 1981, Dropsy also won three French league titles (two with Bordeaux and one with Strasbourg) and two French Cups (both with Bordeaux.)

He was diagnosed with having leukaemia in March 2011. Dropsy began his career at Valenciennes in northeast France in 1970 and was called up by the France youth team in 1972.

When he retired he had played 596 first division games — a record at that time subsequently beaten by Jean-Luc Ettori (602) and Mickael Landreau (618). For France, Dropsy played one game in the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina — a 3-1 win over Hungary when the French had already been eliminated.