Arsene Wenger donned his football boots to take part in a charity match at the new Thierry Roland Stadium in northern Paris.
The former Arsenal boss played for the Variétés club de France - of whom Roland had been president for 32 years - for a match against FC Coubron, winning 7-1.
The new facility in Seine-saint-denis is named after the French commentator who died in 2012, and is the first synthetic surface in the region.
Of the game, Wenger said: 'Thierry Roland has done a lot for French football, everyone knows it's amazing that he did not have a complex to his name sooner, he regrets.
'His son regularly came to the stadium when I was training Arsenal.'
The journalist's wife was present as well as her two children to watch the unveiling of the new pitch.
'We were the only municipality in Seine-Saint-Denis to have no synthetic football pitch,' said Mayor Ludovic Toro.
'So I did everything to repair this lack. When it was necessary to find a name, that of Thierry Roland came quickly as he gave for his passion. The project cost about 500 000 €, of which 75% of subsidy.