Impatient and confident. This is the general state of mind of the supporters of the Stade Lavallois present at the training of the players this Saturday morning, a few hours from decisive game against Chambly. The Tanguos travel to Oise on Monday evening (6:45 p.m.) and they need a victory to register the rise in Ligue 2, the upper division. Despite the challenge of this meeting, the stress was not perceptible among the supporters who came to watch the players train at Les Gandonnières.
For Michel, a supporter since he was 13, the rise in Ligue 2 is even obvious: “I think that _it would be a disaster if we went higher now_. Honestly, what can happen to us? Especially since the second half of the season. We were still in the first places all the time. I think it’s deserved.”
– Jean-Francois Quinebêche
It could have been played on Friday this accession to the second division, depending on the results of the direct opponents of Laval. But for Grégory, it’s better to have his destiny between his feet: “It would have taken a weight off us to say it’s good, that assured. But on the one hand, it allows us to stay focused, then to see that the season is going until the 34ᵉ day of the championship. It’s a beautiful thriller exactly, but so much the better because before, we often watched the other clubs play a climb. We were either in the soft belly or whatever. There, for once, we have the chance to be actors, so we also benefit.”
A return to Ligue 2 five years after the descent? Christophe is waiting for that. For him, Laval has nothing to do in National : “Compared to the history of the club. The infrastructure, the crowds. 50,000 inhabitants. Laval is only known by Stade Lavallois. People cannot place the city on the map of France, but they know the football club. We struggled too much in National, it’s too tricky. You go to Sète, to Créteil. It’s more prestigious to possibly receive Bordeaux, Caen or Le Havre.”
If all three are confident for the climb, they are also confident for the championship title of National. A remote duel is now played with Annecy, three days before the end of the championship.