Admit it, to speak of “little thumb” for an agglomeration bordering on 200,000 inhabitants may seem comical. Despite its size and its status as a former regional capital, Poitiers does not however escape this appellation. And for good reason, the Stade Poitevin, a pennant club, has oscillated for two decades between National 3 and Regional 1 (5th and 6th French divisions). It is an understatement to say that the reception of RC Lens in the 32nd final of the Coupe de France, Sunday, December 19, constitutes a major event in Poitou. For lack of anything better, one would almost be tempted to add.
!
32nd final of
@RCLens , #SPFCRCL
Our will receive a Ligue 1 !! And not just any, the Racing club of Lens!
The magic of the, RDV to experience this incredible event !!!#TeamSPFC pic.twitter.com/foKQRxrP8I– Stade Poitevin FC (@StadePoitevinFC) November 29, 2021
To its meager assets, Stade Poitevin has five seasons in the second division, including four in the 1970s. The last, in 1995-96, ended in immediate relegation to the National, followed by bankruptcy in 1998. Poitiers, 39th urban area in metropolitan France, has therefore never known the joys of the first division.
An anomaly, in a football landscape mainly concentrated in the metropolises. Judge for yourself: only 7 of the 40 largest urban areas (in yellow on the following map) are new to this level.
How to explain this resistance of the prefecture of Vienne to the sirens of football? “There is an audience for football in Poitiers!, cut Jean-Pierre Giret, president of the Stade Poitevin. When we were playing in D2, there were a lot of people at the stadium. “ Proof of this enthusiasm: all tickets for the reception of Lens were sold out four days before the meeting. “We will be 5,000, but we could have been 12,000”, he adds. A stand at the Pépinière stadium, too dilapidated, will in fact be closed on Sunday.
Despite this slight handicap, the leaders preferred to play in Poitiers, rather than at neighboring Tours and Niort, where the speakers are larger. The prefecture of Deux-Sèvres, in fact, has a professional club installed in Ligue 2, despite a smaller population. “There is something to be envious of”, sorry Anthony Brottier, elected (LREM) of opposition to the community of agglomeration Grand Poitiers.
But in Vienne, football is not alone. Other sports, such as volleyball (Ligue A) and basketball (Nationale 1 after a few passages in Pro A), overshadow it. “I think there is room for everyone”, tempers President Jean-Pierre Giret. And the latter to cite the example of Pau, an agglomeration of a similar size where high-level football, basketball, rugby and handball coexist.
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These considerations are still distant: for the moment, the Stade Poitevin is 7th in its group of National 3, eight points behind. leader and only promoted. To get out of this relative anonymity, the French Cup represented ahe beautiful showcase. A significant financial windfall, too: 90,000 euros in revenues ticket office are hoped for, in addition to the 52,000 euros subsidy from the Federation – if Lens leaves its share to the small thumb, as tradition dictates.
“It puts butter in the spinach!”, laughs the manager Jean-Pierre Giret. With a total budget estimated at 800,000 euros, the club enjoys relative support from the public authorities. “The agglomeration community only subsidizes the high level, but makes its infrastructure available, notes the elected opposition member Anthony Brottier. Only the city of Poitiers finances, up to 105,000 euros. “
Football deserves to be more supported. In N2 or in N3, the communities can help to pass a course!
Anthony Brottier, elected opposition member in Grand Poitiersto franceinfo: sport
A choice rather assumed by the majority. “Many clubs are in a dynamic of rising. We could not decently say to the hand club, at the gates of professionalism, that we privilege football even more”, confirms Maxime Pedeboscq, elected (Génération.s) in sports at the town hall of Poitiers and at the agglomeration community.
This almost vital dependence on public subsidies is also due to a particular economic fabric. “We have a lot of public jobs and quite a few private companies, notes walker Anthony Brottier. It is neither the university nor the CHU which finances the club! “. Since the arrival of the new managers, Stade Poitevin has increased its number of partners. “But the Covid didn’t help us!”, squeaks the president.
The condition of the lawn is also a source of tension. President Jean-Pierre Giret admits it half-heartedly, this constitutes a brake in the recruitment of players. “We wanted to put hybrid or fiber fields, but that did not pass the budgetary arbitration”, says Maxime Pedeboscq. And elected by the majority to recall: “About ten years ago, Grand Poitiers offered to fiberize one of the fields, but the club refused!”
This ambient gloom is over: now, the Stade Poitevin begins to dream and openly aspires to climb to National 2. Since the arrival of the Parisian agent Philippe Nabe (who does not appear in the organization chart but carries the project), in 2019, the budget quadrupled. It has now acquired a new graphic identity, and its communication on social networks is worthy of a professional club. “We are just starting out, posehe does. We lost two years in sport because of the Covid“, nevertheless regrets the president of the club.
Above all, a fact rather rare at this level, it has an ultra group. “We are about thirty, describes Aurélien Juteau, member of these Ultras Poit’20. AT Basically, we set the mood during a Coupe de France match against Rodez in 2019. The club liked it, and called us back. ” Smoke, songs and streamers: the paraphernalia of traditional kops is complete.
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Against Lens, they will, of course, be part of the game. “The players told us that in the previous round they were allowed to outdo themselves against Orléans”, he continues. From there to achieve a new feat, against the 6th in Ligue 1? “Playing against them is the holy grail, but we’ll see what happens on the pitch”, concludes President Jean-Pierre Giret.