In the town center of Bergerac, near the church, one window in two, visibly, is adorned with red and blue, the colors of the club. Traders took out balloons, T-shirts or balloons to display their support for the BPFC, which receives Saint-Étienne, Sunday, in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France. The result of a competition launched by the club, which provided some equipment, to elect the most beautiful red and blue showcase in the city.
At this little game, some do well, like this optician who wrote on his window the name of the players of the BPFC. At the competition, Coralie recovered “t-shirts, balloons” and even “cleats and shorts”, on loan from one of his footballing clients. She now hopes to win the competition launched by the BPFC on Facebook, which allows the shop to earn the status of sponsor of the match. Next door, in a clothing store, “the red t-shirt calls customers a bit. And then people ask us where to buy it,” says the boss Christophe.
Enthusiasm in shop windows, and also a little in town, a Vieux-Pont illuminated in red and blue… “People talk about it, they saw it on TV”, raises Patrick, while drinking his coffee in a brasserie which is also decorated. “I follow them, I support them, it’s great what they do”. For him, this round of 16 is “folded in advance. It will be an event to bring down Saint-Étienne”, he said optimistically.
We are not going to go there because it is in Périgueux. It would have been in Bergerac, we would have gone there
Its neighbor opposite predicts a 2-0 victory for Saint-Étienne. But it must be said that Françoise is “Stéphanoise through and through. In 1976, when they lost the Champions Clubs’ Cup final, I cried, I was 11 years old. I can name the team by heart”, she smiles. And yet, she will not be in the stands of the Francis-Rongiéras stadium. “We are not going to go there because it is in Périgueux. It would have been in Bergerac, we would have gone there with pleasure”.
His neighbor Joël agrees, he who attended the last two rounds of the Coupe de France at Gaston-Simounet. “It’s a shame that it happened in Périgueux, the enthusiasm would have been different in Bergerac. In addition there has always been a rivalry, even in rugby”.
The Coupe de France in Creysse on Friday afternoon
And rugby, precisely? In this city where the US Bergerac, in Federal 2, attracts more people than the BPFC, some irreducible observe the course of footballers with detachment. Like Dominique, who drinks a coffee on the terrace with his rugby player friends and who sees footballers as “spoiled children who do too much comedy”. “It’s nice, at least for the city. But it’s going to stop soon”, he smiles. For them, the event of the weekend is the oval ball derby, Saturday between Bergerac and Belvès.
In the meantime, it’s good for football that the heart of the city will beat on Saturday. From places, among the 500 more granted by the prefecture, will be sold at the Bergerac market in the morning, as well as at E.Leclerc La Cavaille, at the local market, and at the Intermarché de Creysse. The latter will host, this Friday between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., the Coupe de France trophy. Thumb privilege.