“I have never seen that” : Loïc Plassart nevertheless has a bottle, but the coach of the Breton club of Saint-Thégonnec Loc-Eguiner, near Morlaix in the Finistère, is disappointed. Since the resumption of training at the end of July, the lawn has nothing to do with a football pitch.
“The lawn is in a catastrophic state. We are rather on areas with a little visible earth, practically vitrified, baked by the sun, hay. It’s impractical“, loose the coach. The ground has not been watered for a month. Unlike professional clubs, no favors have been granted to amateur clubs located in the departments placed in a drought crisis situation.
Training becomes complicated, playing a match on this kind of surface is even perilous, explains Patice Croquet, president of SC Villeperdue, in Indre-et-Loire. On August 15, the prefecture placed the department in drought crisis. But already since the beginning of the summer, this small club located south of Tours can no longer water its land following a decision by the town hall. Entire areas of parched land and scorched grass make it almost impossible to play football. A goalkeeper cannot dive, it is difficult for a defender to tackle without risking tearing his thigh. “It’s just like running on concrete. The risk, mainly, is the injury, the calves, the back. It’s the ankles and the knees that take“, laments Patrice Croquet.
As in Villeperdue, many municipalities have not been able to water these suffering lawns. Can the land be used on August 28 for the second round of the Coupe de France and the reception of Saint-Amand-Longpré?
More generally, the question of a postponement of the start of the season arises. “You have to think about it very quickly“, according to Thibault Deslandes, who leads FC Saint-Lô in the Channel.
This summer’s episode should help us reflect on the sequence of events. But at the same time, what can we do? The immediate solution would be hybrid terrain. But it’s a huge investment
Thibault Deslandes, manager of FC Saint-Lô (Manche)at franceinfo
Hybrid turfs are a new type of half-synthetic, half-natural turf, but they represent a considerable investment for a small amateur club. Because a hybrid or synthetic pitch costs between 500,000 and one million euros, an amount unaffordable for the majority of clubs and municipalities.