Tom is a hairdresser in North London. In his living room, the music is what he loves, most often English pop. He also has a real 70s singer look, sideburns and long hair. On the walls no photo of fashionable haircuts but pictures of footballers. Like any self-respecting Londoner, he has always supported a local club, currently in the 4th division. But in recent years, he has also been infatuated with FC Lorient, whose jersey he proudly wears.
“My team is Leyton Orient which is often abbreviated as L-Orient in newspaper accounts. Like Lorient! That’s how I started following the results. And then I learned that the ‘one of my clients, Gaël, came from Lorient so we talked about our teams, he adopted mine, Leyton Orient, and I adopted his, Lorient”, he explains.
Supporting FC Lorient, “an easy choice”
Especially since Tom has good reasons to love FC Lorient: “My living room is bright orange like the colors of Lorient so I do my little part for the team here in London. Everyone supports a team, you choose it for the reasons you want but if you’re not from there, you don’t have a geographical connection. I support Leyton Orient because my father took me there when I was a kid. It’s a club from London. I don’t understand people who support Manchester United when ‘they’re from London.’
This choice to support Lorient, in addition to Leyton Orient, has therefore become obvious for the rock’n’roll hairdresser : “Abroad, you can choose your favorite for any reason. With Lorient, I came across a team that has the same colors as my living room and the same name as my club, it’s an easy choice .”
“Go Groupers”
Lorient jersey on the back, Tom looks at the Ligue 1 rankings every week and every week, on the other side of the Channel, he encourages the Merlus even if this word causes him big problems with his accent and when he is listen to say “Go Hakes!” it looks more like he’s saying “Go Groupers!”