What city better than Joeuf could house the future museum of French football? The birthplace of Michel Platini in the Pays-Haut will soon house a large museum dedicated to the legends of the tricolor football. The association responsible for carrying out this project officially met for the first time on Wednesday. The museum will be set up over approximately 800m2, in the premises of the Maurice Barrès college, empty since the departure of the students to a new establishment in Homécourt and moreover located right next to the “Platini sports complex”.
Platini, Kopa, Zidane
“It’s a project we’ve had for some time now” Explain Michael Keff, friend of Michel Platini, vice president of the Grand Est Football League and who is one of the bearers of the file. This museum was initially to be entirely dedicated to the child of the country and former No. 10 of the blues, but it will take on a more global dimension, around the contribution to French football of immigration and the working class. “Those who arrived in the mines of the North, here in the steel industry, or even North African immigration” explains Michel Keff. Thus, three legends symbolizing this link will be particularly highlighted: Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane. The museum will integrate collector’s items but its promoters resolutely want to anchor it in modernity, “make it something alive”with the contribution of new digital technologies. The building will also house the offices of the Meurthe-et-Moselle football district and those of the VOFC (union of Jœuf, Homécourt and Auboué).
2024 with a special event?
The project has the support of the town hall of Jœuf and its mayor André Corzani. It is estimated at around one million euros and Michel Keff hopes to be able to cut the ribbon in the spring of 2024 with an exceptional event “that Michel Platini is preparing for us”. We remember the prestigious opposition between ASNL and Juventus Turin for the 100th anniversary of the Jœuf club in 2009. What does the former UEFA boss have in store for us this time? “I don’t know any more myself!” assures Michel Keff.