the Laval sensation, unexpected but ambitious leader

“Goal in Laval!”. The expression used to mock the famous, sometimes dull, radio multiplexes of French football is taking on a completely different meaning. Surprising leader of Ligue 2, Stade Lavallois is determined to change its image as a club from the soft underbelly of the antechamber of French football. The Mayenne club has the opportunity to continue its thunderous start to the season, Monday October 23, against Saint-Etienne, at home. In the event of a victory against these ambitious Greens, the “Tango” would sign a seventh consecutive victory and take a five-point lead over their runner-up, Angers.

The dynamic was impossible to predict before the start of the season. Two years ago, Laval was still playing in National, and came close to falling back to the third national level, only obtaining its retention in L2 during the final day of the championship (2-1 in Amiens) on June 2 last year. “It was not linked to mismanagement. Sport is not an exact science”, analyzes Laurent Lairy, president of the club since March 2021, referring to the injuries to nine regular starters. In a season with four races, his team, just promoted, still finished the exercise with 46 points on the clock, just one length from 12th place. A total usually more than enough to maintain itself, but not important enough to dream of being leader of Ligue 2 four months later.

“Be ready” for Ligue 1

In the reasons for Laval’s heatwave, the experienced Anthony Gonçalves (317 games with Laval) primarily targets good management of the offseason, with “almost a complete workforce upon resumption”. “LLast year, we kept a large part of the group from the season in National. This time, I had to retype the squad”says Laurent Lairy, yet attached to stability. The latter has “double” the staff of Olivier Frapolli, who arrived in 2019 and remained in his position even though he had only two seasons as coach in Ligue 2, for two relegations with Orléans.

On the field, the team relies on very experienced players: Mamadou Samassa (33 years old), Yohan Tavares (35 years old), Jordan Adéoti (34 years old), Anthony Gonçalves (37 years old), Jimmy Roye (35 years old) or Malik Tchokounté (35 years old). The last named arrived in the offseason and has already scored five goals. “It’s a monster”, breathes Thierry Ruffat, historical commentator of Tango matches on France Bleu and now in the club’s communications unit. In his 43rd season closely following Stade Lavallois, he praises the overall level of the group where “the bench is at the level of the holders”.

An ambitious and structured project

“It’s true that the start of the season seems incredible. It was not planned to be leader so quickly, recognizes Laurent Lairy, not disconcerted by the turn of events. We’re not going to see each other in Ligue 1 because we’re only a quarter of the way through the championship, but we have to be ready.”. According to this business leader with very structured thinking, shareholder of the club since 2004, “nothing is missing” at the Stade Lavallois to earn their place in the elite of French football: “It’s all a question of will”.

“The president, who is very human, knows where he wants to go. From the little I have known about it and from the feedback I have from the players who play there or who have played there, this start of the season does not surprise me that much, even if it is a surprise for everyone. They are building intelligently.”

Antony Robic, former Laval player from 2013 to 2015, then from 2019 to 2020

at franceinfo: sport

He had also announced before the start of the season that the objective was to finish “in the first part of the table”. “Cel“It must have made some people smile because if we had gone down, we would have done it in complete anonymity.”, underlines Anthony Gonçalves. Even if Laval has not played the leading roles in Ligue 2 since the 1995-1996 season (4th), the club’s players allow themselves to aim high. “Go back, stay, dream”this is the project set out by the club in a 30-page document entitled “Actions and truths: heading for 2025”, available online.

“We are looking for virtuous football from a social, societal, economic and environmental point of view”, writes the president, who wants to prove that a family club has a say in the era of football business. After reopening the training center, the latter asked that parents contribute financially. “The president has taken matters into his own hands with his vision of football and his vision of life above all. People who were a little reluctant at the start have joined in on all that. We realize that for two years, the Mayennais have found the club on a human scale that they knew”analyzes Anthony Gonçalves.

The Laval residents have experienced Ligue 1 (13 seasons from 1976 to 1989), but have not played there for 34 years. Laurent Lairy would like to follow the trajectory of clubs like Clermont or Guingamp, who were able to cross the elite threshold without making the elevator.