He faced Manchester United and OM: discovering Kévin Bru, one of C’Chartres Football’s recruits

premium The first words of Jean-Pierre Papin, coach of C’Chartres Football, on the 2022-2023 season

his beginnings

“I grew up in the 20th arrondissement of Paris and I started right next to Paris XI. I followed my big brother Jonathan, who was also a pro*. Afterwards, I joined Paris FC, then joined Clairefontaine. In my promotion, a lot of players left, including Jirès Kembo-Ekoko, but no one had a very big career. I signed my first professional contract at 17 or 18 with Rennes. I played two L1 matches and Coupe de France matches alongside players like Briand, Sorlin, Cheyrou… But I had quite a few muscle injuries that slowed me down. I even missed Euro U19 with the France team when I was selected. Afterwards, as I was impatient, I was loaned to Ligue 2 at Châteauroux then at Clermont where things went well. I came back to Rennes, but I didn’t get along with coach Frédéric Antonetti and I decided to leave for good. I continued my career in Ligue 2.

Kevin Bru

His experience abroad

“After six years in Ligue 2, I wanted to go see something else. The Levski Sofia, in Bulgaria, bought me. We made the preliminary rounds of the Europa League. Afterwards, I spent four seasons at Ipswich, in the English Championship. A great experience. We played in front of 15,000 or 20,000 spectators. We made the play-offs to go up to the Premier League against Norwich. We faced Manchester United in the Cup at Old Trafford. Opposite, there was Rooney, Schweinsteiger, Smalling, Martial… We had lost 3-0, but we hadn’t been ridiculous. Then there was another cool adventure at Apollon Limassol, Cyprus. The audience was very hot. We had played in the group stage of the Europa League. We won 3-1 in Marseille and we beat Lazio at home. We finished two points behind 2nd place. Afterwards, I signed with Dinamo Bucharest, in Romania. There, it was galley: not paid, bad results, fired coach… I quickly terminated. Then, I was very close to going to China when the covid arrived. Abroad, you discover things, you learn. But, afterwards, I chose to stay in France with my partner and my two boys who are now 6 and 4 years old. First in Créteil, then in Versailles where the coach had his team and didn’t do a lot of turnover. »

premium C’Chartres Football: images of the first training session

His coming to Chartres

“I saw Chartres last year, it’s a team that plays and I like it. I had Jean-Pierre Papin on the phone, the discussion was interesting. I said to myself why not participate in the project and try to help the club to go up to National. First impressions are good. There seems to be a good group. The preparation will allow us to get to know each other. Me, I’m not someone who talks too much in the locker room, but I’m more of a leader on the field. I project myself less than before but I can evolve n°6 or n°8. My qualities are technique and vision of the game. I am a ball player, who plays simple and gets others to play. I don’t come here at the end of my career. I started preparing for my retraining by passing my coaching diplomas in Mauritius. Both my parents are from there, I am a Mauritian international and I can see myself setting up an academy. But as long as I have fun on the pitch and my body follows, I will continue. »

* The midfielder, trained at Clairefontaine and Rennes, notably played in Portugal and Australia. He now coaches the Red Star U20s.