A few hours before its meeting with the Greens of Saint-Etienne, the Bergerac Périgord Football Club is ready, and the inhabitants are behind them.
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For BPFC coach Erwan Lannuzel, if the upcoming meeting against the Greens is a good poster, there is no question of changing anything in the training routine. “We prepared for the match simply, as usual, he said. Why change to the Coupe de France when the Championship is so important? We make no difference: the level of requirement remains the same. » A bias which, for the moment, seems to be bearing fruit: First in its group, the BPFC has gone 18 matches without defeat, in all competitions. “Sportingly, we feel good, says Erwan Lannuzel. We are happy to be there, and we are taking advantage of the positive dynamic. »
AS Saint-Etienne, bottom of Ligue 1
On the Saint-Etienne side, the atmosphere is much less relaxed, the Greens accumulating seven defeats in a row and a victory this Wednesday, January 26. “Between the injuries, the Covid and the newcomers who are still looking for their place, the club is in a bad, even a very bad patch., concedes Patrice Horjak, columnist for Club ASSE, a program broadcast on local television from Saint-Etienne TL7. ASSE is the red lantern, while the BPFC is going strong in National 2. We are right in the scenario where we must be wary. But that’s the beauty of the Coupe de France! It is now up to the Greens to live up to the level of Ligue 1. “ Same concern on the side of But!, the newspaper specializing in French football. “Bergerac has everything to gain, but Saint-Etienne has everything to lose, warns Laurent Hess, journalist for But! Holiness. It would be terrible if they were eliminated by a National 2 team, even if given the current level of the Greens (closer to Ligue 2 than 1) and the good form of the Bergeracois (in the process of rising to N1), the level difference is no longer so great. We are not at all immune to disappointment. »
Choice of stadium
Also from a logistical point of view, it was not easy. First, we had to find a stadium. “We really wanted to stay in Bergerac, because it’s our ‘cauldron’ (nickname given to the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne), we feel really good there, says Paul Fauvel, General Manager of the BPFC. We were even ready to give up on standing places, reducing the capacity to only 2,300 seats… Despite the financial loss, to attempt a new sporting feat at home, we were ready. “Except that a new Covid regulation has fallen, imposing a distance of one meter between each person in the stands, i.e. one seat in two, even one seat in three. “That’s how the Gaston Simounet option fell through, regrets the director. We then visited the stadiums of Brive, Limoges, and Périgueux. As we really wanted to stay in the Dordogne, we chose the Périgord Francis-Rongiéras.»
Box office criticized
The health gauge (3,172 people in seats) having only been announced by the Prefect of the Dordogne on Friday 21 January, only some of the tickets intended for partners, licensees and subscribers were available. The rest of the tickets sent by the French Football Federation (FFF) were not received until Friday afternoon. “Here again, from the start, we wanted to give priority to the most loyal members of the club, namely: the licensees, the partners, and the subscribers; then, we rewarded in priority those who want to commit in the long term “, explains Paul Fauvel. Hence the return of the formula “A ticket for the round of 16 match + a ticket for three National 2 matches”. “Those who want to come and see only this event will be served, but after those who want to follow us for the season”, underlines the director of the BPFC. From Monday, January 24, the management therefore offers additional resale to licensees and partners (within a limit of 400 places). Finally comes the sale to the general public, on Tuesday, January 25, with the remaining 600 places. “I hear the criticism, but we wanted a real atmosphere at the stadium with people who love the club, not just the sport “, maintains Paul Fauvel.
Bus and carpooling
For the occasion, the Bergerac Agglomeration Community is providing two buses free of charge from Bergerac for BPFC supporters. That is 122 places available.
Meet at Stade Campréal at 3 p.m., for a 3:15 p.m. departure. Return to Bergerac around 10 p.m. Reservations, mandatory, are still possible via the Internet, on the site: https://my.weezevent.com/transport-bus-bpfc-asse
Another possibility: carpooling. Between friends, acquaintances, or through the Popsleigh platform, as offered by the Bergerac club.
Accustomed to games and partnerships, the BPFC indicates that the 1st complete carpool (of 5 people) will obtain “its round trip in ID 4 Volkswagen towards the Francis Rongiéras stadium”. The following 25 people passing through the platform will obtain, for their part, “a place offered for a match (of your choice) of the BPFC during the 2021/2022 championship.”
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