You started in Thionville in pupils, before getting to know the Promotion d’Honneur as a senior, then… the D2. How do you explain the rise of this “little” club?
“This is due to the two presidents, Jean-Marc Plez and Roger Hoffman, who have invested a lot of money to access the professional world. Roger was a bit like Bernard Tapie ahead of his time. I remember that the day before a match at the Parc des Princes, he had accommodated us at Club Med in Paris. He was ready to do anything for us, even to leave his business there. “
How was the cohabitation between the local players and the pros who arrived from 1979?
” Marvelously well. Pfertzel, a superb number 10 recruited in Mulhouse, or even Tischner with whom I formed the central hinge have adapted to the club and to the city. There was also Nico Braun, Souto. The amalgamation was immediate. It was another era, an atmosphere that we would no longer find in today’s professional environment. Nico (Braun) stashed cans of beer in the cooler when traveling by bus. We whistled a bottle of Picon at the end of the matches and on victory nights, the president would take us back to a nightclub in Hayange. “
This season, you are the fall champion. Was accession to the first division possible?
” Honestly, no. On game nights, the recipes did not meet the president’s expectations. The players were no longer paid, the club was living beyond its means. We could not compete with cities the size of Montpellier, for example. Here, on this subject, I have an anecdote: when the Héraultais came to play in Thionville, President Louis Nicollin reserved powerful BMWs for his players. They had drivers driving 180 km / h on the highway. In less than five hours, they were in Montpellier, almost cooler than us… ”
How do you see the club, today in Regional 2?
“It’s a huge mess. For a city like Thionville, the minimum is the Nationale 3. ”
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