Passion, loud voices and a certain dose of humour: Thomas Ferro Villechaize has embodied, since 2015, the face of handball on beIN Sports, the Starligue broadcaster. This Friday evening, at the Parnasse in Nîmes, he will be commenting on the match between USAM and CCMHB, along with his friend François-Xavier Houlet. Maintenance.
How did you come up with the Starleague comments?
It’s an opportunity that was given to me seven years ago by Charles Biétry and Florent Houzot, who is still my channel director. At first, it was not at all what I aspired to do, I had been hired to host Expresso, a morning show that I presented with Vanessa Le Moigne and which allowed us to do great things. But I had an appetite for commentary, I’ve always liked to convey emotions and sport is a perfect vehicle for that. I arrived with humility. I wanted to feel legitimate, it’s very important. I did not yet have a very developed handball culture at the start. So I worked a lot, I read, I got inspired, I listened to advice, stories. I potashed, in a school way. And then meeting François-Xavier changed a lot of things.
“At times, I can get carried away, be impetuous, vehement, passionate, in bad faith. I am sometimes reproached for it. But it’s my personality.”
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How does your pair work?
You should know that François-Xavier was a great player, international, then manager of a club in Germany. It’s a real meeting and a lot of things in my career have resulted from it, which have allowed me to flourish. We have created bonds of friendship and a real human relationship, it is very important. We are quite different in terms of character, but he taught me a lot in this environment that I found a little closed at the start. And who did not necessarily see my arrival in a good light.
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What is the Thomas Ferro Villechaize style?
It’s a style that I developed and that I have never departed from. We like it or we don’t like it, I can hear it. My style is above all passion, passion, emotion. I try to make the viewers live the passion that drives me. Creating that feeling is part of my job. I’m well aware that I don’t do open-heart surgery, but sport is such an enchanting parenthesis in a sometimes harsh world that emotion is important. At times, I can get carried away, be impetuous, vehement, passionate, in bad faith. It is sometimes reproached. But it’s my personality.
Crossover at the CCMHB infirmary
Your trademark is also humor and puns. Is it prepared in advance?
As much as I prepare my matches conscientiously, I never know what I’m going to say in advance. It would lose spontaneity and naturalness. I am someone who does things seriously even if I don’t always take myself seriously. So that’s the inspiration of the moment. It must be said that I have emulation with my comrade. We are not a comic duo that will perform at the Théâtre des Deux Ânes, but we try to give the people who watch us a good time.
Chartres have become a solid Starligue club and I think this is just the beginning.
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Have you played handball a bit?
Yes, first in the UNSS, like many young people, then in the department, in Aix-en-Provence, before joining the Sciences Po team. I privileged my studies over sport. I still have a big line to my credit, a kind of ultimate Grail, with a victory in the media tournament during the 2017 world championships, at the Accor Hotel Arena in Paris. We had a fairly strong team with Bertrand Gille, François-Xavier Houlet, Joël Abati… And for the record, I was even elected MVP of the final, I had saved three penalties! It’s my glory and I keep the trophy on my desk!
If you had to define a hall of fame of your best moments at the microphone, which ones would you choose?
The world championship in Qatar in 2015, my first competition with the title of Experts at the end. Absolute happiness and a team adventure. We had experienced it as a group with Mary Patrux, Francois-Xavier, Jackson Richardson… A founding moment. And then of course, the world title in France, in 2017. The eighth and the quarter in Lille, it was incredible, I still tremble. And the final, against Norway, that, the apotheosis, it was crazy. I found myself crying like a child, I felt like I was living a daydream. One of the most beautiful moments of my life as a journalist. Nor do I forget the 2018 Champions League final four won by Montpellier in Cologne. There were three French teams, it was fantastic, a golden age.
“We must be attractive and when Chartres faces Limoges or Saran, and at the same time there are PSG – Nantes or Montpellier – Aix, it is also a problem of the calendar.”
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Exploring fields other than handball, are you tempted?
Yes, of course, and beIN already allows me to do this. I commented on football for the first time this season, I also comment on tennis and American football, a sport that I love passionately. The Football World Cup is approaching, I am convinced that we will all have a great adventure together, regardless of the roles assigned. This is a major event for beIN and I hope to be part of the adventure.
Chartres has been playing in the Starligue for a few years. How do you view the evolution of the club?
It’s part of the virtuous projects, I think. Obviously, at the start, when you arrive in this somewhat dilapidated Jean-Cochet hall, you have the impression of going to train in the gymnasium. But there is cachet, it’s in its own juice. And then Chartres is a city that I really like, very rich in history and culture. When I come, I love to walk there. Jean-Pierre Papin, who is a good friend, always speaks well of it to me. The club is well supported, there is a real project, and the new hall, in the heart of the city, will take Chartres into another dimension. I believe that the club will be able to compete with teams like Nîmes, for example, and will fight for qualification for the European Cup. Chartres have become a solid Starligue club and I think this is just the beginning.
Sveltin Dimitrov after the success of Chartres on Cesson-Rennes: “A victory that is good for the head”
A solid club but that you broadcast very little…
We must choose three matches per day. Obviously, it often revolves around the same teams. Those of the first half of the table. We broadcast Cesson a lot this year, and we weren’t wrong. Chartres, we have not done it enough, no doubt, I want to make amends. But it is difficult. We have to be attractive and when Chartres face Limoges or Saran, and at the same time there are PSG – Nantes or Montpellier – Aix, it is also a problem of the calendar. There is currently a superb LNH TV platform, in close agreement with beIN, and in the near future, without revealing anything, it is quite possible that Chartres will be broadcast every week on beIN…
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