Football in Nouvelle-Aquitaine: why clubs are being sucked into the siphon of tightening national championships

The demands and professionalization of the national championships have caught up with Nouvelle-Aquitaine, where eight of the twelve teams in N2 and N3 are at the bottom of the table. The skimming is both sporting and structural.

F or Nouvelle-Aquitaine football, already affected by the fall of the Girondins to National 2 and the total liquidations of Libourne and Chamois Niortais, reading the national championship rankings is eye-opening. Poitiers, Bergerac and Anglet are relegated to N2; the Pau reserve team, Trélissac, Lège-Cap-Ferret, Stade Bordelais and the Marine et Blanc reserve team bring up the rear in N3 with the last four in relegation positions. Angoulême ( ^4th in N2), Aviron Bayonnais and Bassin d'Arcachon (leader and ^6th in N3) are exceptions in France's fifth league in terms of licensees, which could, before possible administrative repechages, have fewer clubs at the national level than the Vendée department alone.

A dark year or a fundamental problem? "A bit of both. For our part, we had a disastrous year in terms of injuries and unfavorable events," replies Bernard Martin, president of Lège-Cap-Ferret. The main explanation, however, is pragmatic: in three years (between 2023 and 2025), the championship reform will have reduced the number of teams at the national level from 270 to 214.

And the least equipped, like those who made the most mistakes, paid dearly. "I'll say it clearly: after finishing sixth last season, we didn't work hard enough, both management and staff. Recruiting from our small network in Bouscat, now in N3, is no longer enough," points out Stade Bordelais president Alain Fournier, who, even officially relegated to R1, intends to keep the same budget and his seven employees, create a recruitment unit and mobilize a manager to find jobs or studies to attract players.

The reduction in leagues has raised the bar for structure, assumed by the FFF, with more drastic controls and monitoring by the DNCG. "I've been to Paris four times this year, each compensation is regulated," points out Bernard Martin. "N1 will become Ligue 3, N2 has almost only players who do just that. N3 will follow in two or three years." "In our N2 group, with its long travel times, we were the only club with active players. They would board a sleeper bus to travel the night after work, while our opponents arrived here the day before," emphasizes Nicolas Rebeyrou, general manager of Anglet.

"To exist in National 2, he has a budget of 800,000 euros for the first team"

With a budget of one million euros, including 400,000 euros for the first team (player and staff salaries, travel), Les Genêts (five employees) were a small minority in N2; Stade Bordelais (650,000 euros, including 200,000 euros all-inclusive for the first team), Lège-Cap-Ferret (650,000 euros, including 200,000 euros) are in the soft underbelly of N3. Aviron Bayonnais relied on a budget of 950,000 euros. "Local authorities in Nouvelle-Aquitaine don't give as much as in other regions," says Bernard Martin, president of US Lège-Cap-Ferret (four employees), who has been trying to wink, so far in vain, at the wealthy who frequent the peninsula. "We have local private partners, loyal patrons. But sometimes we feel like we're begging for charity, it's exhausting."

"To exist in N2, in my opinion, a budget of at least €800,000 (all inclusive) is needed for the first team," says Nicolas Rebeyrou. "We wanted to compete, and we saw that. The ambition now is to continue to professionalize our organization in terms of staff, squad profile, research, and services for private partnerships, while remaining part of a club project, with the desire to return. Even in N3, we have to move forward."

At Trélissac, president Fabrice Faure decided to drastically reduce his funding last season after 14 years of sponsorship. With a budget reduced from €1.8 million to €1.1 million (including €500,000 for the first team), the club went from fighting for the top flight to competing for relegation to the third division.

“For a small town like Périgueux, the N3 is good.”

"For a small town like Périgueux, the N3 is good, the N2 has become very, very difficult, despite our network of partners. The town supports us a lot, but with the current economic situation, we understand that the public can no longer keep up. We try to find jobs to attract players, but we're not at Bordeaux or Bayonne," points out Patrick Guéritte, vice-president of Trélissac (five employees), for whom a relegation would be "catastrophic."

Alain Fournier, who regularly had to invest his own money to balance budgets, reduced his budget by €400,000 after the relegation to N2. "In Bordeaux, with UBB, the Boxers, the Girondins, it's not easy," he admits, without wanting to hide: "Saumur has a budget of €470,000 and has been staying in N2 for four or five years. Their territory is interesting and their recruitment is intelligent. Stade Bordelais must be able to do the same."