Colin Abgrall // Photo credit: Stephane Valade / DPPI via AFP 10:13 am, August 05, 2023

It's the return of football in France on the pitches of Ligue 2 with ten games scheduled this Saturday. Saint-Etienne, Auxerre, Ajaccio... Historical names, which will be accompanied by a new kid from Finistère: the US Concarneau. The Breton team will make its debut in the second division, 112 years after its creation, in a rather special situation.

The summer was short and not restful. On the side of Concarneau, there was first the euphoria of finally becoming a professional club by entering Ligue 2. A real pride that president Jacques Piriou shares with the whole club.

"There has never been a bankruptcy filing or overhaul. It was a continuity. I am proud for them, for all those who have wet the jersey in recent years to get to where we are today, "he explains with emotion at the microphone of Europe 1.

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First match against Bastia

After the euphoria of the club's entry into the second division, it came time for negotiations with the neighbors. The stadium is not up to Ligue 2 standards, the Concarnois president has found an emergency solution: play in Brest, Guingamp or Lorient.

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"For us, it's heartbreaking, obviously, not to play our first games on our pitch. We have fallen behind in terms of work and we have not sufficiently anticipated this possibility of accession to Ligue 2 and which penalizes us today over a full season, "says Jacques Piriou.

Despite a stadium still under construction, US Concarneau supporters will be present in large numbers at Roudourou Guingamp to face Sporting Club de Bastia tonight.