Versailles, just outside of Paris, is world-renowned for its gardens and palace which was the royal seat with Louis XIV until the French Revolution of 1789. A lavish venue, one of the top tourist destinations in France, which has placed the city of 85,000 inhabitants on the map… just like the deeds of its team football in this Coupe. “We cannot ‘compete’ with the palace. We have a magnificent city, full of history, culture and art. What we hope to do with our history in the Cup is to show that there is also a town next to the palace,” he confessed in ‘Get French Football News’ Youssef Chibhi, coach since 2014 of a FC Versailles 78 that has reached the semi-finals of the French KO tournament along with Nice, Nantes and Monaco.
A feat for a team that competes in the National 2, the fourth category of French football and that is not completely professional. “Three footballers have another job. Oussama Berkak, the captain, is a computer scientist. De-Gevigney is still a university physiotherapy student and Wilfried Aledji is a financial manager,” Michael Miche, the club’s communications officer, told Gianluca Di Marzio.
What we hope to do with our history in the Cup is to show that there is also a locality next to the palace
All of them will face Nice, third in Ligue 1, at the Allianz Riviera after eliminating Olympique Lumbrois (Sixth), Poissy (Fourth), Sarre-Union (Fifth), La Roche (Fifth), Toulouse (Second) and Bergerac (Fourth). They will have to travel to the Côte d’Azur as they cannot practice as locals in their modest Stade de Montbauron, something that already happened to them in eighths and quarters. They tried to play in the Parc des Princes or in a venue in the Paris region, but it was impossible. The proximity to the palace, a UNESCO heritage site, prevents them from undertaking works to improve the lighting and other infrastructure of the stadium.
The trajectory of the Versailles 78 in the Coupe 2021-22
- Olympique Lumbrois (6) 2-3 FC Versailles 78
- FC Versailles 78 1-0 AS Poissy (4)
- US Sarre-Union (5) 0-1 FC Versailles 78
- FC Versailles 78 4-0 La Roche VF (5)
- Toulouse (2) 0-1 FC Versailles 78
- Bergerac Perigord FC (4) 1-1 FC Versailles 78 (4-5 penaltis)
“We have to redo our structural delay with respect to our sports project, which is ahead. The shareholders who have come to strengthen the club have a double ambition: to perpetuate the team by providing it with the structures and means to train and play in good conditions and, furthermore, they want to take it to the top. If we can get there fast, the better. If we arrive more slowly, so much the better,” Jean-Luc Arribart, a former French player and commentator and general manager since the FIDUCIM-CITY real estate group took control of Versailles last season, told ‘Footmercato’.
“The idea is not to make a quick hit in three or four years. We want it to last, to establish itself and for the club to benefit from its presence and its means for several seasons. If we want to reach Ligue 2? Yes. And when we are in Ligue 2, one day, we will want to go up to Ligue 1? Well, why not!, says the leader. For now, they are leaders of National 2 and seek promotion to National 3, which is the roof of the team in a city where there is a football team since 1939. Although it has merged and changed its name in multiple occasions.
A quarry full of stars
Approaching professionalism is the goal of a Versailles team that spent 18 years (1999-2017) outside the national categories, but whose factory, approved by the French Federation, has produced French football stars. Ben Arfa, Goma, Rothen and Henry, among others, went through the lower categories of the club. In fact, in 2007, they received 600,000 euros for the transfer of ‘Titi’ from Arsenal to Barcelona, which helped them clean up and give the team a boost.
We are going to create a real football club to aspire to the professional world
“We are two games away from the Europa League. And if we win the Europa League, we will reach the Champions League in two years. Obviously, these two games are not done!”, jokes on ‘Get French Football News’ Arribart: “We are happy that there is finally something more than the palace in Versailles. We are going to create a real football club to aspire to the professional world.” In the meantime, they will be looking for a final that the last time a Fourth Division team reached it in the Coupe was Calais RUFC in 2000 (they lost 2-1 to Nantes). They will be the second to achieve it. A feat worthy of the best palace.
