It’s only a matter of time. Days. According to our information, the leaders of Stade Français Paris Saint-Cloud and Levallois, who have been in talks for several weeks already, are on the verge of reaching an agreement to form a single club. A marriage of reason and ambition which should allow the future team to play the leading roles on the national and international scene of women’s volleyball. The objective would be to win the Champions League in the next few years. A file must be submitted to the Volleyball League before April 15.
The exchanges between the different parties would have started at the beginning of the year, on the occasion of the derby between the two teams. Philippe Peters, president of the Parisian club, which he had saved from disappearance by injecting his personal money in 2019, would be at the origin of the discussions. The businessman has long been aware that development will go through a rapprochement with a neighbor or the arrival of an economic partner.
If the sports season of the Mariannes – nickname of the players of the Stade Français – exceeds the expectations of the start of the season (they are in 2nd place in the championship two days before the regular phase phase), the local economic fabric makes success fragile . With a budget of 950,000 euros, the club is far from displaying the same financial power as the heavyweights of the championship which are Mulhouse (2 million euros), Nantes (1.8 M €), Le Cannet ( €1.7m) or the iconic Cannes (€1.6m). For Stade Français Paris Saint-Cloud, unity is strength. It’s in its DNA, its history, as its name proves.
For his part Levallois, promoted this season in Ligue A, is already condemned to leave the elite of French women’s volleyball in the coming weeks. But the club is supported by the city, which wants to focus more and more on women’s sport. Moreover Levallois would put in the basket of the marriage its budget (approximately 1 million euros) and its installations.
The future team would indeed play at the Marcel-Cerdan sports hall, which also hosts the matches of the Metropolitans basketball players. Exit the dilapidated and intimate Marcadet room at the Geo-André des Mariannes stadium. This move would also allow the future club to meet the demanding specifications of the Leagues which imposes a minimum of places in professional enclosures. The Marie de Levallois had financed work in the room and bought a floor suitable for the practice of volleyball last summer.
Even if certain details, certain points, remain to be finalized and clarified (in particular that of the future coach between the Italian Alessandro Orefice, the man of the renewal of the Stade Français, and Fred Havas in Levallois who are both under contract) the project “is on very good track” for someone close to the file.
