” We are the locomotive of the U17 in the region, and this is not normal,” summarizes coach Luca Martin. There is no longer a professional training center in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The bankruptcies of Girondins de Bordeaux and Niort have taken down structures that cost about three million euros per year, in equipment and staff, an expense that Pau FC, the best regional club in Ligue 2, does not incur.
Only three clubs in U17 plus Poitiers in U19 represent the Aquitaine colors nationally. Next year, Girondins de Bordeaux in U17 and SA Mérignac in U19 are expected to join the elite. A good thing, but it does not solve the problem: the best young players, from U15 to U17, leave Aquitaine for professional teams. “Today, we are in regular contact with clubs that never used to come, Nantes, Montpellier, Toulouse, Lorient. Even Monaco, we hear from them more than from Girondins, they recruit a lot in the region,” testify co-presidents Sébastien Paulin, Adrien Liégeon, and their coach.
The best players move towards the highest level, Girondins are no longer there but they resist thanks to their still strong image, says Luca Martin. But they must learn to work in their region, whereas when they had their training center, three-quarters of their players came from the Paris region. “We would prefer a hundred times that the conditions are met for our players to stay home.”
