Since the defeat in front of Laval (0-3) on Monday, it’s as if it were done. Two days before the end of the National, FC Chambly has no chance of saving itself and will be relegated to National 2 next season. Except to benefit from extra-sporting circumstances, which the sibylline President Fulvio Luzi does not exclude: “It is possible that there will be favorable news during the week, which I absolutely cannot talk about, at the risk of serve the club. You risk getting points. In which case, we would be revived… ”
However, it is not necessary to push Luzi much to consider returning to the amateur world next season.
“The descent itself is not dishonorable,” he said. Chambly, 10,032 inhabitants, is a small town. But this is the second consecutive descent and it has to stop. The good news is that work on the stadium will start again this month and be completed in September at the latest. It matters a lot. Currently, my sponsors can hardly invite customers to games. We are completely to the west in terms of hospitality when it is a big part of a club’s turnover today. Eventually, we will have 750 VIP seats in the new stadium. Even for club employees, this will create new momentum. »
“What we have done, we may never be able to do again”
The workforce will dwindle in Chambly. All players, under professional contract, will be mechanically released, due to the loss of the club’s pro status. In N2, Luzi will have to get down to rebuilding a new technical staff, then will set up a workforce of around twenty elements, against 29 this season. Excluding players, the leader foresees the loss of 5 to 6 jobs out of around 25.
“In reality, I’ve been preparing for the descent since January,” says Luzi. In L2 last season, I understood, seeing these huge cities, these wonderful stadiums… I said to myself: Wake up, it’s Chambly… Apart from Noël Le Graët who did something invaluable to Guingamp, no one of this size can compete.
The only club in Europe to have risen from the 6th district division to professionals, FC Chambly now intends to stabilize between L2 and N2.
“With a Ligue 2 with 18 teams (at the end of next season), it will be difficult to return there, underlines Luzi. And even in N2 or N3, there are big cities with which we cannot compete in terms of budget. Also, don’t be fooled. What we have done, we may never be able to do again…”