What? And doom him to a thread title that will be obsolete in another year? Nope. I went straight vanilla on this one.
What's the 3rd division like? According to wikipedia it's semi-pro. But is it like most of the big leagues where their reserve squads/u-21 teams play in that division? And why for that matter is it semi-pro when England has 4 divisions of professional teams.
$$$$$ In France, soccer is not necessary the most popular sport in the country. In the SW, where he is playing, rugby is the most popular. Skiing, cycling, tennis and basketball are also huge sports in France.
Hmmm. Football is like the religion pretty much in all top 5 nations. I know cycling/rugby/basketball are pretty big in France but the UK also have rugby/cricket competing but still able to provide multiple divisions of pro and dozens more of semi-pro. Just an interesting thought I suppose.
Rugby Union is considered the "national game" in the South of France. When you look at a map of Ligue 1 teams........................the North dominates. Nice, Monaco, and Marseille are in the Southeast. The rest of France is largely empty http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ligue_1_07-08_ger_col.png There's that entire quadrant of the Central and Southwest France that only has two Ligue 1 teams (Bordeaux and Tolouse). Rugby is king. Overlap a map of French rugby union teams and you'll see the difference................. https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=206148968245153028544.0004a0f9ca75556049daf&msa=0
I guess that was what I was trying to say. I was living in France during the World Cup 1998. There was not nearly as much interest in the tournament, nor the French team as expected. In the southeast, there was not much discussion at all, until the French defeated Italy. Then nationalism kicked in.
Yep, me too. Blew my mind when one of them could name the entire rugby team but was only vaguely familiar with Thierry Henry.
Luzenac does not seem to be in any of the Cup competitions this season - is this due to their (potential?) semi-pro status?
The Coupe de la League is open to professional teams only, that includes Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and two teams in National. The Coupe de France is open to all clubs in France and has up to 14 rounds. The must have lost really early in the regional qualifications.
I was studying in London when England won the Six Nations. I think 80% of the city was blackout drunk.
I was in Paris for a few days before the WC in 06 and was surprised at how nonchalant so many of them were about the Coupe du Monde. I watched a game or two in a bar before heading to Germany and there wasn't much interest. Same bar had far more passion for a French Open match between Federer and Nadal.
I wonder what happened? Has Rugby just exploded in the past decade or 2 and rivaled football? Didn't the 98 WC help foster a "diverse/unity among the people". Back when I was 9 I was learning French and playing soccer at school and kept hearing "French adore soccer. They love it". Even had a Belgian teaching us and he was soccer mad and I just figured the French were the most football mad in Europe, next to the English. But also Spanish/Italians.
What WC 98 did for France was unify a very diverse nation. There are tons of people who are "French" due to French colonial policy of the colonized people actually being permitted to become "French", unlike the British, you have all sorts of people. The 98 World Cup squad contained just about every group in France possible. They even had a Basque! That group really helped the sport, but as noted above Le Tour, the French Open, and often times Skiing are followed as much or more that soccer. Rugby is 1st.
I was studying in London when Ireland won the Grand Slam. Took the trip over to Dublin with the old man to see the game vs England in Croke Park. Def one of the best weekends of my life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Six_Nations_Championship
I was in Paris when they won the Semi-Final. It was literally the opposite of nonchalant. Literally one of the craziest nights of my life. It was like those old ass videos of people partying when the berlin wall was torn down except crazier and drunker. If I had a $ for every time I heard "vive zizou!" that night I'd be a billionaire.
It appears they lost in their first game (5th round) to Golfech (I think they are a 6th division side). http://www.usluzenac.info/2013/10/live-coupe-de-france/
I was late getting to my friend's restaurant where we were watching the final. The streets of Paris were so empty that day, you'd have thought you had suddenly stumbled into an alternate post-apocalyptic universe.
Luzenac is promoted to Ligue 2. They will have to something as their 3k stadium is not large enough. They are 14 points ahead with 4 matches in the season.