On the lawn of the small Municipal Stadium of Argy, 610 inhabitants, coach Michel Manique and his wife Elise have orange cones and slalom poles. Laughter erupts from the clubhouse, on the edge of the field.

Players arrive one after the other. They greet each other with a check, fist against fist. Michel, the player coach, distributes the chasubles under the scorching sun of the early evening.

The workforce is complete. "A feat. We set up the team in fifteen days. At the end of last season we were only six. Death in the soul, we had warned the District of Indre of our intention to put the club to sleep, "recalls the coach, delivery driver by profession.

US Argy, which plays in the fourth departmental division, the penultimate level of Indre, almost disappeared in the spring of 2022, due to a lack of licensees. This was without counting the proposal of one of the players to bring his friends, most of whom are housed in the reception center for asylum seekers in Buzançais, a little more than 6 kilometers from the village.

"The structure us, we had it. We missed the players. It matched immediately between us. We were able to start a very beautiful adventure that has been going on for almost a year," said the 62-year-old leader, despite the obstacles.

Carrying out the licences has not been an easy task from an administrative point of view. The club had to ask for authorizations from the federations of each country to sign the players. US Argy was forced to start the season a week late.

A few months later, the club played in third place in its championship.

"We have more nationality than the Berrichonne de Châteauroux, the flagship club of the department that plays in National: Gambian, Malian, Guinean, Salvadoran, Colombian, Ivorian, Haitian ... and of course French," the president said.

-"They are our little players!" -

"It speaks in all languages!" jokes Captain Jérémy Logie. "When there are free kicks or when some players don't agree with each other, I don't always understand everything. But no matter, at the finish, it's football that brings us together. The atmosphere is very cordial."

Ally, who did not wish to give her full name, is 19 years old and from Côte d'Ivoire.

"We are happy to have saved the club. It motivates us to work more. The ambition is to climb soon to the third division!", says the young man, who has just found a job in the textile industry.

Telly, 22, is Guinean. The young boilermaker joins his comrades in training, after taking a driving lesson. "We are a small family. When you play football, you forget all the problems."

At the edge of the field, Bernadette Logie, retired and mother of the club's captain, runs the refreshment bar. "In a short time, there will be no bakery. There is no grocery store at this time. If there were no football club, the village would be dead. They are our little players!"

An opinion shared by Bernadette Villemont, the mayor of Argy. "They were able to respond positively. It's a great example of integration," enthuses the elected representative. "Thanks to them, we have never seen so many spectators on Sundays."

© 2023 AFP