Nantes and Angers, who compete this Saturday in Ligue 1, are separated geographically from just 100 km. However, the Loire derby is struggling to unleash the crowds, as is the case for similar meetings in France.
Yannis, 38, exiled angevin in Nantes, spent a week before the derby rather quiet. Yet he "claims his scoops" more than reason and even "friends subscribers tribune Loire" . Go tell that to the supporters of Lyon and Saint Etienne, who clash tonight, they will take you for a crazy.
On the banks of the Loire, this is possible: this meeting between Nantes and Angers derby only the geographical aspect since the two cities are distant of just 100 km. For all that such a meeting should normally generate, the sporting rivalry, the animosity between the supporters or even the local supremacy, we 'll go back ... "Nantes - Angers, it's a nice match we'll see with friends Angevins to be able to chamber them ", laughs Frederic, a Nantes supporter of 43 years.
For many reasons, the derby does not unleash the passions. The first being that the two clubs did not experience their hours of glory at the same time, nor in the same proportions. "It's a healthy sporting rivalry between the two clubs but they have a different past than us, another story, richer," said Stéphane Moulin. When Nantes began its period of domination over French football in the 1970s, Angers was on the decline and eventually disappeared from the elite in 1981.
Defender of the yellow house between 1973 and 1985, Maxime Bossis played some derbies. "Like all Nantes, I was living this game in a much more detached way than the one against Rennes, the real derby of the West. Facing Angers, there was no competitive atmosphere between the two clubs, " says the former international. In addition to Rennes, geographic rival, Nantes is rivals sports, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne, including: "The derby of the Atlantic, it's the real derby with all that implies," details Frederic.
"It has to translate into results"
Meanwhile, Angers, who juggles between the L2 and the National, found in Laval a competitor to his measure. The Angevins have no animosity for FC Nantes. "In the 1990s, if we wanted to see beautiful football, we went to La Beaujoire," says Yannis, who had to face the feeling of superiority, rather legitimate, Nantais, who feel more Breton than Loire "For a long time, we were the nice little club against whom they played once a year in friendly at Ancenis. "Nantes was the big club in the region that everyone wanted to beat," says Vincent Manceau, pure sugar angel, who played dozens of derbies among young people.
Until 2007 and the descent of FC Nantes in L2 where he found his neighbor Angevin. "There, we felt a little emulation, remembers Yannis. But it's mainly because Nantes was out of place. " The gap then to be reduced. In December 2009, Angers even won the Beaujoire thanks to a doubling of Modeste (2-1). A flash in the night since the Sco is struggling against his neighbor, where he has not won since 1967 in L1. "They are ahead of us in a much less clear way than before. Now it has to translate into results, " says Stéphane Moulin. This outrageous domination of Nantes also explains this lack of fervor. "The day Angers finishes in front of Nantes and we beat them at home, it may be something else," thinks Yannis, who probably hopes to have a response beginning Saturday night.