“Football is primarily about pleasure”

The Coupe de France, an ever-returning story of amateurs taking revenge on the professionals, of all this talented youngsters abandoned on the road by their Academies, who come back for one or two nights and face the professionals they would have liked to be.

In Nantes, last Saturday, La Beaujoire was the setting for a very particular derby between the “great” FC Nantes and his “little” neighbour, the USSA Vertou, a club from the Nantes suburb currently in CFA2 (5th tier). The occasion for Nantes to face no less than sept former trainees at the club’s Academy, now playing under the red and black colours of the “Sainte Anne”.

A Nantais in Rennes

For Alexis Raud, the youngest member of the Vertou team, as for many of his team-mate, the game was always going to be something special. “I started football at the FC Nantes when I was a kid, until the Pre-Academy”, he remembers. Born in Nantes, Alexis could have perpetuated the tradition of local players trained at the club’s Academy that make the fans proud. But at fifteen, he saw the path to professionalism close in front of him.

_ «I wasn’t kept, for various reasons, Raud explains. Jean-Claude Baudoin, the Pre-training director at the time, sent me to Rennes to have a trial”. An upsetting decision, which opened him the doors to the Stade Rennes academy. After convincing trials, Alexis Raud was recruited by Patrick Rampillon and his staff to become part of the “Rouge et Noir”’s 1991 generation.

Far from the rivalry between the fans of both clubs (“The rivalry is more for the fans. N the clubs, we can’t really feel it”), the young player discovered a new environment. “I have to be honest, I did not particularly like the Stade Rennais before, Alexis admits. But since I played for them, I have got a lot of respect for this club, its spirit and its Academy”. In contrast, the FC Nantes lost a lot of credit to his eyes. “I’ve been very disappointed with the FCN, he continues. I don’t pay any attention to that club anymore. The reason, many choices the youngster did not understand, regarding the training of young players, the recruitment or the presence of certain people in the club’s management. “It hasn’t changed since. It’s even worse”, he judges.

« M’Vila was an exemple »

Three years of Acadamey training started. Raud keeps “very good memories” of his time in Rennes, and particularly of a game against Auxerre during his first year, at the world-famous Montaigu tournament (a competition played during Easter week-end and opened to U17 teams). “I was playing alongside Brahimi, M’Vila, Le Tallec…”, he remembers. To have played alongside the young French international is now something he is “proud of”. “M’Vila was always above everyone, but he worked, Alexis explains. He was an example, and always modest! Whenever he had to show his ability and play well, he was there”.

Compared to the 1990 generation, U18 French champions and Gambardella Cup winners, the 1991 could easily have some complex. In this generation of “transition”, very few managed to graduate, and the “leaders”, Julienne and Jebbour, are still waiting for their first minute with the professional squad. At the end of the Academy cycle in 2009, only five out the eleven players in this generation were offered a professional trainee contract. [1].

Among the players released, Alexis Raud has got no regrets regarding his experience at the Academy. “I’ve played with good players and very good coaches, the young player appreciates. I’ve improved a lot, I can feel it today. Suprisingly, however, the fact that he did not make it through at Stade Rennais doesn’t seem to disturb him that much. “I wasn’t too disappointed not to get a professional contract in Rennes, as the level is very high”, he explains. But what about the hope shared by all young footballers to make sport their job? “It might sound strange, but I never thought about it during my training and I’m still not thinking of it. To me, football has got to be pleasure above all, and I had lost that pleasure during my final year in Rennes. I was fed up with being judged all the time, pressure, unhealthy competition…”.

Released by the Stade Rennais, Alexis returned to Nantes and signed a contract with the USSA Vertou, where he now plays with the first team. Besides football, he has returned to studies (“A degree in Management of Commercial Units”), after he attempted to follow a University degree in Economics during his time at Rennes Academy.

« Hard to compete »

For his second year at Vertou, the Coupe de France romance was on show. The Loire-Atlantique club managed the exploit of knocking out two teams of higher divisions, Les Herbiers (4th tier, 1-1 then 4-2 on penalty shootouts) and then Plabennec (3rd tier, 0-0 then 3-1 on penalty shootouts), before the draw offered them a showdown against FC Nantes on the eighth round. To Alexis Raud, the perspective to play at La Beaujoire is a sentiment of “proudness”, and “certainly not a revenge” on the club that refused him four years ago.

This Saturday, with several players missing, including the captain and the right back («two key players”), Vertou did not manage to cause any trouble to the yellow and green big brother. “Without them, I think it will be hard to compete”, Raud explained before the game. Playing with courage, the Vertou men showed a good display, but conceded twice, with a goal at the beginning of each half (2-0). The end of a beautiful adventure, but also the hope of doing it again next season. And maybe this time qualify for the round of sixty-four and play against the Stade Rennais? “Yes, who knows? I would sign for it immediately!”. The appointement is made.

Alexis Raud

Born on March 12th, 1991 in Nantes (44)
1.84 m, 75 kg
Position : Defensive midfielder, Centre midfield

Career:
- FC Nantes-Atlantique (2001-2006)
- Stade rennais FC (2006-2009)
- USSA Vertou (since 2009)