2012-13 season

Goodbye Martel and hello Dayan

Lens' financial problems had resurfaced and so in order to avoid bankruptcy Luc Dayan had been appointed the new president of Lens by Credit Agricole: the new owners of Lens. A former president of local rivals Lille, the appointment didn't go down well with the Lens fans but they realised that Gervais Martel had run out of ways to keep the ship afloat. Dayan, however, seemed to make the right noises when he arrived so the jury was still out. Dayan would have a lot of work win them over though.

July 2012 - Le Mans (h)

The girls had put their foot down and didn't want to take any more overnight ferries from Portsmouth (or anywhere else) so I suggested we take the Dover - Calais crossing for our holiday and that seemed to go down well..and how about a Lens game too? That was ok too!
On approaching French customs, with our car loaded up with camping equipment, we were praying we wouldn't have to unload it all so customs could make sure we weren't smuggling anything onto the continent. There was panic, however, as the customs officer started staring fixedly at me as we approached. The concentration on his face gave him an extremely stern and serious look - we feared the worst...I was about to give him our passports when the broadest of smiles filled his face.

Lens Veterans teams 2012

"Lensois!" he shouted excitedly "Samedi? Le Mans?" and when I nodded he simply waved us through, waving enthusiastically as we passed him. In the mirror I could see him pointing us out to his customs friends, still waving and giving us the thumbs up. If only a Lens shirt opened more doors, life would a lot easier!
The game itself was a couple of days later but this time my profile amongst the Lens fans had gone up thanks to taking part in the Worldnet tournament in Leeds, playing for the Lens fans veterans team. As we entered the Marek the number of people who recognised me amazed the girls from shouts of "L'anglais" in the club shop to the numbers of people who introduced themselves as we walked around the ground. The region's warmth so obvious in the pleasure and pride people took in welcoming us all. "It really is like Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis..." remarked Holly as she marvelled at my near celebrity status.  We also met up with Alex, an Englishman with a Ch'ti mother who had played on the same Lens veterans team as me and who I had arranged to meet here for our first game together.

La famille en Marek

There was a buzz around the ground for the first game of the season, with high expectations of two players who had caused Lens problems the previous season: Jerome LeMoigne and Pierrick Valdivia who had arrived from Sedan. The added experience of Nantes' keeper Rudi Riou also looked to be a good sign that things were on the up and so it proved at the start of the game. Much was expected of the blond bombshell David Pollet who had managed 11 goals the previous season and he made a great start chesting the ball skillfully into the path of the advancing Valdivia. His half volley sailed superbly over the Le Mans keeper to give Lens an early lead. this was doubled soon after when the dependable Yahia scored. It was a sign of the times that the Trannin end behind the goal was closed but there was still a decent crowd of around 20 000 for a Ligue 2 game: something not many clubs could hope to expect at this level.
Unfortunately there was a sting just before the end of the first half when Le Mans came up with their own piece of magic to halve the lead. Late in the second half, Odessa's hope of seeing her first Lens victory ended when a volleyed effort bounced in via the underside of the bar. At least she hadn't had to endure a fillet of fish thanks to the 2pm kick off and we were able to have that nice meal in the evening.



August 2012 - Caen Coupe de Ligue (a)

A good looking couple about town.

Frites sur la grass

Driving back from our holiday in the Dordogne, we took a slight detour via Caen to see Lens' Coupe de la Ligue game. Arriving at lunchtime we toured the city which looked glorious in the afternoon sun. There were not many Lens fans around the town owing to the general dissatisfaction French fans felt towards this competition that was seen as unnecessary and just another excuse to get money out of the fans. For us the first round was ideal because it usually coincided with our holiday and meant an extra chance to see Lens. We bought des frites (for a change) to eat before the game and once again we met only friendliness from both sets of fans as we ate them on a small triangle of grass near the away end.
Heading for the queue to get away tickets I met one of the Lens fans who had been at the Worldnet tournament and Odessa and the girls were slightly taken aback when the bearded man kissed them all on each cheek: continental style. Hard to get rid of British sensibilities.

Not happy!

The lack of interest in the game was obvious by the mostly empty stadium and that included the away end. The small travelling band did their best to create an atmosphere and their joy increased as Yahia stretched to put Lens ahead. This was my first Lens away goal, having missed the previous one in Bordeaux and it took a warning from my wife to stop me completely losing my voice.
Unfortunately the story did not have a happy ending as the Caen winger Cuvillier scored a screamer to equalise. It was particularly disappointing since it once again came late in the first half but also because the previous season he had been a Lens player.
In predictable fashion, Lens struggled from thereon in and when the winner arrived there was little fight in the team. As the final whistle blew there was a subdued acceptance of the score because it meant that Lens were out of the hated competition. But for us it was disappointing not to get that first family win!

April 2013 - Sedan(h)

On discovering the film Bienvenue Chez le Ch'tis (Welcome to the Sticks) the family's view of the region changed. Chronicling the adventures of a Southerner being forced to move to the North of France to run the post office in the town of Bergues. He was told at the start of the film that when you came to the region you cried twice: "Once when you arrive and once you leave." I was desperate to show my mum and dad the region that had stolen my heart so we arranged a long weekend in a gite to show them.
The headmaster had gone. The Lens management had had enough of his strops on the sidelines when Lens players didn't follow his bizarre ideas of what to do. It was probably the best thing Dayan did. After a solid start to the season of one win and three draws, the team had plummetted down the table and Garcia's tantrums had got worse.  In came Captain Eric -  to the rescue. Eric Sikora, who had been coaching the reserve side agreed to step into the breach.Sikora had played nearly 500 games for Lens between 1985 and 2004 and was a stalwart of the club. He knew what was expected of a Lens team: to battle and entertain. The defensive tactics of Garcia just didn't wash. Lens fans wanted passion and pride: Sikora had these in abundance.

My mum and dad had liked the region but stopped short of a night in the Marek so they stayed at the Gite while Odessa, Jasmine and I braved the cold April air to see Lens take on the chair-carrying ones, as Jeff enjoyed calling them. To call it a classic would be lying. First of all Yahia put through his own net, to our complete misbelief! Worse was to follow when Sedan's Diallo scored a penalty. Odessa and Jas were not impressed that I had dragged them out on a Friday night. However just two minutes later Yoann Touzghar popped up with a goal to give us hope. However the second half was a laboured affair with Lens looking the least likely to score. Sedan shut up shop and tried to hit on the break...dire stuff.
Just as it looked like we would be going home with another defeat, a penalty was awarded to Lens and Touzghar stepped up to score. The player who was on loan from local rivals Amiens from the National Ligue had come up trumps again. Captain Eric's boys had restored their pride.

The following day, on a trip to the Louvre Lens, Holly was relieved to find out that the dummies in the club shop were only replicating the scene after Touzghar had scored and not  anything else...

No they are not, Holly!