Ligue 2: 14 hours to return from Toulouse, the big galley of Chambly

“A trip reflecting the match and the season …” Maxime Malovry, Chambly’s communications officer, sighs disillusionedly. Beaten Saturday night in Toulouse (4-0) on the 29th day of Ligue 2, the players and staff of the Oise club took nearly … 14 hours to get home. A new twist in this particular season marked by the Covid episode which had affected Chambly, with the already incredible trip on February 12 to Clermont, the symptoms felt by Bradley Danger in the outbound bus, the departure of coach Bruno Luzi, feverish, the morning of the match, the hotel which wants to expel the group …

It was around midnight when the Chambly players left the Stadium, marked by the defeat against the 2nd in Ligue 2. If the outward journey had been made by TGV, the club chose the option of the return bus to make savings. From the outset, the bus shows disturbing signs. It can’t start. A Mercedes mechanic is called. “We were told that it was a problem with the diesel pump, we had to pump,” says Maxime Malovry.

Blocked between Limoges and Châteauroux

The bus manages to leave, somehow. “We were sleeping, but the coach told us that in the odds, the bus went from 110 km / h, to 60 then 20. We stopped on a rest area, it made a noise not possible, that squeaked, ”continues Malovry. It was then 4:40 am and the Chambly delegation found itself stranded between Limoges and Châteauroux. The players and staff will spend four hours there, the time to find a solution. A mechanic arrives on site and evokes a fan problem, a breakdown therefore completely different from that diagnosed on departure from Toulouse.

The bus must be towed. A transport company is called but if it has a good bus, it cannot find a driver in these Sunday and morning hours. Finally, a solution was found with a company from Limoges which came to pick up Chambly at 8:40 am. In the meantime, the staff and players were able to go and warm up in the gas station, when it opened at 7:30 am. ” Fortunately, because it was really starting to curdle on the bus, continues Maxime Malovry. We were able to have breakfast. “

The next trip, to Rodez, is planned by bus

Around 10:45 a.m., Chambly changed buses again, between Vierzon and Orléans. A bus descended from Creil came to take over. Arrived around 1:30 p.m., the club will therefore have taken nearly 14 hours to make the trip from Toulouse! It is a very tired group, who did not sleep much, who were able to go home. With a leitmotif: “We all want to take a good nap!” The staff, who already have one day less preparation compared to a normal week – the match against AC Ajaccio has been brought forward to Friday -, will have to heal the recovery. The first training this Monday will be accompanied by new Covid tests.

As for the next trip, April 3 to Rodez, it is planned entirely by bus. Hoping that it is well revised at the start. Unlike many other L2 teams, Chambly does not have its own bus and indeed works with transport companies.