The SFC of Neuilly-sur-Marne, a city of Seine-Saint-Denis of around 35,000 inhabitants, recently achieved the feat of eliminating Racing CFF de Paris, a National 3 club located two divisions above, in fifth round of the Coupe de France. A real performance that comes more than ten years after the last one. The 93 team had reached the seventh round of the Coupe de France, eliminated by Fresnois in the Ain.
This great performance from the Nocéens is the result of a paradigm shift, within a club in which the identity and strong attachment to the city permeate the entire team. Abdenour Nemir, arrived two years ago on the bench of the first team explains this fact, which according to him makes the club very special: « The difference with the other clubs is that in Neuilly-sur-Marne, 95 or 98% of the players come from neighborhoods in the city. There are no players from outside the city, other than one, but who actually lives nearby. That’s what makes the soul of the team, we play for the love of the jersey ». The coach himself comes from the city, and evolved there as a player, before taking the lead.
This identity marker is transcribed in the recruitment policy, because at SFC Neuilly-sur-Marne, we are keen to represent the municipality. « We recruit very little. Here we always manage to get by with our breeding ground, and the training of Neuilly-sur-Marne. We always manage to play the leading roles and practically play the climb. It’s been two years since I came back. The year before, they had missed the climb by a point. Last year we got off to a good start and there was the Covid. We always manage to find good players, we focus on local training », continues Abdenour Nemir.
Restructuring that is bearing fruit
Currently third in Pool D of Regional 2, with three victories and only one defeat, the Honeymoon club is also off to a good start in the league. Even if the objective is not clearly defined by the management, the climb is so far accessible. All of these good results are the consequence of a restructuring policy, initiated with the arrival of a new president in 2016. The latter has brought to the club a much better organization for the Reds and Blacks. It has also strengthened the SFC Neuilly-sur-Marne in terms of infrastructure, obtaining a new synthetic pitch, allowing in particular to go from two to three training sessions per week for the first team. All of its actions are combined with the work of the sports director, who works with the president to build a common project for the different age categories, from the youngest to the seniors, in order to strengthen the club’s footballing identity.
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