As their players unwillingly trudge towards a potential relegation into the French fourth tier, Valenciennes supporters found an amusing way to make their feelings about the current season known during their Thursday night draw with US Orleans.
Valenciennes, who were part of France’s top-flight for eight consecutive seasons in the 2000s and 2010s after a famous ‘double promotion’, are currently enduring their third campaign in the newly renamed Ligue 3, formerly the Championnat National.
The 113-year-old club have recorded their second-worst start to any league season since being relegated from Ligue 1 at the end of 2013/14 and were sat in 15th spot of the standings after Thursday night, with the potential to fall even further into the relegation zone by the conclusion of matchday 12 this weekend.
Former manager Pierre Blois was sacked in October only for his two successors – caretaker assistant Samuel Goethals and new interim David Le Frapper – to fail to win their two Ligue 3 games since.
Valenciennes have not been in France’s fourth-tier since the club went bankrupt and lost their professional status in the late 1990s, and with their average attendance (4,763) for league games the worst in more than 20 years excluding the Covid pandemic, the club is going through some very difficult times both on and off the pitch.
As the club went 1-0 down for a seventh time in 12 Ligue 3 matches, this time within the first ten minutes of a home game, some supporters at least managed to find a bit of self-deprecating humour in it all, playing the famous Louis-Philippe Laurendeau recomposition of Julius Fucik’s ‘Entry of the Gladiators’ now commonly associated with circuses around the world.
The players managed to overcome a 2-0 half-time deficit to earn a 2-2 draw, but it’ll be of cold comfort if relegation rivals Villefranche earn a victory on Saturday afternoon and force them into the relegation zone ahead of the next international break.