This football club was destroyed by the A69 bulldozers

Montcabrier (Tarn), report

With the ball wedged under his arm, Olivier Pech climbs over the barbed wire and approaches the cages. The white paint on the metal posts is rusting and cracking. Lichen nibbles on half-torn fillets. “ One day I scored a hat trick », trumpets the pillar of defense, not without derision. From the head, the left foot and the right thigh… Unrivaled skill against the goalkeeper or an unforgettable lottery ? The Sunday footballer remains a mystery. A touch of nostalgia at the corners of his lips, he sighs: “ What fun we have… »

Today the bench huts are falling into disrepair. The locker rooms, decorated with graffiti and the usual smell of sweat, have already disappeared under the chains of the bulldozers. The theater of epics of the football club Montcabrier, a town halfway between Toulouse and Castres, offers a sad spectacle for the eyes of its president. The grass he was so fond of treading on, as if plowed by a herd of buffaloes, is nothing but a field of mud.

The A69 motorway will soon bury this humble stadium. The bitumen has not yet been poured, but a strip of bare soil already crosses the surrounding meadows and groves. “ I try to spend as little as possiblemurmurs Olivier Pech. My stomach is turning. By destroying this place, we destroy memories. Who will remember our history in fifty years? ? »

Straw bales and balloon

This story began at the dawn of the 1970s. Early every Sunday morning, children from local villages would head to places called En Marseille and La Mouline. “ There we pushed cows in the middle of the fields, made cages with a few bales of straw, then kicked a ball »Jean-Louis Gerardo, in his sixties, recalls today.

In 1972, Mayor André Cristol decided to build an actual lot. THE FC After that, Montcabrier was founded and within a few seasons it became the standard of the village, where almost 500 players paraded. “ Almost all the residents gathered around the fence to cheer on the teamcontinues the president of the club. Father Girardot was there, the six Catal brothers. Few are still around to witness it. Two weeks ago we buried one of them, René. »

Éric Algans put on cats in 1983, seduced “ parochialism ». He describes, as if he had experienced it firsthand, an unforgettable encounter with the soldiers of Castres: “ There were 13 of them, 10 of us, a match lost in advance. » From the kickoff, the opposing forward stole the ball and scored. In the second half, the professional confectioner fired from a distance: “ Full skylight ! A few moments later, we rebel and gain an unexpected victory. We had a niac, a mad soul. »

On numerous occasions, the country club stroked Tarn’s cup with his fingertips…without being able to lift it. “ Eight lost finalsplague Éric Algans. We didn’t have the mentality for these big meetings. Looking back, I can imagine all the tactics we should have used. » With the charm of its rough edges, the lawn FC However, Montcabrier was able to destabilizeOUR Albi aAS. Castres, in some unforgettable derbies: “ The townspeople weren’t used to false bounces »smiles Jean-Louis Gerardo, the team’s former number eight.

Prison

Then the genesis of the A69 motorway slowly took shape. Already in the 1980s, the president of pharmaceutical laboratories, Pierre Fabre, whispered this idea into the ear of Jacques Chirac. “ At first, nobody here really cared », admits Olivier Pech. In the old logbook, the Albigensian also recorded his relief after the election of François Hollande in 2012: “ Sarko was falling by the side. Without Fabre’s friend on the horizon, I was convinced the project would sink. » He pauses, thinks, and adds: “ This just goes to show that stupid things are said during (election) campaigns. »

The penalty fell with the final route of the highway, but the license holders did not give up. In April 2022, Renaissance MP Jean Terlier donned the club’s jersey and took part in a friendly match in the presence of Mayor Didier Belaval. An exhibition focused on the defense of the pitch ? Not really. “ I was naive to believe that they had rallied to our fight. If I knew they were just trying to increase the value of the stadium by putting themselves out there, I would have told them my four truths.growls the president. We were manipulated from A to Z. »

In Olivier Pech’s eyes, Councilor Montcabrier could never have it “ pockets such a jackpot » without the work of licensees: “ It wasn’t a big luxury, but everyone pitched in to fix things. Otherwise, the land would become wasteland and Atosca for a long time (seller) he would buy it for a few quid. » Instead, the final bill rose to €500,000. The amount that Didier Belaval promised to invest in the renovation of the aging school and the creation of a city park, a playground for sports use. Contacted by user Reporterhowever, he did not respond to our requests.

In June 2023, in the last hope, a “ endless match » was organized to stop the advance of the bulldozers. Activist from the collective La Voie est libre Cécile Barréa arrived at dawn with a handful of activists: “ In no time, about ten gendarme cars were already blocking access to the villagers who had come to participate. » A few ID checks later, the dealership’s backhoes were destroying the lawn before their helpless eyes. “ The orders were clear: anyone entering the stadium would end up in police custody. A ridiculous spectacle »complains Olivier Pech.

“ Betrayal »

A piece of flamenco crackles in Jean-Noël Gilabert’s hi-fi system. At 73, Didier Belaval’s former first deputy is now struggling to come to terms with his new home. A few days ago, expropriated by the concessionaire, he returned the keys to his house, a stone’s throw from the old country: “ I lived there for twenty years with the sword of Damocles hanging over my head. And she ended up falling. »

If his son Florentin played FC Montcabriera has always been more attracted to rugby. Still, he remains indignant “ betrayal » town hall. In October 2023, a project to save the club was presented to the city council. On the other side of the hill, in Bourg-Saint-Bernard, it was necessary to equip the pitch with lighting to accommodate the footballers. “ Olivier Pech then applied for a grant of €40,000. That’s how much the mayor owed them. Instead, he decided to influence almost all the councilors and the vote ended in rejection. Not a cent. » The betrayed elected official immediately resigned.

Olivier Pech knows it: the end is near. The players no longer train and play all away matches. The president worries that the club’s death will isolate the old-timers who are always willing to come and drink: “ This precious social structure will be brokenhe wails. Integration is not easy. I myself, when I landed here, went to the ceremonies on the 8th of May. Not standing at attention in front of the flag, but chatting with the locals around the reception. »

Farmers, bosses, workers and engineers rubbed shoulders in the team: “ At the final whistle, everyone took a pack of beer and headed to Guingamp », Albigensian continues. Then go to the Auberge de Loubens, the theater of the third half: “ Montcabrier footballers ? Of course I rememberexclaims Marie-Pascale, the former innkeeper. How to forget them ? Every birthday turned into a guitar concert. More than once I danced with them until the wee hours of the morning. » Half a century of history, soon buried under asphalt.