Gone to Guingamp — Terrace Edition

Words: Guirec Munier

Images: Guirec Munier

The action takes place in a small town populated by 7,000 diehard Gauls who have resisted the invader for several decades.

Unlike The Adventures of Asterix, we aren’t in 50 BC and the various protagonists don’t fight against their adversaries using a magic potion, but their exploits also come to life in the heart of Brittany, in Guingamp.

Although a supporter of Stade Rennais since childhood, I have a special relationship with En Avant Guingamp given its geographical proximity to some of my family ties and because of the two defeats of Stade Rennais in the final of the French Cup when we were the overwhelming favorites.

These two disappointments had a profound impact on my life as a supporter.

During the 90s, I witnessed the emergence of this rather unique club. From Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 via a European epic punctuated by matches against Inter Milan and a first lost French Cup final.

©Guirec Munier/ Terrace Edition. En Avant Guingamp.

The emergence and success of this club at the highest level can be attributed to one man, Noël Le Graët. In the mid-1970s, he took En Avant Guingamp from the seventh national level to Ligue 2.

He then took over the reigns of the Professional Football League while being elected mayor of Guingamp, before becoming president of the club again while always being mayor of the city, eventually becoming the ''godfather'' of French football by being elected president of the French Football Federation for twelve years.

Today stuck in Ligue 2, En Avant Guingamp struggles to regain its former glory where its loyal supporters could admire the Golden Ball winning Jean-Pierre Papin or the legendary Drogba-Malouda duo. Its hundred local shareholders and its popular shareholding make it a solid club but the daily life is sometimes nondescript.

And what could be better than a reunion in the French Cup between En Avant Guingamp and Stade Rennais to get the city and its Roudourou stadium going? With the derby raising the most obvious clichés (the countryside versus the city, the peasants versus the bourgeois, etc.), I couldn’t miss this event.

As the stand reserved for Stade Rennais supporters wasn’t large enough, a few hundred Rennes supporters had to mix with the Guingamp public. The rivalry doesn’t go beyond the sporting framework, the cohabitation between supporters of the two clubs was friendly with a good dose of teasing on both sides.

However, it’s simpler and more enjoyable to tease opposing supporters when your club wins the match.

Whatever happens, the Guingamp faithful remain loyal and will be there next week.