“We had a big game but we missed the feat. The memories are still vivid in the mind of Nicolas Pallois. The one who now has more than 400 professional matches first went through the back door, before becoming an unbeatable FC Nantes. It all started in 2010 for the native of Elbeuf. US Quevilly, then a resident of CFA, had an exceptional career in the Coupe de France. The famous course of a Tom Thumb, creating the surprise lap after lap. Angers, then in Ligue 2, then Rennes and Boulogne were released from competition by USQ.
On his left side, the young Pallois makes his power speak. Above the lot, the Norman bursts the screen. To the point of attracting the covetousness of many Ligue 1 clubs. Quevilly’s journey was stopped at the gates of the final, in a Michel-d’Ornano stadium ready for the feat. Faced with Paris-Saint-Germain of Giuly, Hoarau and Sakho, fans are on the verge of validating their ticket for the Stade de France. Defeat 1-0. But for the young Pallois, then 22 years old, a new adventure is beginning. That of professional football. “I had small touches after the semi-final, even perhaps before and it was necessary to sort out, already in relation to the agents. He then discovers a whole world that opens up to him. “It was the Coupe de France that launched me into the professional world. Without that, I might have had opportunities in National at the limit. But the Coupe de France allowed me to have this springboard which meant that I signed immediately in Ligue 1, ”he says today.
Awareness
Several French clubs are on the shelves. It is Valenciennes who will finally win the bet. “I was close to Régis Brouard and we discussed it. He’s someone I love very much. He helped me make the best decision”. It must be said that the young footballer is not entirely aware of a possible professional future. At the time, the defender was also a carpenter. In CDI, the opportunity of the professional world seems to him somewhat abstract, distant. Nicolas Pallois plays football. For fun, mostly. “The hardest part was realizing that I could do something in football. »
Yet well aware of his facilities at the CFA level, the Norman does not take his head. And does what he does best: play. “I was playing football without realizing a lot of things. Whether it was against Paris or in the CFA, it didn’t change much for me, ”he says, the one the supporters now call Mr. Clean. Because the slicked back hair of the time has given way to a perfectly shaved head. The beard has taken over the collar.
“With 15 years of hindsight, yes, it’s magnificent! »
For his professional debut at Valenciennes, he made nearly fifteen Ligue 1 matches the following season. “It was already beautiful,” says Pallois. He then joined Laval on loan, then two years at Niort. And finally Bordeaux. The rest, everyone knows. A signing in Nantes in the summer of 2017. Ups, downs, coaching changes… The defender then saw the play-offs after a more than difficult 2020-2021 season. Today, he is preparing to live what he touched with his fingertips in 2010: a final at the Stade de France. But the colossus keeps his feet on the ground.
“With 15 years of hindsight, yes, it’s magnificent! There are many who are in a training center and for whom it does not pass afterwards. It’s football that’s like that. You have to have fun where there is. Today, I am the old locker room! It’s a wheel. You have to enjoy on the field and with the supporters. This pleasure is the priority. »
After a semi-final at La Beaujoire against Monaco in “an extraordinary atmosphere”, the one who has just extended his two-year lease at the FCN intends to “repeat” the experience at the Stade de France. After five seasons with the Yellow and Green, Pallois is in love with FC Nantes. And the fans give it back to him. A feeling shared by the player, who is one of the darlings of Beaujoire. “Ah, I don’t know… If I score in the final, maybe! he smiles. Difficult to dig deeper into the shell of a rather reserved man in the face of the media. But his desire to win and lift the trophy is palpable. “Now we have to play this match against Nice and bring back a title. The carpenter from Quevilly dreamed of it. The FC Nantes footballer did it. The magic of this “cut of all possibilities. »