This is what can happen when you have the same name, or almost. Last week took place the draw of the 7th round of the French Football Cup, in Clairefontaine (Yvelines). The approximately one thousand inhabitants of a small town in the North, Provin (Regional 1), are passionate about their football club which continues to go through rounds in the Cup.
Except that the notoriety of US Provin has, it seems, not reached the authorities of the French Football Federation (FFF) which organizes the Coupe de France. “We were on the road to Clairefontaine when we discovered on the FFF website that our club had been transformed into Provins, a town located in Seine-et-Marne,” says Hervé Legrand, president of US Provin .
Spelling and geographic error
The spelling error could have been inconsequential. “We have already seen Provin written with an “s”,” admits the president. But the mistake went so far as to place the northern club in a hat with a strong Ile-de-France sound. At this stage of the competition, the FFF organizes the draw taking into account geography.
“We ended up with clubs from Île-de-France and the west,” continues Hervé Legrand. On arrival at Clairefontaine, we reported it to the organizers. They admitted their mistake, but told us it was too late to change the hats. » Result, instead of falling against a northern club, Provin drew Laval, current leader of Ligue 2, that is to say the strongest team at this level of the competition.
Win by forfeit
The northern leader therefore does so against bad luck, with good heart. “It’s still a beautiful poster,” he says. Hervé Legrand will always be able to console himself because the regulation of the regional phases of the Coupe de France specifies that “from the 6th round, there cannot be more than two geographical groups”. So, even without this mistake, Provin could have landed in this hat. As proof, a club from Pas-de-Calais, Nœux-les-Mines, was also there.
“Now, we can hope that after the federation, the leaders of Laval also make a mistake and go to Provins to play. We would win the match by forfeit,” jokes Hervé Legrand who decided to reserve the Stadium Lille Métropole in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, to play the match on Saturday November 18.