A mix of Kon for “warrior” and Gall for “bravery”: this is the meaning of Komgall, the mascot of En Avant Guingamp. A mascot with an imposing build, with the appearance of rugby player Sébastien Chabal, who hosted the club’s home matches for three seasons.
The costume has remained in the locker room since Covid-19, but Komgall is above all an Irish saint. Whose statue En Avant Guingamp wanted to have in the Valley of the Saints of Carnoët, about forty kilometers southwest of Guingamp (Côtes-d’Armor). The announcement was made in December 2017, during the first general meeting of Kalon, the supporter-shareholders of En Avant Guingamp who participated in the financing with the club.
A saint celebrated on May 9
If En Avant chose this Irish monk to make him their giant, it is not by chance. The Komgall festival is on May 9. And it was also on May 9, 2009 that Guingamp won its first Coupe de France. It did not take more for the club, then chaired by Bertrand Desplat, to decide to inaugurate its giant of more than 4 m in height, on May 9, 2019, in order to celebrate in grand style the ten years of the first coronation. Except that the big planned celebration was postponed, due to poor results of the Red and Black that season, in Ligue 1. A season which ultimately ended with a relegation to Ligue 2.
A fish balloon
So there was no party, but the statue of Komgall has been well installed on the feudal mound since spring 2019, among hundreds of other granite giants. A true emblem of the club, created by the sculptor Goulven Jaouen.
To find her on the hill of Quénéquillec, there is no question of looking for a statue with an engraved EAG jersey. But a sort of fish-balloon at the foot of the giant as a nod to En Avant and the monk who is said to have miraculous catches. To best spot her among the other saints, here are a few clues: you have to look down, in the middle of a group of statues. Komgall is the one looking towards the mound.
