After his triumph in the Coupe de France against Strasbourg, JDA Dijon beat Cholet on Tuesday, thus giving itself the right to still believe in the playoffs, when traveling to Nanterre on Saturday May 4, 2024. On the bench, as always (or almost) for 40 years and his arrival at the club in 1984, the physiotherapist: Eric Chavance. “A pillar of the staff for many years”as presented by the club on his website. A monument, recognizable… by his famous bow tie, which he wears on match nights.
“We can’t win, the staff are poorly dressed”
The story between Eric Chavance and the JDA begins 40 years ago, when he began by taking care of youth teams. Before quickly switching to the management of the first team, by happy coincidence and thanks to a defection. “Eric, can you come and help us out, don’t we have a physiotherapist?”he said in a video published by the club, in 2018. In these early years, he did not wear the famous bow tie. This specificity “date of Michel Renault’s presidency”in the 1990s, informed the person concerned on the microphone France Bleu Bourgogne, in reference to the former president of the JDAbetween 1998 and 2015.
It’s funny, but this bow tie appeared in his outfit after a big defeat. “One day, we took a “tour” to Antibes. At the time, Antibes was French champion, everyone took “tours”. Michel Renault entered the locker room. I was dressed in jeans and a shirt. And he said: “We can’t win anyway, the staff is poorly dressed. We can’t win with a staff dressed like that.” says Eric Chavance. Teasing, he takes him at his word. “The next match, I arrived with the same jeans, the same shirt… but with a bow tie.”
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“Since then, I have been asked not to take it off”, he laughs. The original joke has turned into a real superstition. “In sport, we have Indian signs on which we rely, recognizes the physiotherapist. This bow tie has toured Europe, since I have worn it we have won more matches than we have lost.“
Eric Chavance doesn’t have just one of this distinctive accessory. Some are even more effective, more victorious than others, so it sometimes changes: one for the European Cup, one for the championship. Nice wink, his special Coupe de France bow tie was around his neck during his daughter’s wedding, which took place… at the same time as the final, won by the JDA against Strasbourg.
CLUB PHYSICIAN SINCE 1984, HE TELLS US ABOUT THE 2006 FRANCE BASKETBALL CUP
