“We want to play the leading roles”

AMTFA’s relegation to D3

“Sportingly, it’s a big disappointment. We were off to a good start, we had improved our squad, had a good first half of the championship. Afterwards, we collapsed, certainly disunited, and we had some performances, not to mention the big defeats that we suffered The most difficult thing is that we had our survival in our hands several times: during our two draws (Metz then Le Mans) we were leading by the score and we lost. is caught. In all honesty, I never really believed in it. It’s been a while since I asked the staff to work for the D3. And, at the end of the season, we lacked the self-sacrifice to achieve this objective.”

A real downgrade?

“Not necessarily, knowing that the only two amateur clubs in D2F, Montauban and us, are going down. D3 is becoming the top amateur level in women’s football. It’s still a disappointment, but we’re working to play a leading role. If the opportunity to go up presents itself, we’ll do everything to achieve it. The ambition is not to say we want to go up at all costs, no. We want to play a leading role, in order to seize all the opportunities. You have to know that, to return to D2F, we’re arming ourselves even more from a financial point of view. Today, we lack the funding to perform honourably in the second division.”

Delayed preparation

“Unquestionably, we were waiting. We no longer really knew in which division we were going to play so we fell behind. We are working hard on this, we would like everything to be completed by July 1. For At the moment, nothing official, but there will be few departures, and they will be entirely compensated by recruits. We also need to be able to integrate young people from the club into our group.

Recruitment and staff

“We are mainly working on the girls who are at D2 level, with a few young players in the making. We are sticking with players who have played in D2 or D3 this season. For the staff, Alain Bénédet is continuing. There is only one departure to note, that of Nicolas Castanier, who is being replaced by Sébastien Paulet. Furthermore, Nicolas is staying at the club and will be in charge of recruitment. He will also be working on the women’s section, but with the youth.”

The D3 – R1 rapprochement

“The two coaches (Alain Bénédet and David Conquet) will work even closer together, so as to be able to give some young players a glimpse of the top level. The squad in group 1 will also go from 22 to 18 players. So in the event of injuries or suspensions, the reserve players will have the opportunity to move up to the first team.”