In this town in Gironde, a father and his son coach the same football team

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In the Ghorafi family, on vit footballwe eat football, we sleep football. “In everyday life, football represents 26 hours a day… Or if you prefer 8 days a week,” jokes Abdellah.

At 56, the man who caught the eye of Guy Roux, legendary coach of AJ Auxerre, is now invested in Patronage Bazadais, the football club in Bazas, in Gironde.

Between the father and the son, an obvious complicity

And he is not the only one in his lineage. Because the son, Mehdi, also wears blue and white. The icing on the ball: father and son coach a team together of the Bazadais Patronage, namely the U17s.

Which, one can easily imagine, will fuel numerous discussions. Karine, wife of Abdellah and mother of Medhi, confirms this with a big smile:

They are truly two football enthusiasts! It is therefore a ritual on Sunday evening: the debriefing of the weekend's matches during the aperitif!

Logical, after all, when we look at the journey of two men.

Mehdi Ghorafi, born October 29, 2005, has been playing football since he was little. It was in U15 that he arrived in Bazas, within the agreement with FC Sud-Gironde. Then, he will join the Pays Gascogne, then spend a year with the seniors of Saint-Symphorien… Then will return to the Pays Gascogne before settling down at Patronage Bazadais in U19.

On the professional side, Mehdi continues his studies. For his professional certificate in youth, popular education and sport, he became assistant coach category U17 to the Bazadais Patronage. With one goal: to obtain the State Diploma in Youth, Popular Education and Sports as a sports coach.

Mehdi proposes his father as main coach

Unfortunately, the head coach of the U17s, with whom Mehdi works, does not stay. It was at that moment that everything changes. The young man made a proposal to the Bazadais presidents: that his dad become the head coach of the U17s. Proposal accepted.

And here he is, settling down on the Bazadais bench with his fathera man who knows a lot about football. Young, he played in Montbard (Côte-d'Or). Guy Roux, the famous coach of AJ Auxerre, wants to bring him to Yonne, but Abdellah's parents refuse! “Priority to school and not football,” says the father.

On the bench, “father and son are one and the same person”

In 2024, he became a versatile educator. When the presidents asked him to replace the U17 coach by working with his son Mehdi, Abdellah immediately accepted. For the year 2024-2025, he coaches two teams, U13 and U17. It thus forms a hell of a pair with his offspring, now bigger than him.

And Abdellah confides: “With Mehdi, we see the same things in terms of potential. For me, it's the words, for Mehdi, it's the eye. In this team, father and son are one and the same person ! Mehdi just blames me for talking too much to the referee during matches, which sometimes influences decisions…”

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