Coupe de France: the resurrection of Union Saint-Jean! How the club, on the edge of the precipice not long ago, managed to find the light again

It came down to a penalty shootout. Last July, Union Saint-Jean saved its skin in Regional 1 at the last minute, after a stifling play-off match against Pibrac. The end of the ordeal for a team which had achieved a historic rise to National 3 in 2022, before taking the elevator again, which almost stopped two floors below.

For Grégory Sorroche, coach of the USJFC for more than a decade, the lift was described as emotional, Saturday evening after the feat of victory against Versailles (National 1), allowing the Haut-Garonnais club to reach the 32nd finals of the Coupe de France for the first time in its history. “It’s been two years of struggle, of difficult sporting results, and now we say to ourselves that everything is going very quickly” whispered the coach, disoriented at the edge of the pitch at the Georges-Beyney stadium invaded by ecstatic supporters.

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Regenerated by ambitious recruitment but always guided by “the human side and team spirit”, principles from which the two presidents, Jérôme Sudriez and Daniel Nadalin do not want to deviate under any pretext, the first team of the club born from the merger between the Union and Saint-Jean in 2018 has regained its osmosis.

Five months after almost hitting rock bottom, she is breathing the pure air of the summits, undefeated for 13 matches, second in her Regional 1 group (6 wins 5 draws 1 loss) and impressive in the Coupe de France, where she has only never closed the game against Versailles despite three divisions of difference. “We worked to find certain things, and we succeeded. I am proud of us, of the group, of the club, of everything that was put in place,” congratulates Fawzi Rabyi, captain of the USJFC.

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At 24, the captain, at the club since 2019, experienced his second David against Goliath fight, five years after facing Bayonne (N1) in the 7th round of the Coupe de France. UJSFC had lost, and Fawzi Rabyi came away with the regret that the team “did not play its card”.

This time, she did it, leaving two years of hardship behind her once and for all, and opening the door to a future woven with dreams. This Monday, December 2 evening, Union Saint-Jean will be focused on its opponent in the 32nd finals of the Cup, the stage at which the Ligue 1 teams enter the field.