As soon as they see the top of the AJA hat at the bottom of the stand, the AS Gurgy children stand up as one. At his side, Djibril Cissé, smiling, understood that the idol of the day would be his mentor, Guy Roux. Although they were not born during the coach's last match on the AJA bench, Gurgy's U8s all sing in chorus a « Guy Roux, Guy Roux » to which the person responds with a big smile and a wave of the hand. Oh, and for those who don't know where Gurgy is, it's a village 9.4 kilometers from Auxerre according to modern navigation tools. The kind of place where to find the municipal stadium, you simply have to find rue du Stade. This November 13, it is cool, three or four degrees perhaps, felt -1000. There you have it, the stage is set.
Equipment for amateur clubs
Before entering the pitch to lead a workshop in front of the cage, Cissé, who scored 90 goals between 1999 and 200 in the Auxerre jersey, explains the reason for their presence on the pitch of the Gonio stadium. « We are here to see the children, at the initiative of the Ring brand (an Amazon company that designs remote surveillance cameras, Editor's note). It's cool what they do, helping amateur clubs, it's great. We came with a person who is very dear to me, Guy Roux, and we are in the Auxerre region, so everything comes together to have a wonderful day. »
Guy Roux had his supervisors at the toll booth, it's not a legend!
Next to him stands Johan Desmedt, vice-president of the club. « At the end of last season, we saw the initiative of Ring, which is committed to sponsoring amateur football. We applied and were lucky enough to be selected. They sent us sets of jerseys for the adult and youth teams »explains the man who also plays goalkeeper for his club's reserve team. Indeed, for the 2024-2025 season, the Ring brand, in collaboration with Act for sport, is sponsoring 120 amateur clubs throughout France, as part of the Together, we go further campaign – even if today, we will not go further than the refreshment bar to get a coffee to warm up a little. Thus, each club is allocated an allocation of equipment for the players, but also for the coaches and facilitators. An always welcome boost in the often fragile economy of an amateur club.
“The best monitoring tool”
On the pitch, the former Blues, Liverpool and OM striker helps young players improve their hairline. We laugh, the scorer mainly came to give some advice on how to finish their actions in front of goal. Meanwhile, Guy Roux, still as popular as ever, lends himself to the game of photos with the young people, under the delighted gaze of parents, and autographs, even if the new generation favors Real or Manchester City jerseys over that of the AJA. Visibly in a very good mood, Guy Roux allows himself a few jokes about AS Gurgy's new sponsor, Ring, a company producing video surveillance devices and connected ringtones. “I was told it was the best monitoring tool on the market. If I had had this at the time to monitor the players, it would have been wonderful! » Returning to the region in the summer of 2023 to train the AJA attackers, Djibril Cissé cannot help but smile and conclude: “When I tell you that Guy Roux had his toll supervisors, it’s not a legend! »
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