He has been playing football there for 37 years: Samir Ghalloussi, the “big brother” of Stade Landernéen

He has been playing Football there for 37 years: Samir Ghalloussi, the “big brother” of Stade Landernéen

This time again, Samir Ghalloussi swears that he will not be taken back. “In my head, it’s my last year. I hope to end on a great jubilee with a climb for the club’s 50th anniversary next June.” But no one really believes it anymore in the Football club’s clubhouse, while the striker, who continues to score regularly, celebrated his 43rd birthday. “Every year, he tells us that,” laughs Sandra Creff, the president of Stade Landernéen, who does not despair of making him reconsider his decision, once again.

In the meantime, “Sam”, as everyone calls him here in Kergréis, will be in the group this Sunday to welcome Plougastel-Daoulas in a 32nd final of the Brittany Cup which is a priori unbalanced between two teams separated by three divisions. .

“It’s a bit like home”

The players coached by Yannick Brodier overcame this gap in the previous round by overthrowing Guipavas. “We were down 2-0 at halftime. The way the match unfolded made it monstrous. There was a superb atmosphere,” recalls the striker, not particularly focused on past exploits and rather preoccupied with the upcoming match. However, he would certainly have a lot to tell about a club he joined at the age of 5. “Here, it’s a bit like home,” explains the man who works as a plasterer, whose father and uncles came from Morocco to settle on the heights of Landerneau, hired by a construction company after having stayed for a while in Paris region and Corsica. He only knew his neighborhood of Kergréis. “I was born at the Saint-Luc clinic and I grew up here”, before “going to town” in the center of Landerneau, while his parents and brothers went to Rennes or Nantes.

“Eleven to have played”

Despite the exodus of his family, “there is still one family left in the Caventou city”. Samir never gave up the red and black jersey in which many members of the big family distinguished themselves. “Between the four brothers and the cousins, there are eleven of us in the family who played here at the time.” In a neighborhood club that has experienced a bit of everything, ups and downs, a series of more than 40 games without defeat which took it to DHR, then a serious decline. A club which has also suffered from a bad reputation that the work of recent years and the good results are about to sweep away. “Here, there are really values, respect. We have to keep that, it’s important. We want to show a good image of the club,” assures the striker, most often ready to come off the bench to show the way to his young teammates.

“We call him the general”

Because at the Stade Landernéen, beyond his longevity, “Sam” sets an example. “He’s the big brother, we call him the general because when he speaks, everyone listens,” admits a young teammate. Above all, over the years, he has invested himself in the life of the club. “Before, I came, I played the matches, no problem, but we didn’t look behind the curtain. » Since then, he has supervised the youth teams, comes to do a little voluntary refereeing “when I can help”. He even took on the role of coach for eighteen months “to help out”, before willingly giving it back.

Having become a simple player again this season, Samir Ghalloussi intends to take full advantage of this last season on the pitch with his young teammates. Unless he decides, once again, to extend the pleasure for another year.