Le Puy, anything but a miracle

For several seasons, Le Puy has built a serious reputation as a springboard club, highlighted by its runs in the Coupe de France.

In Puy-en-Velay, ultimately, it is the only one that is unshakable. Monumental, the statue of Notre-Dame-de-France, completed in 1860, dominates the Haute-Loire prefecture and from the corner of your eye, you can watch the exploits of the Ciel et Blanc at the Charles-Massot stadium. Since 2018, they have been recurring, as if the Virgin had blessed Puy Foot 43 Auvergne, accustomed, at least, to the 32nd finals of the Coupe de France despite an accident in Cannes during the 7th round (1- 1, 4 tab to 3) in November 2021.

“There is no secrethowever, assures Olivier Miannay, general manager of the National 2 club (group A) for more than six years. It’s just a respect for the competition: we field the best possible team each time, regardless of the level of the opponent. This allows us to create surprises, but also not have too many bad ones. »

The Coupe de France on FFF.FR

Last season, Le Puy reached the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France, eliminated by Rennes (1-3) at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Étienne (photo Philippe LE BRECH / APL / FFF).

In this month of January 2025, the Ponote enclosure, bordered by an athletics track, is still somewhat dressed in the colors of the event, a vestige of a new divine post-Christmas evening, in a stadium that has become Bombonera to the rhythm of the trumpet of the most famous supporter, Martin, 11 years old. After Lorient (1-0), in March 2021, and Nice (1-0), in 2023, Montpellier (4-0), another Ligue 1 team, got violently bogged down before the holidays at Massot, always a little fat in winter.

“Today, Le Puy is famous for lentils but also football”
Only Stade Rennais, in recent history, has actually managed to hold its place… but it was at Geoffroy-Guichard, last season, during the quarter-finals (1-3), after Dunkerque and Laval (L2), with the same score (2-1), fell into a well-known trap of a playful and spectacular team. “We wanted to keep this story alivesays Stéphane Dief (47), who succeeded Roland Vieira in the summer of 2023, who remained on the bench for ten years. There is nothing pretentious but the confidence accumulated over these years allows us to prepare for these special events in the usual way. We feel driven by the desire to succeed and, above all, we are convinced that we are capable of doing it. It’s not just fantasy. »
“It’s a competition that we love because it makes this small town in Haute-Loire known throughout France. Today, we are famous for lentils but also for football”complete, all smiles, Olivier Miannay.

And rather beautiful football, even if Le Puy Foot 43, managed since 2010 by Christophe Gauthier, “a president who is both very invested but with a lot of perspective who allows everyone to work freely”says Stéphane Dief, has not started the last two seasons with much certainty. Starting with a clean sheet in 2023 after relegation to the National, the squad was again largely reshuffled seven months ago.

Christophe Gauthier, president of Puy Foot 43 since 2010 (photo Sébastien RICOU).

Arriving at training on his electric scooter, goalkeeper Matis Carvalho (25 years old) is one of the few to have returned, like Renald Xhemo (28 years old), propelled captain, Nicolas Pays (21 years old), the local kid , and Bourama Diarra (24 years old). “I liked this experience during my first season. To Moulins-Yzeure (where he coached before, Editor’s note), I had groups that were a little too stable. There, I enjoyed rediscovering almost the entire squad, being obliged to convey my entire message to seduce them, and the public with it. I had no fears and I wasn’t disappointed to do it again, especially since I had a few people who knew where we were going. We had already proven to ourselves that we were capable of achieving it”confides the coach.

Olivier Miannay, general manager of Puy Foot 43, appreciates the serenity of the Haute-Loire club (photo Daniel DERAJINSKI / ICON SPORT).

Anticipate to minimize the risk of failure
This is the strength of Olivier Miannay, whose legend has it that he was born with wireless headphones grafted to his ears. The general manager has an XXL network and since his arrival in 2018, has rarely made a mistake in recruitment. “He’s really too strong.”even slips a close friend of the club. “We try to work wellhumbly responds the person concerned, in the profession since the beginning of the 2000s. We watch a lot of matches, we study a lot of profiles and if there is not unanimity, we do not recruit. We work with an N+1 or even N+2 strategy, which means that we are never too caught off guard. As a general manager, it is my duty to anticipate. For example, I have been following Abdelnour Soualhia for two years who joined us last summer. »

Stéphane Dief, on the ponot bench since the summer of 2023, attaches as much importance to the content as to the results of the meetings (Hugo PFEIFFER / ICON SPORT).

This method is bearing fruit because Le Puy has become a real springboard. Jim Allevinah (Angers, L1), Tim Jabol (Ajaccio, L2), Jésah Ayessa (Ajaccio, L2), Lenny Joseph (Grenoble, L2), Jules Meyer (Dijon, National)… Dozens of players took advantage of their time in Haute-Loire to bounce back to a higher level. “This is the project that I set up. Our role is to allow kids who have not managed to get into the professional world to get there by another means. When we recruit a player, we don’t take him just because he is good. There are lots of criteria that I cannot reveal. But when it ticks all the boxes, I’m pretty confident that it’s going to work. I know that one day it might not work as well and we’ll be in trouble. But we strive, through work, to push back this deadline as much as possible. »

Enough to reassure the iconic Notre-Dame-de-France statue, which will certainly bless the Ponots before the trip to Dives-Cabourg (N3) during the round of 16 of the Coupe de France.

Born in Puy-en-Velay, the virulent Nicolas Pays (21 years old) has taken on another dimension this season (photo Daniel DERAJINSKI / ICON SPORT.

The results of the Coupe de France