CSince 1988, it has been a symbol of the prestige of the Girondins de Bordeaux. For those who have already entered the residence dating from the 19th centurye century, it is 850 square meters from the basement to the second floor, with ex-locker rooms, kitchens, a bar, meeting rooms, including the famous international lounge where all the players having worn the jersey of the French team have their portrait, offices but also the map of the club's European opponents, the trophies… After the fall of the Bordeaux club to the amateur level and the social plan which reduced the number of administrative employees almost 100 to ten, the future of Château Bel-Air – or more commonly Château du Haillan – is today at the heart of discussions between the City of Bordeaux and the Bordeaux club.
Retrospective: belonging to the municipality, the site where it is located (28 hectares all inclusive) has been made available to the Bordeaux club as an administrative and sporting headquarters for thirty-six years. It is divided into three long administrative leases (BEA). Two, signed at the beginning of the 2000s between the municipality and the Société Anonyme (SA) Girondins and running until 2060, concern the plot comprising the building of the professional training center, that of the training center and the synthetic pitch separating them , built on the club's finances: the club benefits from it for a symbolic euro and ensures its maintenance. The SA's entry into receivership has not affected it to date.
38 euros per hour for professionals
The third has come back in the news regularly in recent years. Acted in 1999, it made the rest of the site (ten fields, the changing rooms and premises of the amateur part, the accommodation bungalows, the castle) available to the Girondins in exchange for maintenance and an annual rent of 28,415 euros, brocade repeatedly by the Regional Court of Auditors as a disguised subsidy. The Domaine service estimated in 2021 the rental value of the space at ten times more (280,000 euros annually). This BEA was completed in 2023 and, from 2020, negotiations were launched with the club to establish a new one (also until 2060) or even for… the purchase of the site estimated at 15 million euros. The financial troubles quickly put an end to it, and the City agreed twice to renew the old conditions in the form of agreements, until June 2024 then, during the Municipal Council meeting on July 7, until June 30, 2025.
The collapse of the club three weeks later finally decided otherwise: the dismissal, as part of the social plan, of the staff responsible for maintenance, made the agreement void since November 6. The City of Bordeaux has taken over the management of this entire part of the site, ensuring the maintenance of the land and premises with its agents and service providers.
“The place must be attractive, and it has what it takes: it is historic, green. It shouldn’t cost us.”
The use of the two pitches dedicated to the professional first team is now billed at 38 euros per hour to the SA. The rest, used by the Girondins association (i.e. the amateur part going from the Football school to the flagship women's team and the senior men's reserve team), is offered free of charge “as we do with the other municipal facilities for Bordeaux clubs,” points out Mathieu Hazouard, sports assistant, who estimates the dedicated staff at “three to four full-time equivalents.”
A floor for the Girondins?
There remains the case of the castle. “Providing such a building is extremely expensive,” slips the elected official. According to our information, the City initially mentioned a sum of 38,000 euros for the use of the entire residence for two months (November and December). The club responded that it could not afford it. The latter imagines continuing to use at least one floor and retaining control over the use of the rest. Which is now in the hands of the town hall.
“I am very attached to maintaining a sporting dimension. I consider that the Girondins will quickly rise to a level which corresponds to their history and that they will need it in full again quickly. The question is the interval. The place must be attractive, and it has what it takes: it is historic, green. We must first finalize with the Girondins according to their needs and we will see. It must not cost us (money),” continues Mathieu Hazouard, who intends to involve the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Football League (based a few hundred meters away) in the reflection.
A new meeting took place this Thursday, November 14, with the hope of a solution by the beginning of 2025.
