The ex-Auxerrois, a word player, came to play in Montpellier to keep a promise made to Louis Nicollin. On the pitch, he is the MHSC defender who has scored the most goals in the club’s history.
A special issue of 84 pages
Condensing half a century of history into 84 pages. This is the challenge taken up by the sports editorial staff of Midi Libre in this special issue on the 50th anniversary of the MHSC. Available on newsstands on December 11 for only 5 euros, this glossy magazine will make you relive the great moments in the history of the Montpellier club through our “50” who made the MHSC. Players, coaches and builders, obviously, starting with this “Nicollin Saga”, told by Laurent and Colette, the wife of the late Loulou. A special issue full of anecdotes and unpublished photos with an exclusive interview with Olivier Giroud.
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His talent did not germinate on the banks of La Mosson or in a greenhouse in Grammont, but it is just like that. Franck Silvestre and Montpellier Hérault were made to meet. It was written in limbo on the moral contract made between the international stopper and Louis Nicollin at the time when the Montpellier president, delegate of the League to the Blues, followed them to the four corners of the world.
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“We always had a good feeling and one day, during a tour in Kuwait, President Nicollin told me “you will come and play in my club one day. I replied “with pleasure.”
“I told Loulou, I gave my word, I will come and play in Montpellier”
From Guadeloupe, where he returned to his roots to take charge of sports in the urban community of the Riviera du Levant, the defender trained in Sochaux recounts that day in 1998 when he kept his word, against the logic of football business : “I was going to leave Auxerre. Montpellier was in the running but Lens, the reigning French champion, was too. Loulou called me saying ‘You’re going to go and play the Champions League with Lens, that’s normal, I can’t not line up. And then I answer him: “I gave you my word in Kuwait, I want to come to you. As he was someone of his word, he must have appreciated my approach. The flow has always gone very well with him and with his children.”
Club spirit cultivated in Sochaux and Auxerre
The club spirit, the love of the jersey, Franck understood that these virtues, which he had cultivated in the nurseries of Sochaux then Auxerre, were the key to opening the hearts of people in this club. “really apart from where everyone goes out of their way to make you comfortable and where my stay enriched me.”
Free Midi – Richard De Hullessen
At the crossroads of the 90s and 2000s, the defender will serve as a lookout, whether aiming for the summits – victory in the Intertoto Cup – or going down to the mine to wrest support in the darkest furrows of everyday life.
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50 years of the MHSC: Jean-Louis Gasset, the heir to a family story between passion and friendship
28 goals and 159 games
“After the 1999 raid, I wanted to leave but the president convinced me to stay,” he said. Exemplary captain who will leave his mark in the statistics as a defender having scored the most goals in the history of the club: 28 in 159 matches, almost one goal every 5 matches (Laurent Blanc scored more but mainly at the position of midfielder, Editor’s note).
“Frankly, I didn’t know it… I surprised myself by becoming a free kick shooter in Montpellier, with happinesshe smiles. But my strong point remained my heading thanks to great timing. I stretched my neck so much that the teammates nicknamed me “Duck”.
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50 years of the MHSC: Bernard Soccoro, founder of the first supporters club and the “Paillade spirit”
