50 years of MHSC: Marion Torrent and Montpellier Hérault…, “it's my second home!”

Marion Torrent, une carrière au MHSC. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

Having arrived at the club at the age of 12, in 2004, with her first steps in the elite, then N1 women at 16, the emblematic captain of the MHSC who exceeded the 350 match mark at the end of 2024, has embraced its colours and values.

What is your view on your attachment to the MHSC?

It's my second home! I spent more time here, in Montpellier, than with my parents in Aix-en-Provence. I developed there as a woman, as a player. And the more years and seasons go by, the more I stay in Montpellier and the more attached I am to it. And the less I want to leave. Opportunities meant that I could have, I didn't want to, and I don't regret it.

It's a choice of the heart ?

It's also a choice of loyalty (like in 2019 when the team experienced a new cycle with the departure of executives like Toletti, Karchaoui, Gauvin, Editor's note). It would have broken my heart to put them in the s… I felt it like that. Everyone makes their choices based on who they are and what makes them happy. For me, that was it.

“It's impossible today for me to go and play in another club in France”

Is it also linked to the age at which you arrived at the club, at 12 years old??

Clearly, yes. You leave your family, bounced between host families where things don't necessarily go well. You take refuge in football, in work, you meet the same people every day, who are there when things aren't going well. Year after year, you win youth competitions, you create strong bonds, emotion and over time, it's your family. It's impossible today for me to go and play in another club, or abroad. I don't want to. I only did one but I'm happy to have done that club. It will always be my club.

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What were your ties with Loulou ?

I had a certain closeness with Louis Nicollin, with Laurent too who is very invested in women's football, and today, when I see his daughter, I tell myself that I knew her when she was little… We grow, we evolve with these people and we are no longer just with the club… I saw it evolve, saw the infrastructure evolve in Grammont. Here, the match field was a rugby field. It is also up to me to be in the transmission, to say how they put the means to make it evolve, grow. Women's football does not bring in money… There must be a certain recognition of what has been done, of what is being done. When Louis Nicollin, whose voice counted in football, created this section, he was a pioneer. It had an impact on football with others who followed him. He was always kind to me. You have a certain recognition and you want to give yourself also for these people who started from nothing. From there comes the taste for work, for effort.

“When I was young, I played in red and white”

Knowing where you come from?

When I see the red jersey released for the 50th anniversary and people who are surprised… But those are his colours! When I was young, I played in red and white. With the big N of Nicollin. I still have the shorts and the jerseys! I went to the Butte Paillade, we had places with all the young people from the training centre and then when you sign professionally, you are in the Haut-Languedoc. And when they went up to Ligue 1, everyone invaded the pitch and I regretted not being at the Butte to go there! When they won the title, played the Champions League against Arsenal, it was crazy. And when we played in the Champions League… These are moments that will remain forever engraved.

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 team of Midi Libre in this special edition 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, of course, starting with this “Nicollin Saga”, told by Laurent and Colette, the wife of the late Loulou. A special issue packed with anecdotes and unpublished photos with an exclusive interview with Olivier Giroud.

A special issue of 84 pages.

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