“My brother and I will always claim our trashy side”: Laurent Nicollin's confessions for the 50th anniversary of the MHSC

“I don’t see myself anywhere other than on the bench during matches,” confides Laurent Nicollin, the president of MHSC. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

He fell into it when he was little and spent his life there. La Mosson, the legendary stadium of MHSC which celebrates this Saturday afternoon (3 p.m.) the club’s fiftieth anniversary, is full of a thousand little stories. Declaration of love from the president.

“I knew the La Mosson stadium when I was very young, in its first configuration. On Wednesdays, I would go eat steak and chips at the Casino next to the church with my brother (Olivier) and my mother (Colette), then she would leave us to train on the small grassy field, which was next to the prefabricated offices, before my father brought us back from La Paillade. That was my whole youth. I often hung out with a few friends on the edge of the pitch, we went from stand to stand… My corner was opposite the presidential or opposite the Butte.

It smelled like the 80s, I mean dad's football, the old way, which had a lot of values ​​but which is no longer the football of today. My father, my mother, everyone ran here and there to find a franc. Around the Butte, there were two small huts for refreshment stands, I sold cans, there was my mother, the wife of Bernard (Gasset), from Mézy, and I forget some. My father said to himself that with the wives of managers at the refreshment stands, no one would steal his money, it was a whole system.
I don't remember the dirt Butte anymore, I only knew the hard one, a stand with a big sign and, outside the stadium, trees on which people crowded, especially when we received Saint-Étienne in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France (1-1 in 1981). The first great memories, the first emotions, it's the beginning of the 80s, it's the D2. We went to Thonon, Cuiseaux-Louhans, Chaumont, we saw a lot of country.

At the time, we didn't drop our pants and we knew how to make ourselves respected at home. We could do things that, of course, we can't do anymore

We talk about a village, a local club, what La Paillade was, a popular place. La Paillade was created with Bernard Gasset and people who had a certain idea of ​​football. And then, we went through the trash, so who says trash says that we were already special. We had employees around the locker room who could make certain things understood and be impressive. That was the spirit of the club. The time was different, let's say that we didn't drop our pants and that we knew how to make ourselves respected at home. We could do things that, of course, we can't do anymore. One year, when we hosted Olympique Lyonnais in the Cup, three cars of gypsies showed up at training to tell them to get lost. Well, they went back to the hotel. It was intimidation. When you went to Corsica or to other clubs, it was complicated too.

The popular roots are the soul of the club. Some leaders, the Miranda, Nègre or Boccia families all lived in La Paillade, their children played at the club, they were part of the first wave of pied-noirs who arrived. We took the living forces of the neighborhood, who came to lend a hand at the refreshment bars. From the moment you go through the trash, in people's minds, you are automatically labeled “working class”. We have this soul, this spirit, and we claim it.

In the trash, we rub shoulders with people who know what the value of work and money is

I don't want to be reductive and take another beating on social media, but yes, in the trash, we rub shoulders with people who know the value of work and money. You find yourself with people who get up at 4 in the morning to pick up people's shit, they are not always pleasant and do not smile much at this time, but it is a great school of life. When you play with footballers who earn a lot of money and then you find your employees, you come back down to earth. My brother and I will always claim our “trash” side, whether people like it or not.

The help of the 1998 World Cup

Playing the second half against the Butte is a tradition. The popular side comes from the supporters, they express their feelings. There too, things have changed. Unfortunately, we can no longer do what we did with the supporters in the 70s to 90s with Bernard Socorro (founder of the first supporter club, who died in 2023), for whom I have a thought, because he contributed at his level to making the club known. When I was little, I remember grilling with the players and the supporters, there was a very strong bond.

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Today, it's different. I receive supporters every year, we chat, but we remain discreet: I can't receive 500 supporters and grill them. The important thing is to have a good relationship in good intelligence. Life is not the same as it was 40 years ago, there are things that we can't do, which are totally different, because the supporters themselves have changed. It is certain that with a new stadium, we will have to recreate a history, an identity, a link, but there is no reason why it should not happen naturally, as Nice or Lyon did. I mean that it will be up to us, the club, as well as the supporters to create a new history.

We saw some great people at the Mosson. The biggest star is Michel Platini

Later, in 1998, the World Cup allowed my father and Georges Frêche to expand the club and the stadium. As soon as we moved up to the first division, in 1987-1988, we expanded the in-person stadium, then the Butte. The contribution of the World Cup allowed us to make the switch thanks to a closed stadium, the one we know today. At that time, the stadium was designed in a certain way, but not for the 2000s. It's not a shame. It was thought out by people who believed, without consulting the club, what it would be good to do. It was a different policy, a different way of seeing things. Afterwards, we have no reason to complain. The goal is to get history to switch to a new project. We can say that we saw some great people at La Mosson. The biggest star was Michel Platini. We also welcomed the Manchester United of the prestigious Bobby Charlton (in 1991). We especially experienced the great return of Zidane to the French team (3-0 victory against the Ivory Coast, on August 17, 2005).

The locker room as a sanctuary

Personally, I don't see myself anywhere other than on the bench during matches. Even if there are certain presidents that I like, I don't see myself in the stands with them. No, I need to interact with my players and my staff, I have a vital need to be close to them. I have to feel like I'm useful, even if I'm useless. But it reassures me to be with them. Honestly, at La Mosson, I don't have any particular ritual. It's more in the way I dress or the route I take to get to the stadium. Every match, I have to change my route, it's sometimes complicated! Afterwards, it's certain that if I invite a president for a drink and we lose the match, the following season, I won't invite him.

The locker room has always been a special place, a place of fantasy. I won't go so far as to say that it's a sanctuary, but it must remain something closed.

In recent years, I would remember four matches where the atmosphere was fantastic, in total harmony with the crowd. Strasbourg (2-1 victory, May 25, 2009), Lille (May 13, 2012, 1-0), but also the reception of Arsenal in the Champions League (September 19, 2012-2013), even if we lost. I almost forgot the derby against Nîmes (September 29, 2018, 3-0). These are stressful matches, but you tell yourself that you can't lose, you feel invincible, it can't be explained. These victories were experienced like finals. We criticized our crowd so much for not being there enough… It's a whole: the team has to perform so that the supporters follow.

When you win, there is the tradition of “zig-zagging”, even if I don’t know where it comes from. My father started this chant, I follow the movement, it’s our thing. The locker room has always been a special place, a place of fantasy. I fell into it when I was little. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s a sanctuary, but it has to remain something closed. It’s good to open it to the cameras, but sometimes, there are selfish moments. We all suffer so much all week long, that when the outcome comes, we want to share it just between us, without people outside our family life. My father wasn’t like that at all. He let everyone in.

The club evolved at the same time as the stadium, one went with the other

Finally, there is the 74th minute in tribute to Loulou. It is something beautiful, because it continues. It is a very beautiful spontaneous initiative of our supporters, who have formed a strong bond with the MHSC institution. It brings the whole stadium together around a common cause, and for me, it moves me. When Adams scores against Auxerre in the 74th minute, you tell yourself that he (Loulou) gave us a helping hand. Sometimes, we lose in the 74th, so there, he must be taking a nap.

I am 51 years old, Mosson represents a life. But for me, there is also the Paillade district, my youth, the Coupe de France matches, the Champions League, the D2… The club has evolved at the same time as the stadium, one has gone with the other. I hope that the club will continue to exist, because it should not decline at the same time as the stadium. We will do everything to ensure that the transfer to a new stadium goes as smoothly as possible, with a club still in Ligue 1, proud of its results and its supporters. Afterwards, will I be part of this new story? There is life after La Mosson, maybe not, I don't know.”

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