It is also yours ” Home “blue like the frame that seems to embrace the Océane stadium, home of the Havre Athletic Club (HAC). Not only the boys from Ligue 1 have the right to live in the stadium, the women have a duplicate key. “We are at home, we feel good there”“It is within these concrete and steel walls that his players will face FC Nantes on Saturday 21st September at 5pm, in the resumption of the French first division football championship, or more precisely, the Premier League,” says Maxime Di Liberto, their coach.
A surprising new name for new ambitions. The French Federation (FFF) launched the 1Ahem July a professional women’s football league, the LFFP, for “energize” the ecosystem on this side of the ball that is too neglected. “Aragon said that women are the future of men. Women’s football is part of the future of football”poeticized FFF president Philippe Diallo when he unveiled his plan in April 2023.
After being at the forefront, being caught up with and then overtaken by its English and Spanish neighbours, French women’s football aims to “promote and develop resources, as well as respond to European competition”explained Jean-Michel Aulas, former coach of Olympique Lyonnais (OL), who managed to transform his women’s section into a formidable team at national and international level, and who is now in charge of the LFFP.
To make this new league one of the best in the world, as Aulas had hoped, the Federation has invested, among other things, just over 10 million euros for the 2024-2025 season, an increase of 33% compared to the previous one. This money should help clubs to become more professional and better structured. To do so, they will have to meet several criteria, including signing at least eleven full-time contracts (at 1,800 euros gross per month) or expanding their administrative and medical staff.
The institution also hopes to attract major foreign sponsors or investors. “This league is above all about visibility, a necessity”proclaims Laure Lepailleur, director of the Le Havre women’s team and member of the LFFP board of directors.
“There is no economic model”
While women’s football is supposed to have a moment “historical” And this euphoria should be driving players and managers along, but on the contrary, we feel a lot of resignation and a little concern. In his austere office, Jean-Michel Roussier, president of the HAC, is in no mood to share the optimism of Philippe Diallo or Jean-Michel Aulas. He doesn’t even have time to celebrate the launch of the League. “There is the discourse of the Federation method that has a magical product to attract people and the reality of our daily life, he says. The gap is huge. »
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