Not the most exciting club of France, but they do play some spectacular matches from time to time. Unfortunately for Troyes, they are usually at the losing end of it. A sympathic small town club, with a lot of possibilities to combine with other clubs.
Of all the clubs in Ligue 1, they probably have the best name of all: Ésperance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne, mostly called Troyes or ESTAC. The performances on the pitch are in stark contrast with the name, but there's a lot of ambition at the in 1986 founded club. Since 2020, Troyes is part of the City Football Group, who'll try to make them a stable Ligue 1 side for the coming years. That won't be easy: following the last three promotions to the French top flight, the club of the Champagne region relegated immediately.
Although the current Troyes had only been founded in 1986, there's football in town since the beginning of the 20th century already. The present club is actually an end product of over 100 years of football in Troyes, even though the club had been filed for bankruptcy several times. Since 1935 they have been playing in the Stade de l’Aube, at the east boarder of Troyes.
The stadium at the Avenue Robert Schumann is with a capacity of 20.400 places one of the smaller stadiums in Ligue 1.
Never forget where you come from. With that creed Blaise Matuidi and Djibril Sidibé came back to Troyes, the city where they were formed and started their professional career. Even though they hadn't been around playing for L'ESTAC for years, they still had a good reason to come back to Troyes. Both players became world champions with France earlier that summer, and were greeted by a big crowd in front of the town hall, at the Place Alexandre Israël. It seemed that the whole population of Troyes came to see the players and the world cup they brought with them, shown proudly from the window on the left above the main entrance.
Troyes isn't a city where football culture is up for grabs, but who seeks shall find. For example in Le Barrois (Rue Claude Huez 7), een small bar in the city center. On the walls inside you'll find several memories to the football history of Troyes, especially of the precursors of L'ESTAC from photo's to banners and even team sheets of historical matches.
In Troyes, you don't have to be afraid of ending up without a ticket. The city and regional impact of the club are simply not big enough for a full house. Against top sides the Stade de l'Aube usually attracts more people, also against Stade de Reims, a real derby. The spirit of the'Derby de la Champagne' is alive, especially at Troyes, historically the smaller side than Reims.
Because of the location at the border of Troyes, you can reach the stadium easily by car. Otherwise, the best way to get there is by bus. Bus 1 drives from the city to the stadium, and passes the railway station as well. Take the bus in direction of Creney-Chataignier or Point Sainte Marie (both are allright), and get off the bus at stop Stade Arbouin.
Beeld: Shutterstock
