Guingamp vs Bastia 1-1 25/11/11

So, Jean-Baptiste’s football club had some free tickets to go to see En Avant Guingamp play against Bastia in the Roudourou (That’s Guingamp’s football stadium). It was fun. I went along with a few other grown ups, in order to help out with the kids. It was also an opportunity to meet some new people and to see a professional football game live.  Almost 15000 people had come to support the team. That’s twice the population of the town.

I don’t know anything about football, so I can’t say I enjoyed the game so much. Yet, one can still recognise a good opportunity to score when he sees one.

The best part was the atmosphere in the stand where we sat. We were in the western stand. That’s also where the “Kop Rouge” sits. They are Guingamp’s ultras, their most fervent fans and followers. We sat a few rows from them. It was noisy, but they were clearly having fun and the atmosphere was great. They sang along for most of the game, with two people leading the singing and encouraging the crowd. They were also standing up for the whole of the game. Some years ago, Guingamp supporters were voted the best supporters in the country (that’s when they were playing in league 1), and it is not surprising.

We managed to get back to the cars without losing any of the kids that had come with us. Amazing! Jean-Baptiste was cold and tired, but he enjoyed it.