Troyes are aiming to join the top nine acamedmy

When you think of football in Troyes, the first thing that springs to mind is a name: ATAC, short for Association Troyes Aube Champagne, which became ESTAC in the summer of 2000 to avoid sharing a name with a supermarket chain. Yet, in the 2000s, the club from Aube had indeed become an official supplier of talented players, with most of Ligue 1’s top clubs turning to them to make their signings when the transfer window opened: Fabio Celestini, Bafétimbi Gomis, Blaise Matuidi, Mamadou Niang, Jérôme Rothen, Benjamin Nivet, Mounir Obbadi and Damien Perquis – the list is far from exhaustive.
When you think of football in Troyes, two managers immediately spring to mind:
Alain Perrin (who led the National-division club to the European Cup between 1993 and 2002, with the added bonus of a legendary European night that ended in a 4-4 draw at Newcastle) and Jean-Marc Furlan, who came to teach a lesson in football with a bunch of youngsters against an MHSC side that had just been relegated from Ligue 1 in the summer of 2004 (a 4-3 win at La Mosson).

But when one mentions Troyes, one also thinks of its numerous promotions and relegations – eight in total over the last 20 years, the second-highest tally behind FC Metz (12). Yet ESTAC seemed well on the way to establishing itself in the top flight, particularly since its takeover by the City Football Group in September 2020. A year later, the Aube-based club returned to the top flight under the management of Laurent Batlles. Since then, the Champagne-based side has dropped back down to Ligue 2 at the end of the 2022–2023 season (the date of the last two matches against MHSC), and then to the National division at the end of the following season. However, the administrative relegation of Girondins de Bordeaux that summer allowed ESTAC to remain in the second tier for the 2024–2025 season. It was at this point that Stéphane Dumont took the reins of the team, following his first two seasons as a professional manager at the helm of Guingamp.

Having finished tenth in the league last season, Troyes were among the outsiders heading into this new campaign, as predicted by former Pailladin and current beIN Sports pundit Robert Malm in our columns ahead of the season opener. ‘Robby’ was spot on, as the Aube-based side are currently top of the league with the second-best attack (49 goals scored) and the fourth-best defence (28 goals conceded). Despite a relatively young squad – in which only two players over the age of 30 have played more than 10 league matches this season – and a slump of five matches without a win between late January and early February, ESTAC have managed to bounce back and are currently on a run of five consecutive victories. After a relatively sluggish start, including a narrow victory over Montpellier in the first leg (1-0, Matchday 3), the players under sporting director Antoine Sibierski quickly found their stride.
Built around key players such as Chavalerin, Mille, Ifnaoui, El Idrissy and Ripart, the successors to the golden generation of Aube from the 2000s now include Martin Adeline (22), Mathys Detourbet (18) and Tawfik Bentayeb (24), the club’s top scorer with 15 goals in 22 matches. Will this clever mix of young talent ready to blossom, players in their prime who have cut their teeth in Ligue 2, and promising youngsters be enough to secure a return to the top flight? It’s hard to say for certain at this stage, but with a seven-point lead over their neighbours Reims (3rd), ESTAC Troyes seem to be well on their way to another promotion.
Photo credit: ESTAC