A club which counts big Richard Dunne as an honorary member… sort of.
On 31 January this year, Azur Gaels GAA Club took on GF Prouvenço (Gaelic Football Provence) in front of 35,000 fans at the Allianz Riviera Stadium in Nice.
While it would be stretching it to say that the crowds had gathered to get a taste of what Gaelic Football can be like in early January (a Top 14 clash between Toulon and Stade Français was taking place on the same day), it was still a momentous day in the life of a club that had only been formed a couple of months earlier.
Clip via Fédération de Football Gaélique en France
Azur Gaels started with just two men and now count more than 35 men, women and children amongst its membership. The club may be based in one of the most picturesque parts of the continent, but it’s not exactly known as a GAA stronghold so that’s a significant achievement.
As well as playing in a big stadium in front of thousands, in their brief life to date they’ve also chatted to TalkSPORT in the UK, been trained by Kerry great Jimmy Deenihan, twinned with Lazio Gaelic Football Club in Rome and Listowel Emmets in Kerry and ended up on French TV station Canal+ for 10 glorious seconds.
It’s quite a story and we caught up with club secretary Ed Bateman to tell us all about it.
Focus on Azur Gaels
Club: Azur Gaels
Year established: 2015
Number of members: 35 and growing.
Biggest rivals: GF Prouvenço (Gaelic Football Provence)
Biggest representation from a club/county in Ireland: It’s a toss-up between Cork, Kerry and Dublin.
Most famous ever member: Former Ireland soccer captain Richard Dunne once pulled on an Azur Gaels jersey for a 5-a-side soccer tournament but I’m not sure that counts…
Most memorable moment in the club’s history: We’re only a young club, just starting our second season, but we have already had many memorable moments.
For me, the most memorable was when we took to the field at the Allianz Riviera stadium, home to OGC Nice, who are in second place in Ligue 1 at the time of writing. We played an exhibition match against our local derby rivals, GF Prouvenço, before a Top 14 rugby match between Toulon and Stade Français; there were thousands present to enjoy what to most of them was an entirely new sport.
To play any sport in such a magnificent stadium is the dream of many amateur sportsmen and women. For it to be my national sport and to introduce it to thousands of people in France made the moment more special. To do it after only months of the club’s existence was just incredible.
Most eye-catching scoreline in the club’s history: A two-point defeat to Wild Geese FC Dublin.
It was eye-catching just because it was the first match that the Azur Gaels played against a team of Irish players. We entered the game with both trepidation and hope, knowing that although they had Gaelic Games running through their blood, they were nonetheless a soccer team at heart so we had our chances.
The game was a great one, very well-contested, in great spirit and although we led by a point with only minutes remaining, the Wild Geese scored a late goal to come out on top.
Player who makes the longest commute to training: We have one player who travels from Belgium to play with us, Maxime Devogele. OK, he doesn’t make every training session, but he’s still there more than some!
Most dedicated club person: We have many dedicated people in the club, two in particular who have grown the club from day one to what we have today.
Charley Cornillau’s dedication in training is incredible. He has a great passion for the sport and for sharing it with others; he is currently rolling out plans to create awareness in schools to get the next generation ready.
And Richard “Chard” Faul, our chairman, who does the work of two people as he pulls together everyone and everything, making me think he never sleeps. Without these two, I find it hard to imagine the club being able to continue to grow as it has done.
Player who could have made it big if love/career/drink didn’t get in the way: Kerry’s own Micheál Pierse played underage for Listowel Emmets, then went onto St Joseph’s in London before having some kind of mid-life crisis and becoming a scuba diving instructor in Australia. He’s now looking to resurrect his career as player-coach of Azur Gaels.
Biggest character: Thibaut Chevallier. As well as being a great footballer, soccer player, rugby player, salsa dancer, golfer etc., he is a character both on and off the pitch. He even gave us a little demo of his Irish dancing skills during our Gaelic festival last month and I can guarantee it wasn’t half bad.
Loudest in the dressing room: Charley. Only one voice will be heard when it’s time to motivate the team and that’s Charley. His passion for the sport and his desire to win are there in spades in the dressing room. Before we take to the pitch, at half-time, or after the game, he is always telling it the way it is – loudly!
Number of romances that started in the GAA club (feel free to name names): Just the one so far, and no need for names. Just don’t ever let your star goalkeeper fall for your star ladies’ player right before she leaves for America… it can cause a dip in form.
Duck to water award – Best new player who had never played GAA before: Thibaut started playing the sport less than 10 months ago and has already been called up for the French national side, having picked up two individual awards during the Championship, plus the Azur Gaels player of the season award.
His wife may be fed up with him bringing home trophies but we’re delighted.
Most annoying person in the club WhatsApp group: To be honest, there’s no-one who’s annoying, maybe annoying through lack of participation. For example, we have Alex “le Grand” who abstains from all forms of online messaging.
And then Micheál comes up with some interesting GIF interpretations, at times after days of silence, which is amusing.
Best story involving a club member that’s fit for print: There are quite a few that wouldn’t make it to print, but we did have a good time at the French finals in Clermont-Ferrand, where a certain club member went missing after a night out.
The last we had seen of him was while he was trying to convince a doorman that the younger-looking lads in tracksuits and trainers should really be allowed into the nightclub. The rest of us decided we would go for some kebabs as his attempts didn’t seem to be bearing any fruit, and we eventually got taxis back to the hotel.
The following morning it became obvious that we were a man down and he was no longer reachable by mobile. After a few hours of waiting around and asking about, we finally got a call from him.
Apparently he was in the train station in Lyon. For the sake of comparison, it’s like going to a night club in Waterford, waking up in Cork and needing to get home to Belfast.
Turns out the hotel was too much of a walk after the nightclub and the train station was just down the road, so he got on the first train he saw, where it was warm and he could sleep.
And the rest is history, as they say.
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