When it comes to footballing academies across Europe we think about the Barcelona academy, the Ajax academy, the Sporting Lisbon academy, and when thinking about academies in France we think about Clairefontaine. Clairefontaine is known as the national institution for football in France and it has been the starting place for many FFF national team representatives. When thinking of academies in France it’s no surprise that most also think of the academy at Rennes, and recently they have been reaping the fruits of their labour as they see the majority of the players who wear the first team shirt have been promoted from their academy.

Looking at the financial difficulties that most Ligue 1 clubs face nowadays it’s no surprise that clubs are improving facilities and making a conscious effort to look after younger players, and FC Lorient are no different. Having always lived ‘in the shadow’ of their Brittany rivals Rennes, Les Merlus have been planning a grand academy of their own and at the end of last year the club finally settled a long series of legal and administrative issues and completed the purchase of 12 hectares of land in Kerlir, Ploemeur. This is where l’Espace FCL will be built.

The project has been in the works since the summer of 2009 and initially five potential sites were selected in the first phase. The club were looking for a site that will house a training centre, accommodation for Lorient backroom and playing staff, medical facilities and eight football fields. Later that year the club discounted the four other candidates, sites at Warbler, Kérulve-Kerlétu, Guidel Kerbastic and Languidic, and chose Kerlir as their way forward.

The mayor endorsed the project in late 2009, the local council were unanimously for the plans, and then the local public approved the files. All parties were in agreement with the plans and that gave Lorient the permission they needed. The Mayor of Ploemeur signed the permit in October 2010, but that was just the start of things. Since then there were two internal appeals which slowed the project down, these were both rejected by the council, and then a judicial appeal had been raised with the Administrative Court of Rennes in March of 2011.

After a few amendments to the plans and a string of demonstrations of support by the Ploemeur public, the ceremony of laying the first stone was held in May that year. In February 2012 the news came out that the appeal brought forward by the opponents of the project had been withdrawn and the project was free to move forward. The football club finalised the purchase of the 12 hectares of land on the 3rd July for a sum of around €900,000 and started work, with the academy expected to be completed this summer. Through a statement, the president of Lorient and friend of the site, Loïc Fery said that July 3rd is:

“A historic day for FC Lorient. Guaranteeing the sustainability of the club has always been a priority. It took a little longer than expected, but the project will now be realised and it is a great pride for all lovers of FC Lorient.”

The team’s football manager Christian Gourcuff added;

“It is important for the outlook of the club. This is the type of investment that can help us take the next step in terms of credibility, identity of the way we play and work quality. I now look forward to returning when it’s complete.”

The Mayor also seemed happy about the development;

“This is an issue for all promising talent, it will generate all-round image and economic development, social and sports for the whole territory of Ploemeur. This issue, this collective adventure, took a lot of work and energy. Now is where it all begins.”

In Lorient, the development of the academy that had a major influence on the careers of players like Kevin Gameiro, Laurent Koscielny and Yoann Gourcuff makes sense in making the club ever-present in Ligue 1; they are settled into their seventh straight season in the top flight and the club from Morbihan has earned a lot of respect for the way they play their football, their sound recruitment and of course the managerial ability of Gourcuff. With the Rennes academy constantly feeding their professional ranks with home-grown players it’s no surprise that Lorient have taken this step. Of course Les Merlus aren’t planning a complete carbon copy of their Brittany neighbours’ academy, they are just taking some inspiration and adding their own twist on things, the perspective of setting up a common playing project all the way from the younger youth teams to the professional ranks comes from Barcelona. Christian Gourcuff has recently been quoted:

“We want to regionalise the recruitment but we don’t plan to be like Athletic Bilbao, who only accept Basque players.”

There are three main pillars of Lorient’s strategy, a strategy that’s considered innovative by the European football industry; at a FIFA conference alongside Rosell of Barcelona and Gandini of AC Milan, Lorient chairman Loïc Fery had the chance to mention those three main points:

“The Policy of the Twelfth Man – This is namely having full stadiums, sacrificing a economic logic to ticketing and subscriptions in favour of a high attendance which will lead to giving the stadium a atmosphere to give the team a competitive edge.”

“‘Le jeu a la Lorientaise’ – Or ‘playing the Lorient way’. A prime example of this is the choice of the synthetic pitch at Stade du Moustoir, the choice of the synthetic pitch was one to allow the players to build a style of play based on passing at all times and all season. The conditions won’t change and the players will be settled. Fery has mentioned in the past that the anchoring of the way Lorient play comes from a massive inspiration of Barcelona and the clubs have discussed the common parts to their identities, values and even the culture of each region.”

“The approach to management of players through a model strongly aligned with revenues of the club. The club have a very sensible approach when it comes to spending money on recruiting players. The club have reinvested the money they’ve earned wisely and have earned respect throughout France for that.”

On the note of money Loïc Fery is positive about the arrival of foreign investors to Ligue 1, which he believes will only improve the standard of football in France, and he appreciates the fact that the best French players now have a option to stay in France instead of moving abroad. He recognises that if it wasn’t for the Qataris at PSG it’s likely that Kevin Gameiro would be plying his trade in England or Spain instead of the capital. It’s clear that Fery wants to hold on to the Breton identity and that his values are paramount, the club have been strengthening and protecting its roots ever since their first season in Ligue 1 and it was vital that the club survived last season after a relegation scare.

The team look set for a end of season push for the Europa league after only losing one of their last five games, with seven games to go they sit in eighth place, eight points off fifth-placed Lille but only two points ahead of Rennes in tenth. The end of the season could go either way for Lorient – a mauling from Lille at the weekend has put a negative spin on a recent run of good form, but they certainly have improved upon last year’s almost disastrous season and with Jérémie Aliadiere coming into some form with five goals in the last eight games it’s looking like at least a top half finish for Les Merlus.

With fixtures against Saint-Etienne, Marseille and PSG in their run-in it’s imperative that Gourcuff’s men pick themselves up quickly and bounce back if they want to challenge to be in Europe next year. Whatever happens in the last few games it’s certainly been an improvement on last season for Les Merlus, and with the new academy on the way, it’ll be good to see them becoming a established top ten Ligue 1 side.

Written by Tom Varney