In Vénissieux, football is nothing anecdotal. Far from being reduced to the stale story of Luis Fernandez, an Andalusian immigrant who grew up in the towers of the emblematic district of Minguettes, in Vénissieux, to become European champion 1984 in the blue jersey, the footballing fiber of this suburban city Lyonnaise relies on a large proportion of footballers among its 65,000 inhabitants.
Resulting in April 2018 from a merger between two local clubs, AS Minguettes and US Vénissieux, the Vénissieux Football Club ranks second among Rhone clubs with a quota of 1,150 licensees, only topped by another amateur club, that of FC Lyon (1,376). Located in an area where the poverty rate exceeds 30%, Vénissieux FC has a budget of 550,000 euros, including 140,000 euros in municipal subsidy, and a significant part of its revenue comes from contributions from licensees.
As everywhere in the country, the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 epidemic will not spare the club, but it will, despite everything, look like deja vu. “We are in the heart of the Minguettes district. For years, all of our licensees have been unable to pay for their licenses. We’ve been finding tricks for years like, for example, private donors who pay kids’s licenses, ” summarizes the vice-president, Mehdi Gana.
The one who also holds the position of treasurer welcomes the inevitable losses with pragmatism: "This will represent a certain part of the budget with unpaid licenses, less animation revenue or sponsors that we risk losing. But we don't have many and they don't give much. It's up to us to make the right choices next season. "
Efforts for one or two years
Out of a workforce of around 135 educators, the club has six employees, including four subsidized jobs. "The budget is going to be going down, we will have to manage, but as we have been doing for a long time. We will ask our educators to make an effort over one or two years. We are going to ask the town hall for a boost, explains Mehdi Gana. Our employees are real employees and not soccer players. The state takes care of a good part and we are not worried about the sustainability of their jobs. "
While the first team of the ex-Minguettes club attended the amateur French championship level for twelve seasons, that of the new entity evolves in a more modest division, in Regional 2. The club's policy is now oriented towards education and training of young people, and includes all 66 teams and not just the pennant team.
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