If you are going to travel 6,000 miles for every game you might as well ensure you make history in the process.
That’s exactly what amateur side JS Saint-Pierroise – from the volcanic Indian Ocean island of Reunion – have done by reaching the last 32 of the French Cup.
Reunion is a French overseas territory and, as such, its teams are eligible for the competition. On Saturday they will face SAS Epinal, becoming only the second overseas team to reach this stage after Guiana side ASC Le Geldar.
Saint-Pierre have won the Reunion Premier League for five consecutive seasons but this achievement easily surpasses that.
To get this far the island amateurs had to defeat Ligue 2 side Niort 2-1 away from home in the last round. Overcoming a second-tier side is no easy task, especially when it takes an 11-hour flight just to get there.
In the Saint-Pierre side at Niort was former Blackpool midfielder Elliot Grandin, who joined at the start of the season, having decided he wanted to try something different. The Frenchman has ended up being part of one of his country’s biggest football stories of the season.
“It was crazy – all the people in the media spoke about the victory,” Grandin explains. “It’s never happened before so it’s been a very big thing. People are happy because it’s a rare story. It’s very good because people do not know much about Reunion football, so it’s a great opportunity for the players over there to show their talent, and this is what we did. Now people take us seriously.”
The distances involved has been a blessing in disguise, forcing the squad to make the journey a week in advance to avoid jet lag and prepare for the fixtures on the mainland.
“We stay in the hotel together, we prepare for a week before the game but it’s not easy as it’s quite far,” Grandin adds. “It’s not easy to come every two weeks to play but we appreciate the time we spend in France.”
