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The West was shaking! On Tuesday, the Gym migrated to Pégomas for a training session away from the training ground. In front of more than 1500 supporters, Lucien Favre’s side got the week underway in the right manner. With a magnificent atmosphere to boot .

”What an event!” At the side of the pitch, between players and fans, Laurent Balicco, President of US Pégomas, couldn’t hide his delight. “We expected between 1000 and 1500 people, it’s beyond our expectations.” 

Even though everything had been put in place so that Gym fans could make the most of the occasion, the reality went much further than planned. Pleasant weather, warm, just a handful of clouds there to protect the spectators from the sun, as well as the greenery, noise and joy... From 2pm, the crowd was ready to party together. Compact. Thanks to the attractions which line the concourse of the Allianz Riviera on matchday, the hour’s wait was an hour filled with a party atmosphere, and the players arrived at Stade Gaston Marchive at exactly 3pm.

A fantastic ending  

On the pitch, Dante and co., driven by a smiley Super Mario, started the week smoothly. After a good warm-up, they then did some possession work, before those players who didn’t play or played for a short period at the weekend, ended the session with a small sided game. 

The end of the training session allowed for an even more enjoyable moment. After a photo with the youngsters from US Pégomas, the Aiglons then went on a magnificent lap of honour, thanking all of those who had come down, in their free time, to encourage them to aim higher. “Don’t step off the pedal guys, we want that 5th place” shouted one fan as they left the stadium. 

A stadium that 8 members of the squad  (Bassem Srarfi, Yoan Cardinale, Patrick Burner, J.V. Makengo, Arnaud Lusamba, Racine Coly, Vincent Marcel and Yannis Clémentia) left after a signing session which lasted for more than an hour. A way of extending the fan’s experience until the end of the afternoon. 

They said:  

Virginie Rossetti, Communication and Brand Director, OGC Nice

“It’s the first time we have done this in the history of OGC Nice. We came to meet our young supporters in Grasse and we are all delighted. We are in the school holiday period, we wanted to create even more emotions, we travelled for that reason. The success today, is not only the training session, but also our players’ values, who wanted to do a lap of honour at the end to go out and meet the kids. At the club, we don’t do a lot of comms, we prefer acts. Everybody is extremely happy.” 

Gilbert Pibou, Mayor of Pégomas

“It’s a delight, an immense honour for our town and our club. We expected there to be people, but not this many... You realise that OGC Nice is the symbolic club of the department, as it always has been. My first memories of Nice, is the league and cup double (in 1952, Editor’s note), that takes you back a bit! Today, the youngsters will be able to say: “I saw Balotelli, Dante…”. It’s extraordinary for them. If I had to say something to the other Mayors of towns in Alpes-Maritimes? Go for it! There are only positives to take from it: for the city, the club and the fans. And also for OGC Nice, because this kind of event will allow them to encourage even more people to the Allianz Riviera.”

Laurent Balicco, President of US Pégomas 

“Thanks to the investment of everybody, we have shared an immense moment together, with more than 1500 supporters here. It’s a source of pride for our club to welcome players like this, players that our youngsters identify with. I thank the Mayor and OGC Nice for the organisation of this event. Without forgetting Lucien Favre and his staff who played the game with this training session away from the training ground, right in the middle of their race for Europe. I hope that they will now continue to entertain us by qualifying again for the C3. It would be fantastic...”

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