​An OGC Nice player in the early '90s, Jérôme Calatraba now runs the famous High Club night club on the Promenade des Anglais. During these tough times for people in the hospitality industry, we wanted to check in on one of our own.

Jérôme, can you tell us where things stand professionally?

There is news on the situation that has kept things on hold since last year. We have a virtual meeting with the Elysée to try and move things forward. The other option is to go to the Conseil d'État, which isn't good for anyone. We hope the situation will get sorted out, because it's out of the question that we continue to be put in this position. Nightclubs are the only ones that have been closed since the start of the pandemic, yet the number of cases keeps increasing.

Will partying in the future be the same as partying in the past?

Of course! But the truth is that the partying has continued in different ways except for us. Partying is a way to decompress, people will always need it. I'm a business leader with 51 employees. In France, there are 1600 nightclubs generating €1.7 billion, even though there are only 25,000 jobs in the sector. So when we see things are starting to move for everyone except us, we ask ourselves questions. We've not been helped by the banks either, which I can understand, but overall, we're only acknowledged when we have to pay taxes. We need visibility, because it wouldn't be normal that everything opens again except us.

You're also still involved in football at the Colle-sur-Loup club…

Indeed. I'm vice-president of the SPCOC, which has 470 members. We make do with what we have given funds have decreased, it's not easy. But we dig in and continue bringing in money to keep the club going.

Do you still follow the Gym's results?

Of course! It's not easy playing without fans, especially for us in Nice. The youngsters have a lot of quality, but there was a time when it wasn't working. I hope the season is going to finish well and the one after will be good.

Are you still in contact with people at the club?

Yes, because I'm part of the team of former players. Fred [Gioria] sent me a nice message recently: 'Don't give up, you didn't do it on the pitch.' I was touched, and I replied, 'Don't worry Fredo, I'll not give up'. He's really a good guy. Since he's taken over the team with Adrian, I think he's brought his know-how. That's what was needed.

You also had Fred Gioria as a teammate...

That's right. After the club was relegated on administrative grounds (1991), we were a bunch of friends from the youth academy who found ourselves playing in D2. There was Crétier, Fugen, Collet, Di Costanzo, it was amazing. We had some experienced guys around us such as Mattio, Gioria, Elsner, Sandjack, Abou Cissé – Djibril's brother - Génésio, and the late René Marsiglia, who took me under his wing. It was that blend of young and old that enabled us to win the D2 title and get promotion (in 1994).

A word on Marco Di Costanzo, who you describe as 'extraordinary'…

He was, even though he didn't have the career he deserved. You can see it still. At the time, it was quite something. At the Ray, when he wasn't playing, the fans turned their backs to the pitch to show their displeasure [laughs]. Marco was a phenomenon. One time, we played a game at the Ray against Bayern, who were coached by Beckenbauer. We trailed twice, but ended up winning 3-2. I equalised from a Sandjak cross and Marco scored two crazy goals. We all thought he'd sign for Bayern…

We'll leave the final word to you…

I'd like to say hi to my spiritual father Eugène Fugen (Gym official, assistant coach and general secretary who passed away in March). I am who I am today and was able to be a pro thanks to him. A part of me went with him. For the future, I'd like to wish good health to everyone, that the Gym keep working all out to take France's fifth-biggest city to the summit and — of course — that the High Club reopens.

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