Biarritz’s future is back in its hands
TO the relief of fans, white smoke was finally seen over the stand tops of Biarritz’s Parc des Sports d’Aguilera recently, following the sale of the club for a nominal €1. The good news broke 10 days ago, following weeks of speculation. And it is good news, too, because it means that – subject to contracts – there will be a Biarritz next season. Now, there’s merely the small matter of ProD2 survival for players and staff to worry about. Crucially, however, it is the only thing on everyone’s agenda now that the club’s future looks to be secured. Simon Mannix’s side – the New Zealander has been in charge since December – are currently four points clear of the relegation zone, ahead of bottom two clubs Montauban and Rouen.
No one at the club is about to pretend that Biarritz’s run-in to the end of the season is easy. They’re at home to play-off chasing Grenoble on Friday; then they head to Agen for what promises to be a fiery encounter. They round off the season away at big-spending, Courtney Lawes-anticipating Brive, after one last home outing against high-flying Provence.
Until soon-to-be-ex-president Jean-Baptiste Aldige announced on April 5 that a group, headed by former players Shaun Hegarty, Marc Baget, and ex-Clermont and South Africa lock Flip van der Merwe, had bought the club, that future was set to go dark in June.
Owner Vincent Gave and president Aldige suddenly announced in February that Biarritz were on the market, and that they would walk away in June, whether or not a buyer had been found.
The news came from somewhere out of the blue of left field, for all that the Gave-Aldige years have been multiple combinations of the following adjectives: difficult, turbulent, problematic, wild, fraught.
The divisive duo were hailed as saviours when they saved the club from being busted down to the amateur leagues for financial reasons in 2018. But their bid to drag the club kicking and screaming into the black, after years of reliance on indulgent sponsors, quickly foundered after local officials said local taxpayers could not afford to pay for a much-needed redevelopment of the past-its-sell-by Aguilera.
Cue various and repeated threats to take the club elsewhere as the row rolled on, last summer’s
“The good news is that the club has earned something of a honeymoon period with fans”
aborted buyout – which also affected Agen, as Gave and Aldige were expected to take over there, once they had offloaded Biarritz. Once that fell through, the pair refocused their combined attention on Biarritz, and seemed ready to push on for some time.
What happened between then and February’s sale announcement will probably leak out over time, but for now the prevailing
is relief, with the club’s future back in its own hands.
The first sign of renewed confidence came with news that hooker-turned-loosehead prop Kilian Taofifenua had signed a contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2025. Expect a number of other contract extensions, while some careful player moves will keep the salary levels under control.
Already, promising academy back row Temo Matiu has agreed terms with Bordeaux. Because of rules on young players switching clubs, Biarritz are set to receive an eye-watering €500,000 or so in obligatory fees from UBB for his signature. Lock Youssouf Soucouna could net them another six-figure sum.
A string of summer arrivals, including Brive’s Arthur Bonneemotion val, Nevers’ Kylian Jaminet, and Clermont’s Yohan Beheregaray, will also be breathing a sigh of relief after agreeing pre-contracts before news that the club’s very existence was in doubt.
Even at the end, however, there was a bile-filled parting shot. The Hegarty-led buyout was negotiated independently of the Town Hall, Aldige revealed, with no little glee. Local officials had, reportedly, been trying to secure a deal with unnamed Irish backers.
But now they own the club, the first job of Hegarty, Baget and van der Merwe will be to rebuild relations with local officials and fans, while rebuilding the team – a head coach will be in order, with Mannix’s short-term contract set to end in June.
Then, work can start on rebuilding the stadium. The good news, at least, is that they have earned something of a honeymoon period with fans. How long that lasts remains to be seen, and depends almost entirely on how they present their plans for the future of the historic club.