The Chamois Niortais Herald
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Thibault Le Gall could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.74
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.74, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Market3 Aug 2026
Torres come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Chamois Niortais did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Stéphane Leroux at 21 — 7.83
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Stéphane Leroux did not need any: 7.83, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market3 Aug 2026
Dominique Joly raises the bar for Chamois Niortais
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Chamois Niortais heard it as anything else.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Chamois Niortais
Thomas Blanc was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
Thibault Le Gall attracts admirers
The name of Thibault Le Gall has come up in conversations Chamois Niortais were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match1 Aug 2026
Thibault Le Gall the difference as Chamois Niortais beat Stade Lavallois
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thibault Le Gall. 2‑1 against Stade Lavallois, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Thomas Leclercq
At 17 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Chamois Niortais training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Olivier Masson is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
- Player ratings Arnaud Breton runs at them all day
- Squad Thomas Blanc knocks on the manager's door
- Squad The manager makes an example of Théodore Duval