Marked for Frédéric Lefebvre
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Jan 2027
Whatever happens, Tours do not lose
15 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A season average of 7.46 with 23 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Tours will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tours this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Wassim El Abrougui has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Tours have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Dec 2026
Whatever happens, Tours do not lose
14 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match26 Dec 2026
No mercy from Tours
AC Ajaccio will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tours were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.87, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad28 Dec 2026
22 goals and a season average of 7.44. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tours this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Matthieu Cuirassier is living that version at Tours, and it tends to show in the first month.
Match26 Dec 2026
Tours make home a hard place to visit
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Dec 2026
Tours win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 96th minute. Nimes will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Match12 Dec 2026
Whatever happens, Tours do not lose
12 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A season average of 7.38 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tours this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jean-Luc Morin. 2‑1 against Nimes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jean-Luc Morin has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match12 Dec 2026
Tours make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Jean-Luc Morin at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tours.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match23 Nov 2026
Tours refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 36 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Match21 Nov 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against AS Nancy, and it could have been more.
Match21 Nov 2026
9 unbeaten for Tours
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Tours did not have in the autumn.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A season average of 7.36 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Jean-Luc Morin 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Jean-Luc Morin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.44. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Édouard Vincent at his very best
Marked 8.40. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tours.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad16 Nov 2026
The match ball belongs to Jean-Luc Morin, whose 5 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match14 Nov 2026
9‑1, and Jean-Luc Morin took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Tours tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad16 Nov 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A season average of 7.32 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match14 Nov 2026
8 unbeaten for Tours
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Tours did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Jean-Luc Morin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Match14 Nov 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Tours and US Creteil, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The terraces16 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sébastien Durand has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Tours may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match31 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Tours do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tours this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Sébastien Durand at his very best
Marked 8.61. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tours.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Jérémie Lioka named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jérémie Lioka is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match31 Oct 2026
Honours even between Tours and Dijon
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
The stands have heard the Sébastien Durand talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Tours would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad26 Oct 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tours will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match26 Oct 2026
Tours up to position 1
29 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play Tours right now
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Mathieu Pérez 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Three points for Tours, 1‑0 the final word against Red Star in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Sébastien Durand was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match10 Oct 2026
Tours make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Tours have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Jean-Luc Morin 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.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
At 22 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Three points for Tours, 2‑0 the final word against Sochaux in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Sébastien Durand was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.37. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tours will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Sep 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match5 Sep 2026
Three points for Tours, 3‑2 the final word against Valenciennes in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 9.47 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tours this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Vidal, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tours will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 Aug 2026
Rémy Fournier hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tours can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Tours have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Miguel Vidal in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tours this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
At 22 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Henri Guillot
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Jean-Luc Morin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.49. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Sébastien Durand was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Clermont Foot leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tours will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match22 Aug 2026
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Jean-Luc Morin, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Tours, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tours this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Édouard Vincent was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Market24 Aug 2026
Sampdoria are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Tours will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tours will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market17 Aug 2026
Tours say no — this time
The offer from Las Palmas for Daniel Leclerc was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Jean-Luc Morin 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Tours
2 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market17 Aug 2026
Dijon paid $250.0K and Tours took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market17 Aug 2026
One of our own: David Louis joins the Tours first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. David Louis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market17 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Marcel Charpentier is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match15 Aug 2026
0‑1 to US Creteil, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.