Marked for Robert Roche
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Dec 2026
Tours up to position 1
43 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.46, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad21 Dec 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play Tours right now
3 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Henri Le Gall 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Tours and Chamois Niortais, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match19 Dec 2026
Three points for Tours, 4‑2 the final word against Chamois Niortais in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Roche 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Yann Bernard
13 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Robert Roche falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match28 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Joseph Blanc
“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.
Loan watch30 Nov 2026
“I did not go to RC Lens to sit and watch. I want to come back to Tours and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 16 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 54. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match23 Nov 2026
Tours up to position 1
34 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match18 Nov 2026
Tours bow out of the cup
Paris Saint-Germain go through and Tours go home, 2‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Yann Bernard 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
A goal and an assist for Henri Maillard — 7.72
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.72 beside his name.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henri Le Gall 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Henri Maillard scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to AS Nancy, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Robert Roche
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Too much change too quickly at Tours
12 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Henri Le Gall 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Juan Cantú gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Juan Cantú has just signed for Tours, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Roche 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Émile Henry
“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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Tours, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Market9 Nov 2026
The name of Henri Maillard keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Tours say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 46. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Tours
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marc-Olivier Kehi is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Robert Roche falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
At 23 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Tours. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mathieu Blanc. 1‑0 against Bourg-Peronnas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
Jérôme Mathieu damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match26 Sep 2026
No mercy from Tours
AC Ajaccio will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tours were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match28 Sep 2026
Tours up to position 1
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A brace, and Yann Bernard takes the afternoon — 9.23
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yann Bernard provided it, and the 9.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from David Dupuy at 20 — 7.64
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. David Dupuy did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Robert Roche delivers — 7.33
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Robert Roche scored, was marked 7.33, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Match26 Sep 2026
Tours make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Tours have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Henri Le Gall 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Tours and AC Ajaccio in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
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The terraces
Tours supporters have found a favourite in David Dupuy
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Player ratings
One of those days for Henri Maillard
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match22 Aug 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Tours scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Market24 Aug 2026
Tours say no — this time
The offer from Cosenza for Yann Roux 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Hervé Noël 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Tours make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Tours have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Henri Le Gall falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match22 Aug 2026
Three points for Tours, 1‑0 the final word against AS Nancy in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Sébastien Lacroix 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 ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 7.96. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 50. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match15 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against US Creteil, and it could have been more.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
AS Roma pay $2.8M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Tours
Henri Le Gall 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
Henri Maillard was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.65. 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
3 academy players handed senior numbers at Tours
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Tours training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Roche 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.