From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ludovic Ajorque and AS Nancy agree another 3 years.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, AS Nancy 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between AS Nancy and Nimes, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 4‑2 win over Nimes, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at AS Nancy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nehemiah Fernandez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Pape Meïssa Bâ
10 goals and a season average of 7.28 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
Upbeat
Squad28 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 AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Match26 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, AS Nancy do not lose
6 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 Sep 2026
After 5 games, AS Nancy finally taste it again
The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Red Star; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Jérémy Gélin 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
9 goals and a season average of 7.25. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
It needed Pape Meïssa Bâ to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Red Star, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match16 Sep 2026
AS Nancy through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Stade Brestois, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match21 Sep 2026
AS Nancy refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 18 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
AS Nancy make it 5 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now AS Nancy have 5 straight wins of it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Lenny Piètre, 20, steals the show — 7.79
Marked 7.79 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Ilyes Housni beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at AS Nancy
Ludovic Ajorque and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Lenny Piètre 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
AS Nancy keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ludovic Ajorque’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AS Nancy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Sep 2026
Bourg-Peronnas will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. AS Nancy were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad14 Sep 2026
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.74 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match12 Sep 2026
AS Nancy cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at AS Nancy
Ludovic Ajorque and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about AS Nancy and Bourg-Peronnas in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at AS Nancy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nehemiah Fernandez 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.05 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
AS Nancy close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ludovic Ajorque 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
AS Nancy offered $430.0K; Tours said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
AS Nancy asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match5 Sep 2026
Clermont Foot made AS Nancy work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at AS Nancy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cazim Suljic, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A one-man rearguard from Enzo Basilio
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
AS Nancy have gone to Tours with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad31 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 AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
Sochaux made AS Nancy work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Adrien Julloux 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. AS Nancy know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for AS Nancy
A 2‑6 beating by Tours was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market24 Aug 2026
Stade Brestois did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $4.9M for Ludovic Ajorque, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
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 AS Nancy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
No deal for Allan Ackra at that price
AS Nancy offered $1.3M; Clermont Foot said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Match22 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between AS Nancy and Tours, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
The town asked, and AS Nancy paid $4.9M
Ludovic Ajorque was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $4.9M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at AS Nancy
Ludovic Ajorque and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Stade Brestois; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Clermont Foot this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match15 Aug 2026
1‑3 to Stade Lavallois, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at AS Nancy
Martin Expérience and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Enzo Basilio gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at AS Nancy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.22 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match8 Aug 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Victor Orakpo, 20, steals the show — 9.45
Marked 9.45 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad10 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pape Meïssa Bâ and AS Nancy agree another 3 years.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Martin Expérience 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 terraces10 Aug 2026
At 20 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Thomas Rivière has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against AC Ajaccio, and it could have been more.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.61, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Ilyes Housni, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.01
A mark of 8.01 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Rayan Bamba beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zakaria Fdaouch and AS Nancy agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
AS Nancy asked and Leyton Orient said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 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 AS Nancy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at AS Nancy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jérémy Gélin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.