From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match16 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over FC Rouen, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
96 minutes played. Fréderic Soelle Soelle found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and US Boulogne went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fréderic Soelle Soelle did not need any: 7.82, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The step up is real for Nidal Čelik
At 20 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.
Squad21 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 ESTAC Troyes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 2‑1 win over US Boulogne, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Fréderic Soelle Soelle 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Merwan Ifnaoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Trakai come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and ESTAC Troyes did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Mouhamed Diop 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Rodez AF, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at ESTAC Troyes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merwan Ifnaoui 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Amar Fatah beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Antoine Gauthier to a room that had heard them before.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Hillel Konaté’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ESTAC Troyes needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market14 Sep 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. ESTAC Troyes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
ESTAC Troyes close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 8 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The bid was some way short and ESTAC Troyes did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
No thanks: Noah Lahmadi rejects the move
ESTAC Troyes had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Toulouse FC, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at ESTAC Troyes now.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
ESTAC Troyes asked and Pau FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Fréderic Soelle Soelle 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at ESTAC Troyes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merwan Ifnaoui 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ismaël Boura makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer from Olympique de Marseille for Adrien Monfray 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Renaud Ripart takes the afternoon — 8.67
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Renaud Ripart provided it, and the 8.67 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market31 Aug 2026
Martin Adeline has left for Paris FC in a $5.9M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
ESTAC Troyes sell a favourite for $5.9M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Martin Adeline was one of the reasons people came, and $5.9M does not replace that by itself.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Nicolas Lemaître and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market31 Aug 2026
Wylan Pierrilus has left for US Orleans in a $250.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Aug 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. ESTAC Troyes scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Market24 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Renaud Ripart 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 ESTAC Troyes can pretend not to have heard.
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 ESTAC Troyes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
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.
The terraces24 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
FC Annecy made ESTAC Troyes work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Merwan Ifnaoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Real Madrid 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mouhamed Diop 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
3 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.
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Antoine Chevalier has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Emmanuel Le Goff has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market17 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Didier Berger 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Amiens SC left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Merwan Ifnaoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Fee done, terms next for Nidal Čelik
ESTAC Troyes and RC Lens have settled on $200.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mouhamed Diop and ESTAC Troyes agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mouhamed Diop and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Amar Fatah
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Amar Fatah
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.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mouhamed Diop, and the manager let it.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Grenoble Foot 38, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Merwan Ifnaoui was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Amar Fatah 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Adrien Monfray and ESTAC Troyes agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mouhamed Diop 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Braga have kept their man, and ESTAC Troyes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolas Lemaître, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at ESTAC Troyes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Merwan Ifnaoui 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
A goal on 89 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.