Football Season Guide

Quevilly finished second in the Championnat National last season to earn promotion to the second flight. Although they finished a point behind Chateauroux, they were arguably the best side in the league, suffering fewer defeats than any other side in the third flight and finishing as third top scorers, netting seven times more than the eventual champions by finding the net on 50 occasions. At the end of the season, however, they suffered badly, losing three of their last four matches and throwing away the title in the process. If they are to thrive this season, they will likely need to succeed better under pressure. They have also seen top scorer Medhy Guenzoui, who got 15 goals, depart for fellow Ligue 2 outfit Valenciennes. Additionally, loan attackers Oumar Pouye and Karim Achaber have both left, though the latter was largely unsuccessful. Additionally, seven-goal attacker Jeremy Bekhechi, who was prolific off the bench, has departed. Otherwise, they have succeeded in so far retaining the services of the vast majority of their top players, although losing the core of their attacking unit is a serious blow. They have recruited well, however, securing most notably experienced Mathieu Duhamel, who has a track record of success in Ligue 2, plus promising youngsters Ange-Freddy Plumain and Dorian Caddy. Wide players Rafik Boujedra and Marvin Gakpa have also arrived, the latter having done reasonably well at Ajaccio last season. Otherwise, the focus has largely been on improving the club’s defensive line. To that end, Jacques Salze and Jordan Lefort have been added to the squad, though both have recently been back-up players at this standard in recent times. Joan Hartock is expected to start the season as the No.1 goalkeeper, having arrived from Brest last term, where he played a stronger campaign than anticipated, despite a reputation for being unreliable. Defensive strength has been key for the teams who have been promoted and gone on to do well at this level, but this is an area that could prove weak for the northerners. Nevertheless, they will be hopeful that they can follow the example of all three promoted teams of 2015-16 by staying safe in Ligue 2.