Duo grab final promotion places
12/05/2012
Stade de Reims and Esperance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne will play Ligue 1 football next season after joining Ligue 2 champions SC Bastia in securing promotion to the top flight.
One of the great names of French football, two-time European Cup runners-up Reims returned to the top tier for the first time in 33 years thanks to a 2-0 win at Amiens courtesy of goals from Cédric Fauré and Kamel Ghilas.
"I've quite simply fulfilled a dream," said former Toulouse FC forward Fauré, whose current contract expires in June, though a meeting with club officials is timetabled to negotiate an extension. "I've given everything for this club. I came here in 2006 to help it get back into the top flight. I stayed, even when we dropped into the third tier, and I've finally managed to do it. I feel a great amount of pride to be part of this team, and would really love to play in Ligue 1 next season."
Furlan: 'Family spirit'
Troyes ended their five-year exile from L1 with a 2-0 victory at Monaco - Marcos Pereira and Mounir Obbadi found the net. Jean-Marc Furlan's side also needed nearest challengers, Clermont Foot, to lose at EA Guingamp, and the Breton side kept their side of the bargain by securing a 3-1 win.
"We have talented players, but it's the notion of a collective that has been the overriding factor in the last two years," said Furlan. "In recent seasons, the club went down into the third tier and six or seven players here went through that. The youth academy is working well. The club has a real family spirit with a president who is close to the players and myself. It's with that kind of recipe that you can finish third."