The Angers SCO footballer - who has 12 goals in 138 appearances for Stéphane Moulin's side - is now an elected member of the town council in Saint-Léger-de-Linières, a small town of 3,500 inhabitants ten kilometres outside Angers in the Maine-et-Loire department of north-western France.

An active member of his community, 32-year-old Capelle was a favourite of outgoing mayor Franck Poquin, who recommended the player by including him in a pre-election endorsement list - 'Solidarity, Ecology, Modernity for the harmonious development of Saint-Léger-de-Linières'.

Sunday's election saw Capelle - who now has plenty of time on his hands after Angers opted to send players home with individualised training regimes until further notice - win a place on the town council with a view to continuing and developing his ties with the community.

"He has lived in this town for several years already, and I value his expertise in sporting matters but also his human qualities: he is a great guy who always has time to give," smiled Poquin. "He is very involved in the community, particularly in the parents' association."

Stay humble

Capelle has also been staying active, getting in a few sets of tennis with teammate Romain Thomas - although his election success didn't spill over onto the court.

"On Saturday afternoon, I played a little tennis with Pierrick Capelle, next to our training centre at La Baumette," said Thomas, who was on target in Angers' 2-0 win over Nantes in Round 28. "There we met [fellow teammates] Angelo Fulgini and Baptiste Santamaria, who had also rented a court. We had a little round robin and, for the record, I beat Pierrick 6-3 [laughs]. Afterwards, the four of us played a game of paddleball. It was fun, it was good for us."