It is another weekend in France where I have too much to do on the Saturday, so football is reserved for Sunday only. Someone asked me how I pick the games, it often involves searching through large numbers of fixture lists and tables. At this point of the season, I normally look for a match where one team is trying for promotion, (better if both are). My limit tends to be a two hour drive – but this gives substantial possibilities in three regions, Normandie, Centre and Pays de la Loire.

Generally, I look at the National divisions, which are semi-professional, and the Regional which are generally amateur, but with some payments at least at the top clubs. That takes one down to the 8th tier of French football, which thanks to the broader spread of clubs in France is certainly no better than the 10th tier in England.

I do also keep an eye on the cup games. With the leagues in France being small in size, (most divisions are of 12 teams), it means Cup games are mainly on the weekend and there is not problem we see in England, even in the semi-professional game where weaker sides are used for County Cups.

Another factor, especially in the wet winter months, is whether or not the main ground is being used. It is not uncommon for a team to have a first choice (mainly grass) pitch with a second pitch (often synthetic grass) close by. Features such as stands are liable to only be by the first pitch, so I want to see a game only on this.

Most small French towns are dead on a Sunday, and while they have charm, there is a tendency to be similar. I cannot always get to a game long before kick off, and I often do not see any reason to hang on afterwards. It helps if I know beforehand if there are some sights I want to see, and in that case I try to find the time to look around.

I like to be at the ground around 20 minutes before kick off. I can then take a few pictures of the venue and collect my bearings. I still note all the team lists, and the French has this odd system where team team lists shown on line give first names and the first initial of the surname only. This happens at almost every game, even at the lowest level, although full details can be found on-line for the top five tiers, (National 3 and above).

If you are at the ground as the referee leaves the pitch after the warm up, (about ten minutes before kick off), and follow him into the dressing room, then he is generally prepared to show you the lists, which are always on the tablet provided by the French Football Federation. Access is secured by wearing a lanyard with the word press on it, but half the time, any lanyard would do! I see accredited French journalists doing much the same. A quick photo of the team lists allows me to get out of the way, the referee will still need to check all the players boots before kick off and he normally calls them in numerical order off the team sheet as they gather in the tunnel before the game starts.

My choice this week was a team called AS Potigny VSU. AS is a common prefix in France, and generally means Association Sportive, VSU comes out as Villers-Canivet Ussy, the name of two other local villages. This is probably a reference to the club having merged with (or absorbed) clubs from those villages in the past

AS Potigny VSU are mid-table, so they are liable to remain at Regional 3 level next season. The visitors are Leopards St. Georges, from St. Georges des Groseilles. I immediately like the name, there are not many clubs in France which have taken on unusual names. The club is placed second in the division and if they finish in this position they will have the complication in trying to work out if they will be promoted. Last season, there were ten groups at this level, and only one team from each group would go up. This season, the number of groups has been reduced to 8, and there are a total of 12 promotion places. Assuming (and this is not always the case), that the champions of each division are eligible for promotion, as are the runners-up in each group. Then a comparison of the teams records are made based on the their record, not over the whole 22 game campaign, but over the eight matches that finished in 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th place. A similar system works at the bottom of the groups, 20 teams should be relegated from the 8 groups, so the teams finishing in the last two positions, (11th and 12th) will go down in each case. For those finishing 10th, the comparison is made on their results against the teams finishing 6th through to 9th place, (again 8 games).

This can have late consequences. Imagine going into the final game with the team in second leading the promotion lists, and the one if tenth apparently safe, but then 5th and 6th places swap over, and both teams dreams can be dashed.

I tend not to look out for the relegation clashes in France, (while I would head for them in England). It seems to me that there is not the same desperation to cling to the last hope of avoiding the drop here. If, any the other hand, you see an end of season game between two teams pushing for the one promotion spot, the locals will turn out in good numbers to support their teams.

I had spotted Potigny’s ground, Stade des Gueles Rouges more than once as it is clearly visible from the main road I use if heading to Caen. A decent main stand, which probably dates back around 100 years, but nothing else except a path around the pitch. Typical for this level, drinks are served from a hatch from the side of the stand, and there is no open clubhouse.

I was intrigued by the name of the ground, which is also the club nickname. Google translate gets stuck with Gueles Rouge, but it appeared to be Red Faces. I was fortunate that the man sitting next to me struck up a conversation and spoke enough English to explain. It is indeed Red Faces. From 1907, a mine was situated quite close to the ground, mining iron ore, and the miners would come off shift covered in a red dust from the operation, hence they were known as Red Faces.

The game ended in a 3-0 win for the away team, and overall this was deserved. Potigny were in the game until the break, changing around just one goal behind. Both teams had a tendency to spurn chances with low value shots from distance rather than working the ball into the area. In the second half, we saw Eliot Thommerel twice getting good crosses into the right area from the right wing. The first led to Paul Barthelemy scoring, and the second to a silly foul which gave the Leopards a penalty. Richard Chretien had his penalty saved, but close to the end of the game he did find the score sheet.