Owned by Bordeaux city council, the Château du Haillan and its surroundings had been made available to the club by the city. This agreement lapsed when the Girondins team went bankrupt.
City Hall’s desire to soften the blow as much as possible the fall of the Girondins of Bordeaux. Nevertheless, the soccer club, relegated to National 2 in July, has renounced its professional status and filed for bankruptcy. More than three-quarters of the club’s hundred or so employees are affected. a redundancy plan since October. This downsizing and change in status has invalidated the temporary occupancy agreement granted to the club by the town council. This agreement, which allowed the Girondins de Bordeaux to use the Château du Haillan and two surrounding plots of land for the modest sum of 16,000 euros a year, must therefore be renegotiated.
“No decision has been made. That would be hasty, reassures Mathieu Hazouard, Bordeaux’s deputy mayor in charge of sports. For the time being, we’re reinforcing the sporting dimension of the premises and considering transitional arrangements.” Management of the infrastructure dedicated to amateur soccer on the Plaine du Haillan has therefore been taken in hand by the town council. The professional area, which is the subject of an administrative long lease for a symbolic one euro until 2060, is still available to the club with the scapular. The question of the use of the château and its surroundings is due to be settled by the end of November.
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“To the euro
In practical terms, the municipal majority pragmatically observes that Girondins de Bordeaux will not be able to return to Ligue 2 for at least two years. As soon as the club has “expressed its needs”of “facilities will have to be put in place to “avoid leaving empty square metres”.. “Despite the low rent, we have to maintain the château. The club now only has 10 employees and it budgets to the nearest euro.”explains Mathieu Hazouard.
In other words, the Girondins’ current employees will soon have to share the premises. A necessary development according to the town council, which insists on its desire to “find the right balance to support the club without costing the city”.. When contacted, the Girondins de Bordeaux did not respond to our requests for the time being. As for the two adjoining soccer pitches, the situation has already been regularized. The city’s facilities are rented for 80 euros an hour for each Girondins de Bordeaux training session.