Nearly 1,000 OGC Nice fans welcomed Joe Bryan and Gaëtan Laborde to Contes with open arms on Wednesday.

The sun was shining, hundreds of people were smiling, and there was red and black everywhere. For the return of the OGC Nice Village tour, the residents of the town of Contes set the bar high – very high. At the heart of what used to be known as the County of Nice and in a historic bastion of support for Le Gym, the Nice fans welcomed Gaëtan Laborde and Joe Bryan with chants and applause.

WHEN JOE BRYAN SPEAKS FRENCH… AND NIssart 

“Thank you very much and Issa Nissa!”, smiled Bryan, in French and in Niçard. “I’m looking forward to giving this amazing fan base some great wins,” Laborde added, as he posed for photos and signed autographs throughout the day alongside the English full-back.

“THESE ARE MOMENTS THAT PEOPLE REMEMBER FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES”

“I’m very happy to welcome these great players,” said the Mayor of Contes, Francis Tujague, highlighting “the close relationship between OGC Nice and ES Contes, from which many young people come to support Le Gym.” “Thank you for inspiring them!”, he finished, before offering the two summer signings a basket full of local products to help them settle in that little bit more. “Meeting a professional footballer is a moment that people remember for the rest of their lives,” emphasised Frédéric Arnault, the chairman of ES Contes, in front of the club’s many members and coaches on Place Jean Allardi.

“STRONG AND POSITIVE ENERGY”

“We’re delighted to have finally been able to get the OGC Nice Village tour going again,” commented Virginie Rossetti, OGC Nice’s Director of Communications and Branding. “Contes was in our schedule when the COVID-19 crisis hit. So, it made sense for us to finally go there for our first trip to a village outside of Nice [editor’s note: the season got underway with an OGC Nice Village at the Coulée Verte in Nice]. It was the perfect destination given how strong and positive the energy we felt here today was! It was an amazing shared moment between the club, the players present and the fans from the Vallée du Paillon. Moments like this remind us of why we love this sport so much: for the unifying aspect of football in general and of the club in particular. More than ever before, Le Gym has been a vehicle for emotion today.”

THE RESTOS DU CŒUR ALSO PLAY THEIR PART

Everyone went home from Place Jean Allardi with big grins on their faces: the players, the fans, the coaches, the councillors… and even the volunteers from the Restos du Cœur, who collected around 100 kg of donations for the most vulnerable thanks to the generosity of those who took part, making for a successful afternoon in every aspect!

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