The Castel family has a real passion for football in the country of Saint-Dominique, in this village of Fanjeaux, located on a rocky promontory at an altitude of 360 m. Portrait of Jean Castel, 80, president of the Etoile Sportive Fanjuvèenne-La Piège club. A club which has 83 licensees including 21 women and 9 leaders.
Jean Castel is a figure. Character. His father, Henri, was already a real enthusiast. A football lover. He was with several people (Julien Bedos the first president, André Ormières to name a few) one of the founders of the ESF (Etoile Sportive Fanjuvèenne) in 1959. He wrote in a large notebook the life of the village around round ball. Since 2013, the Henri-Castel stadium bears his name.
Castle from father to son
Henri transmitted this passion to Jean, his son, who became president for 16 years from 2001 to 2017. Arrived at the club in 1997, he has not left it since. Secretary, vice-president, then president, he passed the baton to Clément Jover in 2017. “You have to know how to turn the page and give way to a younger president, who brings more dynamism” he declares. The Covid arrives and it resumes service in 2020, until today.
This former educator of the PJJ (judicial protection of youth), retired since 2007 is the real engine of the football club. Esteemed by everyone, he always sends the right message to his licensees. The president is also keen on this name ESF-La Piège because the club brings together footballers from this micro-region of La Piège, where 9 municipalities help the club according to their means. It perpetuates the same values that have always been those: respect, solidarity, fair play and conviviality.
A flawless investment
It was in Palavas-les-Flots, in 2015, during the General Assembly of the Football League, that Jean Castel was awarded the gold medal which rewards his twenty years (twenty-five years to date) spent in the service of football and the sports star Fanjeaux-La Piège. Also last season, the Favre Cup final played at the Parc des Sports et de l’Amitié stadium in Narbonne was an excellent memory and a great moment of happiness shared with all the club’s volunteers and supporters. .
From the height of his eighties, Jean Castel, whom everyone familiarly calls “Jeannot”, can be proud of everything he brings to his club, through his unfailing investment.
His only small regret? The absence of a football school in the village. His next mission, perhaps, at the start of the next school year?
On the hills of La Piège, a veritable reservoir of young people, in the sky, the Star dressed in yellow and black will still sparkle for many years to come. At least, Jean Castel will see to it.
