He is one of the essential men of French football. In Nothing Goes Wrong, written in collaboration with Bernard Lions, Gervais Martel returns, with his legendary frankness, to the highlights of an eclectic career. A career marked with the seal of RC Lens, “the club of (s)his life”.
The youngest president of a football club in France at 33, he led it for 29 years. But this love story goes back even further: “the first time my father introduced me to Bollaert, I was 6 years old (…) Since that day, I have been addicted to RC Lens”.
A club that he will accompany to the summits: champion of France in 1998, participation in the Champions League (in the 1998-1999 season), a League Cup in 1999 and a semi-final of the UEFA Cup (in 2000). Notably. A club that he will also save from oblivion, thanks to a certain François Hollande, then President of the Republic: “Without the astonishing gesture of François Hollande, the club would be dead and buried. Thank you Mr President.”
Alongside his managerial career, Gervais Martel worked at the national level for his sport: between 1993 and 2008, he was president of the Union of Professional Football Clubs (UCPF), of which he was one of the founding members. And in 2011, he was elected representative of professional clubs to the High Authority of Football, to the French Federation (FFF). Furthermore, it is also he who created the now famous winter transfer window.
If he has helped many players throughout his career, there is one whose career is more particularly linked to his name: Raphaël Varane, world champion with the Blues in 2018, who played at La Gaillette, a training center which Gervais Martel participated in the creation of. Another “escaped” him: “Wilfrid Mbappé, Kylian’s father, called me, at the end of the 2011 season, to tell me: “Mr. Martel, I cannot put my son with you. You go down to the second division. I’m going to put him in a Ligue 1 training center.” Kylian finally left for AS Monaco. »
An anecdote, among many others, which punctuate the not always rosy journey of a man whose life will forever be linked to one of the most popular clubs in France.
220 pages – 22 euros – Publication on November 3, 2023
