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Bon voyage to the traveller. Have fun, sweetie.

It is now official, USSA Vertou and FC Nantes will contest the 7th round of le Coupe de France at Stade de la Beaujoire on Saturday, November 24 at 2100. I followed some links I found at the FC Nantes site and did a little Googling and discovered that Vertou is often referred to as Vertou (DH) because they play in the Division d'Honneur.

The structure of French football has at its top the two professional leagues, the Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 with 20 teams each. Next in line are a number of leagues run by the Fédération Française de Football.

At level 3 is the semi-professional Championnat de France National, again a league with 20 teams.

At level 4 is the amateur Championnat de France Amateurs, which is divided into four parallel regional divisions, each with 18 teams, a total of 72.

Level 5 is the Championnat de France Amateurs 2, which is divided into eight parallel regional divisions, 16 teams each, a total of 128.

Underneath that are many more regional leagues and divisions. If I counted correctly there are 24 regional leagues, each divided into divisions. The top division of each is the Division d'Honneur, usually 14 teams. It is in this sixth level of football that USSA Vertou competes, in the Ligue Atlantique.

Stay with me a minute here, Nantes is currently second in Ligue 2, making them arguably the current 22nd ranked team in French football. In the top 5 levels there are 20+20+20+72+128 teams, a total of 260. There are 24 regional leagues, Vertou is 4th in the one they play in, making them, oh say, 73rd amongst that classification. Vertou is approximately the 333rd ranked team in French football, being given an opportunity to play at one of the biggest stadiums against one of the most storied teams in France.

It is no wonder that the Vertou chairman has said that the amateur club is honored to be playing at la Beaujoire. It is 6th division against 2nd division, number 333 getting a shot at number 22.

I found a Vertou fan website. It is in French but I try to follow along. One of the comments left by a fan is this:

N'ayant pu servir les "merlus" au beurre blanc, il est à souhaiter que les "canaris" soient préparés au Muscadet pour un excellent spectacle auquel un grand nombre de vertaviens devrait se déplacer.
Allez l'U.S.S.A. nous sommes tous avec vous

I don't get all of that but I am pretty sure that he is saying that Canaries are best prepared in a sauce of white butter and Muscadet, that it makes an excellent spectacle for a great number of vertaviens? (Vertou fans?) to enjoy. Allez (Vertou), we are all with you.

This could be fun.