His twenty-second move led Pascal Françoise to Charente-Maritime, eight kilometers from his daughter Céline, a banker in La Rochelle, in 2023. The restless spirit, this native of Caen, didn’t just have it during his twelve years as a forward, then as a midfielder. He successively reconverted as a truck driver, mason, park manager, site manager… “It wasn’t the sums of money we see today,” he recalls. “It’s great if players are now earning a good living. We fought for them, with the UNFP.” Second of a family of six children, five boys and an adopted daughter, he also worked as a foster parent for eight years, with his wife. “We took care of a three-month-old baby, who is twelve years old today and whom I consider as our second son.” But football remains the guiding thread of his life. Playing amateur football until 56 allowed him to play an official match with his son Christophe, in Limoges. Coaching until 66, winning two Creuse Cups in four years, with the Entente Sportive Marchoise and ES Bénévent-Marsac. Since January 2023, he has joined the French team of over 60s walking football, with which he has participated in the last two World Cups (2023, 2025). B.L.
