Nicolas Cuynat's message to the season ticket holders

Dear STH,

After long weeks of confinement and remoteness, I wished to come back to you to give you the maximum of information about our club. I hear the possible criticisms from one another about our lack of communication, but you know that our DNA has always been work and humility. It was, in my opinion, inappropriate to use the media field to highlight the problems of our club at a time when women and men were fighting every day to save lives. You've no doubt heard about the resumption of the league, about new formulas for the final phase... Many people spoke out, often saying things that were contradicted the following week. No one knew how this epidemic would develop. We preferred to wait and speak out. Today the time has come to speak again to tell you about the situation at our club, to explain to you in all transparency what we've been doing over the last few months and to share with you the challenges of tomorrow.

This crisis, unique, has plunged us all into an unknown situation; a situation that is above all sanitary. Health has been our priority! We closed the club and made sure that our players and staff were all in good health. As the containment progressed, we wanted the FCG, through all its components - players, subscribers, supporters, partners, volunteers, employees - to be a platform for mutual aid to all those who were on the front line of this fight.

Through our network of partners, in conjunction with the Grenoble University Hospital, we set up donations of equipment for hospitals in great need. We also collected donations for the Grenoble University Hospital's endowment fund. We have initiated sports sessions, open to all, given by the Club's physical trainers, so that everyone can continue to practice sports at home.

We have also supported the initiative of the supporters' club, the Alpins, which has set up a clothing drive for the most underprivileged. At the initiative of our players, we also tried to help the shopkeepers in our network who needed manpower.

These difficult times for all of us have highlighted the extraordinary solidarity of our communities, which best symbolizes the great values of our sport. I deeply believe that, from this crisis, major changes can emerge that reinforce our vision of what the GFC should be. An institution anchored in its territory, open to all, open to the support of all, that conveys universal values, both social and societal. We have always wanted to make our club a place of sharing, exchange, passion and mutual aid. This crisis must bring out the best in who we are and we have been working for several weeks to rethink our role, to be more than ever ready to meet you in the best conditions and share together, around our team at the stadium, these moments that we miss so much.

At the same time, we found ourselves in an extremely difficult economic situation with the sudden shutdown of our activities. We then concentrated all our energies on a single objective: saving the FCG!

In conjunction with the state, the National Rugby League and all the local institutions, we have implemented all the levers necessary for our survival. The whole Club, players and administration, went into partial unemployment. We have requested a deferral of our charges and rents and have taken out a PGE (state-guaranteed loan) with our loyal and historic banks (Société Générale and Caisse d'Epargne RA) to enable us to have sufficient cash flow. We also called on the solidarity of all our suppliers to help us reach this milestone. However, these aids were not enough. We therefore began discussions with all the Club's employees to set up a collective performance agreement that would allow us to lower the salaries of our players, staff and administrative staff. An agreement that was signed by all and which demonstrates the solidarity and exceptional commitment of all the members of our club.

In this unprecedented context, we thank from the bottom of our hearts all those who have already expressed their support for next season and all those who have renounced any compensation for the 2019-2020 season. You are not supposed to be unaware of the possibility of receiving a credit note for next season, however, we appeal to your solidarity by urging you to renounce compensation for matches as our supporters groups the Alpins and the Mammoths and numerous subscribers' testimonials have done. Our ticketing service remains at your disposal for further information via fcgticket@fcgrugby.com.

We can now look forward to the next season. We've won our first battle, but we all know that the virus is still there. The health of everyone will always be our priority and we will do everything we can to ensure the safety of our players, our employees and our public. We all want to be able to meet at the stadium.

The NRL is working with the Ministry of Sport to establish a protocol for returning to the stadium in optimal sanitary conditions. By the end of the month, the NRL will collect the wishes of the different clubs to organise the 2020-2021 calendar, which should be released just after July 14. We will come back to you as soon as we have visibility to give you the subscription modalities for the next season but we have already decided to keep the same rates for all subscription categories.

Despite these difficulties, we have never lowered our ambitions and we have continued to build a competitive team that should enable us to achieve our objectives: to climb back into the Top 14 within the next 3 years. In December and January, we had extended most of our young players as well as some of our senior players (Ancely, Blanc Mappaz, Taufa, Dupont, Valençot, Capuozzo, Eglaine, Glenat, F. Guillemin, Martel, Rossi, Montagne, Fusier). We had already announced the recruitment of Nagusa, Bousquet, Halaifonua and Qadiri, which we completed with Masilevu, Kakaitsichvili, Ruaud, Seguret and the return of Neparidze. You've also probably read in the press about Nathanael Hulleu's departure to Bordeaux, which is not in keeping with the values of our sport. I want to reaffirm to everyone that FCG, which like many training clubs has difficulty keeping its best youngsters, does not want to be the supermarket of clubs with little respect for people and institutions.

In the coming weeks, our club's activities will resume at 100%. The shop on Place Victor Hugo is already open in sale off mode. It welcomes you in the respect of the sanitary rules with new schedules arranged every afternoon from Tuesday to Friday from 14h to 18h and Saturday from 13h to 19h. From next week you will be able to buy masks in the colours of your Club (The Club will donate 1 € for each mask purchased to the Grenoble University Hospital).

Three regional friendly matches should be on the pre-season program. You will know more in the coming days.

Finally, we have a special thought for the players who will no longer wear the Red & Blue jersey and with whom we would have liked to celebrate the departure all together at the Stade des Alpes. We thank them for all they have brought to FCG and their unfailing commitment. We wish them every success in their next clubs or in their new professional projects. Thank you very much!

We look forward to seeing you again!

Nicolas Cuynat