In December 2020, a delegation including a senior architect, mayor and one of the heads of a football club went to the roof of the Palace of Versailles.
The goal: to see at what height the spotlights in the football stadium, which is 1.5 kilometers away, are visible.
As soon as the spotlight rose to a height of 18 meters a small twinkle appeared, a light the size of a basketball, not something serious.
The mayor asked the architect for approval that everything was fine, but the answer he received was negative.
Since the Palace of Versailles is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is forbidden to see light within a radius of five kilometers from it. For this reason the stadium of the local team, Versailles, has no spotlights at all.
Fate wanted it and last week, in the first appearance in the history of the team from the fourth division in the eighth finals of the French Cup, the draw arranged for her a home game against Toulouse from the second division.
The excitement was great for the historic event, but the lack of spotlights prevented her from hosting the game.
Having no choice, she had to give up the home game and move the game to Toulouse, which did not stop her from completing the biggest surprise at this point.
A goal by Capit Djoko towards the end gave Versailles a 0: 1 victory and sent them to the quarter-finals, where tonight they will meet in an away game the factory's second Cinderella: Berjarak, who also comes from the fourth division.
"This is the magic of the French Cup," he said at the end of the goal-scorer, "We are proud of ourselves! We are writing another chapter in the history of Versailles!"
Versailles players celebrate.
Will the semi-finals continue ?, Photo: Versailles, official website
History is not lacking for the city of Versailles and the Royal Palace, but the football team has had a much less eventful event.
It was founded in 1989 as a result of a merger between two local teams, and over the years has spent in the lower leagues and without great ambitions.
This indifference came to an end last year, when an investment company took over the club and brought with it experienced and serious professionals.
Jean-Luc Aribar, a former Premier League brakeman and most recently a local television commentator, has been appointed professional director.
"We have very rational ambitions at this point," he announced this week.
"We want to move up to the professional leagues and move on from there."
Accordingly, last summer the team changed about 70% of its staff, according to Aribar, who was looking for "mature and proven players who are willing to go with us on the journey."
Together with coach Yusuf Shivni, who has been in the position since 2014, Versailles is recording an excellent season so far and leading the fourth division table of the fourth division.
The biggest ambition of the new Versailles management is to build an orderly club, which will climb up the leagues and deal respectfully with the big teams.
Versailles' home stadium.
Will stop the progress ?, Photo: From Twitter
Will they lower the grass?
Until this season, coach Shivni was responsible for all aspects - from recruiting players, through signing contracts to handling travel, etc. - but now there is a team that takes care of the small details.
"We must be balanced and learn to respect every step of this journey."
The thing is, this journey has one big obstacle, which is very difficult to deal with, and that is the stadium.
Not only is it outdated and has about 6,500 seats, there is currently no permit to turn on lighting.
In the senior leagues the games take place in the evening, and the lack of spotlights is something that will prevent the team from hosting games and gaining the home advantage.
"The question of the stadium is my top priority," Aribar announced this week, "We will continue to hold discussions with those who need it until a solution is found to this issue."
Football club officials are confident an 18-meter-high arrangement can be found, accepted by the city architect and palace staff: "We will make proposals, we will even offer to lower the grass by a few meters," board members said.
And perhaps in general the best persuasion is to simply win the French Cup to show that Versailles has a palace, but there is also a queen team.
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