In the evening Clare Town Lions, with support from the Town Council, hosted celebratory dinner in the Community Centre. All the arrangements and cooking for 68 people were undertaken by Clare Lions' Mums and Dads, superbly led by Ali and John. The Community Centre was turned into a sea of red, white and blue flags and decorations and this was a fabulous welcome for our French visitors.
On the Wednesday morning the adults and the boys enjoyed a visit to a delightful toy railway belonging to a private collector in Clare. This was followed by a Blue Badge Guide tour of Clare and a visit to the Ancient House and Town Church.
Wednesday afternoon was the main event of the week: Clare Town Lions, Châtillon and Bures United under 14 teams launched the competition in a play off for the competition trophies. Meanwhile the Clare Lions under 7, 8, 9 & 10 teams played exhibition matches in front of large crowds of supporters.
The 3-way invitation tournament was supported by a new Invitation Trophy sponsored by the Clare Business Association. We hope that this will become an annual event. The trophy for the match between Clare and Chatillon was provided by Les Amis de Chatillon et Clare, the french community group who put so much effort and support into the programme. We were able to get good press coverage and even an interview on Radio Suffolk.
With a very strong team and having scored some excellent goals, Chatillon beat both Bures and Clare and took both cups - at least for the time being!
On Thursday the French visitors, together with some Clare boys, were able to visit the home of ‘Super Spurs’, at White Hart Lane for a guided tour of the ground and to meet some of the management and players.
The unplanned part of the week was of course the volcanic explosion in Iceland which disrupted the flight arrangements back to Chatillon. After some late night research and re-planning, the French party were driven to Portsmouth and crossed by ferry to Caen where they were picked up by parents cars from Chatillon!
At the end of a busy week we hope that our French guests will return to France with fond memories of a special few days spent with new friends in Clare. Michel Hetroy, the Mayor of Chatillon, summed up the week by saying" Chatillon may have won the trophy, but the people of Clare have won our hearts".
Now we can all look forward to the return visit to Chatillon from 11-15 July.
