The shirt of a birthday that isn't the club's: on the chest, embroidered in fine thread, Un siècle de lumières, Le Touquet Paris-Plage 1912-2012, the centenary of the commune carried onto the pitch by its team. The Casino Barrière crosses the white hoop, jeweller Eric Dupont signs the sleeve and Veolia guards the back above the 15. On the nape, Patrick prints 1892, the founding year of the brand itself: on a centenary shirt, even the manufacturer is older than the town.
The 2011/12 season was played in the northern regional leagues, far from the Division 2 of 1988/89, but with the seaside elegance the club never took off.
Here at Hoopster, this is the shirt of a whole town's birthday: a hundred candles blown out in hoops.