LAST night's opponents might not have enjoyed the same success as the likes of Paris St Germain or Marseilles but, in one important respect, Sochaux can claim to be the most important club in France.

The club, which was formed in 1928 as an amalgam of two teams from the Montbeliard region, have not won Le Championnat since 1937.

But, on October 30, they became the first French side to play 2,000 games in the country's top-flight when Toulouse visited Stade Auguste Bonal.

"I'm very proud to remind people that Sochaux may not be the richest or the greatest," said chairman Jean-Claude Plessis. "But they are an important part of French footballing history."

Since becoming founder members of Le Championnat in 1932, Sochaux's rise and fall has mirrored the fortunes of the Peugeot car plant that dominates the small town.

Jean-Pierre Peugeot was the driving force behind the club's formation, and the car company still owns 99 per cent of the shares in Sochaux.

The boom times came in the 1930s as, with car sales rocketing, Peugeot's money helped to clinch two titles and a French cup.

But, with the Second World War throwing the French economy into chaos, Peugeot were forced to reduce their investment in the late 1940s and early 1950s, allowing other leading clubs to overtake Sochaux.

The club has never fully recovered, although a focus on youth - with Peugeot employing talented teenagers in their warehouses while funding their footballing development - has seen Sochaux consistently finish in the top half of Ligue One in the last two decades.

The club reached the last four of the UEFA Cup in 1982 and made history by becoming the founder members of the 2,000 club last month.

Former Sochaux greats were paraded before the kick-off, while a firework display lit up the Sochaux skyline at night. There were no illuminations in the ground though - fireworks are banned on Peugeot premises and, in this part of the world, cars continue to come first.

The town of Sochaux is little more than a village, with a total population of a little over 4,000 people.

With amenities at a premium at this time of year, the travelling press pack have been staying in nearby Belfort - a pretty market town at the heart of the Montbeliard region.

The town is dominated by an imposing fort perched at the top of a rocky outcrop - think Edinburgh Castle without the cannons - and, at the foot of the cliff, lies a huge sandstone carving of a lion.

Originally built in the Middle Ages, the fort came to prominence during the Franco-Prussian war in the early 1870s.

After capturing the nearby region of Alsace, the Prussian forced advanced on Belfort as they continued their westerly push.

But, rather than tamely surrendering, the local military holed themselves up in the fort and successfully withstood more than a month of sustained assault.

Their defence proved crucial in stemming the Prussian advance and, to commemorate the locals who had lost their lives in the battle, a local sculptor carved a giant lion out of the sandstone at the foot of the cliff.

Visually stunning, it helps modern France to remember the "lionhearts" that helped to ensure the nation was allowed to retain the independence it enjoys today.

Yesterday provided the opportunity to flick through Les Echos - sadly not Montbeliard's regional newspaper, but one of France's most respected business dailies.

There's no Dad at Large column, and no Backtrack, but there was an eight-page pull out on investment opportunities in Kazakhstan.

Maybe something to think about instead of our Football pull-out on a Monday?

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