Old Man Gets Orange and Blue Mohawk to Celebrate French Title

Montpellier owner Louis Nicollin may be ruing his idiosyncratic sense of humour.

He may be especially ruing the throwaway sentence in early March, in which he promised to don an orange and blue mohawk if Montpellier won the league title.

Speaking to Les Dessous du Sport, he said “on verra un vieux président qui se fera une iroquoise.”

The Old President was as good as his word as a Montpellier side with a fraction of the player budget of Qatari owned giants Paris St Germain pipped the capital’s side managed by Carlo Ancelotti to the French title.

The unfancied side from the Languedoc-Roussillon region on the southern French coast needed to win at already relegated Auxerre to clinch their first ever Ligue Un title.

The discontented Auxerre fans added to the drama by lobbing tennis balls onto the pitch thus delaying play.

News filtered through that Paris SG had won their game 1-2 at Lorient after trailing, increasing the pressure on Montpellier who had fallen behind to a Narcisse-Olivier Kapo goal.

John Utaka’s equaliser settled nerves slightly before the tennis balls and news of PSG’s victory increased the pressure on the cheaply assembled side. The Montpellier game still had over 40 minutes to run when the whistle went at Lorient.

With just 14 minutes left, Utaka sealed the deal with a winner to give the side whose players are barely known outside France the title.

And Monsieur Nicollin’s coiffeur a big pay day!