Amiens’ goal when they won promotion to Ligue 2 in the summer was merely survival but head coach Christophe Pellissier achieved the seemingly impossible by propelling them into the top flight with a second-place finish. Having been widely tipped to come up then crash immediately back down, it was a staggering achievement for the Picardy outfit, who spent much of the season around the promotion spots. They could even afford to sell top scorer Jonathan Tinhan in the January transfer window, a ploy that had been made to generate revenue but not to propel the team to promotion. Indeed, it seemed for the third quarter of the season that they were too inexperienced and lacking too much in quality to maintain their place and they started to fade into the middle of the table. However, they somehow raised themselves for the last 10 matches, incredibly winning eight times, including all of their last six. It was sheer determination that ended up getting them over the line, with Pellissier branding his team “the armed robbers” after they defeated Reims on the final day of the season with a goal in the 96th minute from substitute Emmanuel Bourgaud. Otherwise, they would have missed the top three entirely. This was a squad that showed a perisistent ability to overcome the odds, with long-term absentees Quentin Cornette and Guy N’Gosso damaging the panel significantly. However, there was a couple of revelations in the form of Tanguy Ndombele and Guessouma Fofana, who the club expected to sell in the summer – although after going up that is not so certain. In the defence, meanwhile, Amiens had a robust unit that typified their team as a whole. Pellissier achieved miracles this season but with Ligue 1 looming, it will take an even greater one for them to survive in the top flight next season – the first they will spend among the elite.
