Yoann Barbet and Maxime Colin went back to the classroom on Tuesday as they met the GCSE French pupils at Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School in Ealing. The visit, organised by the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, saw Yoann and Maxime pass on their football and French skills to a group of 22 Year 10 and 11 students at the school preparing for their oral exams in the summer.
The duo, signed by The Bees last summer, took charge of a series of small sided football matches before attending a bi-lingual Press Conference with the pupils. The defenders were quizzed in French about their football career, their time in London and their plans for the future before switching to English to talk about the cultural and footballing differences between England and France that they had seen since crossing The Channel. There was also a chance for the pupils, many of them Brentford fans, to chat to the pair and get those all-important selfies before the day was up.
Speaking after the event Maxime and Yoann said: “It was fun to meet the students and listen to them speak in French to us. I would have loved to have a chance like this when I was at school so I hope they enjoyed it. It was nice to be able to show that football players can be close to the fans. Their French was really good and listening to their English also showed that we need to keep doing our English classes. The questions from the pupils were really good and were things that we would never have thought of at that age.”
Head of French at the 1,900 strong co-ed school on the Greenford Avenue Mr Bird added: “This afternoon was absolutely brilliant for our Year Ten and 11 French students. They gained so much from it and the players were outstanding with their brilliant answers and relaxed delivery. I really hope that we can do something similar to this in the future.”