If you follow European football, you’ll have heard about the tragic tale of Girondins de Bordeaux. The six-time Ligue 1 winners have been relegated down to the fourth tier of French football, with no clear path back to the top flight. This is exactly why they should stay in EA FC 25’s career mode.
Bordeaux is a historic French football club. Founded in 1881, The Girondins have tasted league glory six times, won four Coupe de France trophies, and the Coupe de la Ligue on three occasions, making them one of the nation’s most successful clubs.
Unfortunately, the club was badly affected by 2020’s global shutdown and the abrupt ending of a TV rights deal worth €780 million ($866 million), forcing the club into administration in 2021. The club was sold on to Spanish businessman Gerard Lopez, but their financial woes continued, and when Liverpool FC owners Fenway Sports Group pulled out of a deal to purchase Bordeaux in July 2024, the French Football Federation decided to relegate them to Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of French football, with “financial irregularities” the reason given.
Since then, 30 players have left Bordeaux and 25 have come in, all of whom are free transfers since the club can’t afford to pay transfer fees. They’re essentially starting again, 142 years after their formation, and that’s exactly why they should be included in EA FC 25.
FC Girondins de Bordeaux would be the ultimate “Road to Glory” career mode save. A team with no money, a ragtag group of academy youngsters and players signed on free transfers, and a legacy few in France can match, clawing their way back to the pinnacle of domestic and European football. Could there be a more dramatic save? 15 years to rewrite history, to undo the heartbreak of relegations that didn’t happen on the pitch – it’s almost romantic.
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Now I’m not advocating for EA Sports to include France’s fourth division in the game, that’s simply unrealistic. However, EA has included big names who have been relegated out of the leagues featured in their titles before. When Rangers were liquidated and sent down to Scotland’s League Two, they were included in the Rest of the World section of FIFA 13.
All I ask is that Bordeaux is given the same chance. Let us add them to Ligue 2 in Career Mode and build them up from being the worst French team in EA FC 25 to Champions League winners.
Yes, the tiny budget would make this a hard challenge, but that’s the fun of it all—building a team from nothing and taking them to glory. I just want the chance to do it.
