PROFILE | Stijn Spierings enjoys rollercoaster year in 2023 | OneFootball

Last season, Toulouse FC won their first-ever Coupe de France, in what looked to be the swan song for the team’s experienced core. Stijn Spierings, alongside three other members of the squad that had led the team to promotion the season before, would depart on the expiry of their contracts in the summer. The end of an era for the club and the start of their efforts to revitalise their squad.

For Spierings, it was a beautiful goodbye to a team that he had joined three years before, and his efforts in the shirt during this time had quickly secured him a move north to RC Lens, where he would be arriving in a club that had earned Champions League football after an incredible season.

His stay with Les Sang et Or was far from beautiful for the midfielder. It was reported at the time by Mohamed Toubache-Ter that the player struggled to integrate into his new squad, and shortly after the transfer window ended, Lens told their new signing that he could leave.

In a ‘joker’ transfer, Lens loaned back the player to Toulouse, and Spierings was reunited with a club where he was adored. The midfielder’s flight back to the Pink City was met with hundreds of supporters who welcomed him home with songs and pyrotechnics.

Spierings needs to rediscover his place at Toulouse

Spierings has joined a dramatically different team to the one he left. His manager on departure Philippe Montanier was sacked during the summer and replaced by his assistant Carles Martínez Novell, and their summer revitalisation efforts have left the squad with the youngest average age in Ligue 1.

The midfielder’s experience has led him to be a more mature character on the pitch for the young team, with the player stating, “I must play a leadership role on the field because it is still my fourth year here. I won’t necessarily be a dressing room leader but I want to speak on the pitch with my feet and what I can bring to the team.”

The goodbye was beautiful, the return was emotional, but the reality of life at Toulouse has been tough. At the midway point in the season, the team sits in the relegation playoff spot, and will likely need their leader on the field to guide them through what will be a revealing few months.

GFFN | Nick Hartland