FPA Focus | Loïc Damour
In our next FPA Focus, we caught up with former City midfielder Loïc Damour, who discussed his time in South Wales, promotion to the Premier League, and much more…
Damour joined City at the start of the 2017/18 season and spent two years at the Club. In that time, he helped the Bluebirds gain promotion to the top-flight of English football.
“The first year in particular was amazing," Loïc said. "It is easy for me to say that Cardiff City was the best time in my career. It was very good both on and off the pitch."
His move to the Welsh capital was the first time he had played outside of France or Belgium in his career, but he quickly adapted to life in Wales.
“Me and my family enjoyed living in Cardiff. It was a nice area to live in as a family, my first daughter went to school there, so it was an amazing experience.
“When I arrived, there was a French connection at Cardiff City with Sol Bamba, Bruno Ecuele Manga and Frédéric Gounongbe, which helped me a lot."
In his two years with the Club, Damour went on to make 36 appearances with most of those coming in the promotion season, when City finished second.
He continued: “We were like a family. You’ve got five major players that you know will play almost every game and the standard was very good.
"At the training ground, levels were kept high and we were all pushing the same way. Players like Sol, Aron Gunnarsson, Sean Morrison, Lee Peltier, Anthony Pilkington, I could continue, they kept the standards high.
"There were some players who sometimes weren't major players in the coach's head, but they were always there working hard and contributing. The connection in the group was amazing because we were all pushing each other."
The Bluebirds started the 2017/18 season with five wins in-a-row, sparking excitement of what City could go on to achieve that year.
Damour revealed he was confident the side were going to get promoted with ten games left, but for others, they knew very early on in the season.
“I’m not lying when I say that after one or two months of the season, Sol told me that we’re going up this season," Loïc added.
"I had just checked the schedule on my phone and in the Championship, a 46-game season, I thought how can you say that after five games.
“Sol then said to me I know we’re going up; we’re going to do something great this season. He told me that after two months, I started to realise that it could happen in the last 10 games.
“I knew we were doing something special. I was at home with my wife and I said maybe something amazing could happen.
“My favourite game was my first start. It was a dream for me against Aston Villa at home when we beat them. They were the favourites that season. The atmosphere of the game was amazing for the first home win of the season. I’ll say also the last game of the season and I remember Leeds United at home, the fans were great and we played so well."
Going into the final day of the 2017/18 season, City only needed a point to secure promotion and after the game ended 0-0 against Reading, the feat was achieved.
Loïc concluded: “All the team needed was a draw. It wasn’t a great game, but at the end, everyone was happy. The guys controlled the game, so the pressure was just not to concede.
“We let go of everything at full-time. We were just running everywhere, you don’t even know what you are doing. The only thing you know is that you're going up. It was an amazing feeling.
“For me, I played for 16 years in France, Wales and Belgium and I have only experienced emotion like that once.
“I have a very good relationship with the fans. I can feel the love they give me and when I last came back to the stadium, I felt the love from them again.
“We have a special connection and it was very nice to see them when I came back to visit last season.”