Valence Romans

Vincent Pelo won a title with Valence Romans and stayed on afterwards to coach the side that raised him as a player. Formed on 1 July 2016 out of a merger between US Romans Péage and ROC La Voulte-Valence, it took its black-and-white checkerboard shirt straight from Romans Péage, and the nickname followed: Les Damiers.

The early years were unsettled. A run to the Pro D2 final in 2019, lost 30–25 to Rouen, brought promotion anyway, and then relegation came just two seasons later after Valence Romans finished 15th in Nationale. The club went back up the way most sides wish they could: by winning the division outright, beating Dax 26–19 in the 2023 Nationale final.

Matches are played at the Stade Georges-Pompidou, a ground built for a capacity far larger than the club currently needs and now being scaled back to 10,000 seats by 2027. Two fixtures carry more weight than the rest of the calendar: the Derby du Dauphiné against Grenoble, and the Derby Drôme-Ardéchois against Aubenas Vals.