French brand Croydon 'dull, sad and monotonous' as Rugby World Cup base

As Les Bleus move in to south London suburb, the Gallic press get stuck into their surroundings

A newspaper in France branded Croydon a dull, grey sad suburb, after its journalists were sent there to cover their national team in the Rugby World Cup.

The MetroNews site even suggested the French players, who are based in the south London town for the duration of the tournament, might be more inclined to lose their matches just so they can get out a bit quicker.

The site even posted tweets of some of the area's grim brutalist architecture just to hammer home their point.

The article says: "If Les Bleus have already enjoyed the charms of the very British Selsdon Park Hotel & Golf, Croydon, there's no doubt they'll linger for far less time in the town that surrounds it. Because if the place where the French XV are staying is pretty and leafy, this south London suburb is much less so.

The article goes on to talk about the 2011 London riots, which is 'the last time the area made headlines', and the investment program aimed at improving it.

"But," it continues, "without a miracle, Croydon is still sad and grey, particularly in its northern area, which is more urbanised than the south."

But the plucky suburban transport hub isn't going down without a fight, and Matthew Sims, Chief Executive of the Croydon Business Improvement District, has defended his beloved town.

He said: ""This is a time to rejoice as Croydon transforms itself with the arrival of Westfield and Hammerson, the likes of Boxpark Croydon, a shift towards innovative festivals and events such as Ambition held in July and the focus on culture and the arts with galleries such as RISE opening in the past year.

"Taking into account the blossoming Croydon Tech City, our borough has much to offer both in the here and now and in the future.”

There is at least one French journalist who is more keen on Croydon - although even she has been accused by some of hating it.

Clementine Sarlat was accused of Croydon-phobia because one of her tweets was used alongside the original article. She's since claimed she loves the town on Twitter.