Montpellier Hérault Rugby Club may be a model for modern-day rugby success – with its 14,000 all-seater stadium and burgeoning academy system – but all is not well behind the scenes at the Mediterranean side.

Montpellier – or MHRC as it is referred to in France – was only founded 24 years ago and yet, despite being in a largely football dominated city, has managed to battle its way into Top 14 and stay there for the past seven seasons. That is no mean feat, as shown by the trials of various other clubs that have come unstuck after promotion from ProD2, and along the way it has helped produce a clutch of young French internationals such as current fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc, flanker and club captain Fulgence Ouedraogo, number eight Louis Picamoles (now at Stade Toulousain) and scrum-half Julien Tomas.

 Top 14 Transfers 2010/11

Last season it briefly flirted with relegation, prompting a re-jig of the coaching staff that resulted in both Fabien Galthié and Eric Béchu joining over the summer.

Galthié, the former head coach at Stade Francais, has come in as Sporting Director, with Béchu, former head coach of SCA Albi, taking responsibility for the forwards. Didier Bes remained as backs coach.

For a club like Montpellier to secure the services of Galthié was something of a sporting coup – aided by his friendship with current club president and friend Thierry Perez – but now the ambitious appointment has been thrown into doubt following a coup of a more traditional kind – the political variety.

Behind-the-scenes politicking has been going on for some time at Montpellier, with Perez returning to MHRC in January 2009 (after a brief stint as vice-president the LNR) following the resignation of his successor as club president Philippe Deffins.

Deffins, who had only been in situ for a month, had stepped down after claiming the club’s financial status was more parlous than he had been led to believe, adding the exact numbers “makes one dizzy”.

The departing ex-president’s public claim that he felt “deceived by someone who hid a lot of things from me” left little to the imagination.

Following Deffins’ departure Perez once more filled the breach and has been in place ever since, or at least until a mass resignation on Friday when the club’s entire board stepped down.

The reason for the latest uncertainty? Well, it depends who you want to believe. In one corner there is George Frêche, president of the all-powerful regional council -  l’Agglomération de Montpellier et de la Région Languedoc-Roussillon – which has helped bankroll the club for many years, and in the other is Perez, the club’s popular president.

There is no doubt the club would not be where it is today without the financial assistance of l’Agglomération de Montpellier et de la Région Languedoc-Roussillon as it largely funded the €45m development of their impressive Yves du Manoir stadium – and continues to pump in money via annual grants - but there has been recent tension between the two parties of late. Whether this is strictly a business clash, or a political one, is muddied by the knowledge that Perez is the son-in-law of André Vezinhet, president of the General Council of Hérault and therefore a sworn political opponent of Frêche.

In the latest dramatic move Frêche threatened to withdraw the Agglomération’s financial support for 2010/11 unless Perez stepped down as president. This was no idle threat either as the sum we’re talking about here is in excess of €1m and would put a severe dent (10%) in the club’s budget at a time of widespread economic cut-backs.

Perez claimed the club was being blackmailed and that Frêche’s announcement was politically motivated, but subsequently resigned on Friday – along with fellow board members Olivier Nicollin, Pierre Tissot, Jacky Vesper and Joel Fernandez.

A general assembly has now been called for July 9, when a new chairman and board will be appointed, but Perez has vowed to fight on and is believed to have the backing of the players, coaches and supporters. Indeed, an online petition has already been launched in his support and is swiftly gathering momentum.

“He wanted my head,” claimed Perez. “He has a huge resentment against my family, he is obsessed and it’s unhealthy,” he added.

Frêche, for his part, has denied there was any political motivation behind his move, insisting instead that he was merely ensuring the club’s financial well-being after Perez had failed to furnish him with Montpellier’s full accounts. To that end he has now lifted his threat to suspend council grants to the club following Perez’s resignation.

Thus, it would seem, that Frêche has won out, but it may be just the start of a long-running saga as Perez’s board allies have now suggested they could vote in a “neutral” president, with Perez himself largely continuing in his previous role, but on an unofficial and more discreet basis.

As for Galthié and Béchu, they have remained silent on the subject so far, but both must surely be aligned behind Perez, the man who brought them in. The latter also played a significant role in persuading Ouedraogo and Trinh-Duc to stay put for the time being, so the stakes are high in this ongoing saga.

One only has to look at the sorry plight of Montauban to see how political and financial intransigence can result in dire consequences, especially with the DNACG – the league’s financial watchdog – ready to pounce on any budget shortfalls.

Pre-Season friendlies:

July 16
Aix-en-Provence v Toulon (Draguignan)

July 23
Bayonne v Bourgoin (Stade Jean Dauger)
SU Agen v RC Narbonne (Moissac)

July 24
Aurillac v Brive (Jean Alric, 19.30)
Toulon v Lyon OU (Stade Félix Mayol)

July 25
La Rochelle v Grenoble (Angouleme, 15.00)

July 29
Lyon OU v Stade Francais (Tignes)

July 30
La Rochelle v Stade Toulousain (Mazamet, 19.30)
SU Agen v Brive (Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, 18.30)
Bourgoin v Clermont Auvergne (Nyon, Switzerland)
Toulon v Racing-Métro 92 (Stade Félix Mayol)
Pau v Castres (Hagetmau)
Montpellier v Carcassonne (Pezenas)
Perpignan v RC Narbonne

August 3
Bourgoin v Sale Sharks

August 4
Bayonne v Saracens (Stade Jean Dauger)
Castres v Glasgow Warriors (Lacaune)
Montpellier v Aurillac (Lacaune)

August 5
Toulon v Stade Francais (Stade Félix Mayol)
Stade Toulousain v Bourgoin (Saint-Affrique, 18.30)

August 6
Biarritz Olympic v La Rochelle (Aguiléra, 19.00)
Brive v Leicester Tigers (Stade Amédée Domenech, 20.00)
Grenoble v Bourgoin
Perpignan v Racing-Métro 92
SU Agen v Ledda
Clermont Auvergne v Sale Sharks

August 7
FC Auch Gers v Pau (Mourenx)
Castres v Colomiers (Lavaur)

August 13
Pau v RC Narbonne (venue TBC)