InvestigationThe Saint-Etienne football club, plagued by governance problems, the violence of certain supporters and an inconsistent strategy, will play in Ligue 2 during the 2022-2023 season. A shock for the city, and one more ordeal for this institution, which is for sale.
It’s sold out dry, at the Boutique des Verts… A few rare supporters brave the heat of this early summer to rummage through boxes placed on the ground. They unearth trinkets and clothes in the colors of the Saint-Etienne Sports Association (ASSE), here a 10-euro T-shirt, there a 5-euro mug… Even on sale, most of these relics, testimonials of a nightmarish 2021-2022 season, are struggling to find takers, like this failing football club whose sale, constantly postponed, is slow to materialize.
On the outskirts of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, of course, Monty’s song came back to us, in 1976, and its chorus that became an anthem: “Who is the strongest, obviously, it is the Greens. » But that was in the other century, at the time of the green cotton jersey with the “Manufrance” logo and European exploits. After the unfortunate European final lost in Glasgow against Bayern Munich (0-1), there was the incredible descent of the Champs-Elysées, where these magnificent losers, long hair and sideburns, paraded under the cheers of the Parisians…
Half a century later, the Greens have faded. The decline of the club, which began in the early 1980s in the wake of the so-called “slush fund” affair, married that of the city, affected by deindustrialization.
The last season will remain as a summary of the mistakes of ASSE, condemned to go down to Ligue 2. To make matters worse, the excesses that occurred during the final home match, against AJ Auxerre, synonymous with relegation and fury popular (invaded ground, firework mortar fire against the official stand, etc.), earned him sanctions: three penalty points for the 2022-2023 championship, four matches behind closed doors. Barely launched, the “immediate recovery” operation in Ligue 1 has already taken a hit.
Among the supporters, the anger, or rather the rage, no longer seems to be able to be contained. Their exasperation goes far beyond the borders of Forez, as ASSE – “Sainté” for insiders – has support. In his premises decorated with posters from the past, Jean-Charles Schuler, president of the very wise Federation of Associate Supporters, claims 220 local sections, including one in Tahiti. “We cried the night of relegation, and it was not due to tear gassays the retiree. It’s not preventive treatment that this club needs, but good surgery! »
He winces when talking about the past season, full of incidents. “This situation is the result of a culpable passivity of the club and its leaders towards the ultras”thunders the Stéphanois, in front of a giant scarf paying homage to Robert Herbin, alias “the Sphinx”, the coach of the golden era. “We talk to each other, with the ultras, he continues, but we are not in the same backwater. They are younger, guys from the estates, the stadium is an outlet for them. We are more family. »
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