“777 not welcome”. The Rino Della Negra platform, which brings together the ultras of Red Star, the football club of Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), is angry. She made it known loudly, Friday April 15, at the Bauer stadium, during the reception of Sète for the 30and National day (3and division). At the 42and minute of the match, jets of smoke on the lawn even forced the referee to stop the game definitively, while the Héraultais were leading 1-0.
The members of the RS Bauer Collective and the Red Star Fans have protested against the proposed takeover of their club by the American investment fund 777 Partners. “The sale of Red Star to the 777 fund risks drowning the club, its history and its identity, in the flow of modern football where values are gradually fading in the face of the interests of a multinational”is it written on the leaflets distributed at the entrance to the stadium.
Their target? The president, Patrice Haddad, at the head of the club for fifteen years, which entered into exclusive negotiations with the American group, on April 6, with the intention of selling 100% of the capital of this institution of French football. Founded by Jules Rimet in 1897, Red Star enjoyed its heyday between the wars, winning four French Cups.
Even if it has been making the lift between Ligue 2 and the National for more than a decade, the red star club retains a strong reputation. “Red Star has a unique identity in the world of football, and it is an honor to help build its future while respecting its traditions”, said Josh Wander, the founder of 777, in a press release. The sale should be negotiated between 15 and 20 million euros. Mr. Haddad would remain in place, with the mission of carrying out the development plan launched a year ago.
11,000 spectators by 2024-2025
Long threatened with destruction, the Bauer stadium was bought in 2021 from the municipality by Réalités, a real estate group firmly established in the Paris region. Currently being renovated, the enclosure, more than a century old, can barely accommodate 2,700 spectators. By 2024-2025, Bauer will be able to accommodate 11,000, a sufficient gauge to evolve in Ligue 1. The Réalités project also provides for the construction of 30,000 square meters of shops, offices and gardens. One hundred years after hosting the Paris Olympics football tournament in 1924, the Bauer stadium will also be part of the training sites for the 2024 Olympics.
If 2.5 million euros have been budgeted to finance the first phase of the construction of the Red Star Academy – the future training center located in Marville, near the Stade de France – the club needs money expenses to “exploit” the breeding ground represented by young footballers from the north of Paris, the highest concentration of talent in Europe. Currently, few of them stay at Red Star, for lack of outlets.
In addition to the profile of the buyer, a priori removed from the popular culture of the club proud of its working-class past, one aspect of the operation crystallizes the hostility of the fans: the “multi-club” strategy of 777. The investment fund is already owner of Genoa (Italy), Standard Liège (Belgium) and Vasco de Gama (Brazil) and has taken a minority stake in Sevilla FC (Spain). In two years, he would have spent more than 400 million euros in these redemptions.
A bulimia which worries the supporters gathered at the bar The Olympic, their HQ, opposite the Bauer stadium. They fear that the buyer will use Red Star as the “feeder” club for its other, more prestigious teams. “We don’t understand the 777 project. What is a Miami-based fund doing in a National club? Nothing good can come of it.”worries Antoine, 28, who came as a neighbor of 18and district of Paris.
“Destroy the sale”
“We know very well what will happen if the club is bought. The cheapest places, which are 7 euros, will inevitably increase, continues Thomas, 40, resident of 19and. But Red Star is not Paris-Saint-Germain, it’s a popular club with a real social mix. We want to preserve these values. » Very upset, Vincent Chutet-Mezence, president of the Collectif RS Bauer, promises to “do everything to derail the sale”.
The divorce between the kop and the management of the club is deep, but the latter does not seem to worry too much about it. “The 777 fund includes the particular environment of the club. The model we dream of is that of OL or Ajax, where young people join the first team and become top players, before leaving for prestigious clubs”explains Paul Ducassou, communications manager.
Attentive to the file, the socialist mayor of Saint-Ouen, Karim Bouamrane, sees the project with a benevolent eye. “The Red Star is Bauer. The club is part of the local heritage. It is out of the question that he will move one day. I will be vigilant on this point. he promises. Mathieu Hanotin, socialist mayor of Saint-Denis and president of Plaine Commune, is also in favor of the takeover. “There is room in Ile-de-France for a second major club alongside PSG, with different values; it could be the Red Star, he said [le Paris FC, l’autre club professionnel de la capitale, pourrait accéder à la Ligue 1 dès la saison prochaine]. It can be a locomotive for Seine-Saint-Denis. Thanks to the Academy, young Dionysian footballers will be able to continue to grow and progress within the club. »
If the Red Star finds the Ligue 2, then the elite, the reluctance of the supporters should fade, but the path looks long and tortuous for the Audonians in the reconquest of their glorious past.