The crazy football of France: a stadium with more seats than inhabitants, the mortar almost like a champion and the stone in the PSG shoe

It seems that in French football there was only PSG, the sports residence of Qatar Investment. The almost unbeatable club in Ligue 1 and in the French Cup, the lord and master of the last decade who has always remained the desire to relaunch his obsession: the Champions League. It has, perhaps, the tallest and most famous striker of all time: Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar. Plus a constellation of cracks in the other locations. It is everyday news for various reasons, for extravagance, for incredible goals. But there are also other stories in Gallic football, perhaps more entertaining; certainly less visible. Let’s go to the north of France …

The postal employees of the French comedy “Welcome to the land of madness” (“Welcome to the Ch’tis”, its original title in French) experience football as a shared space of relief. Lens fans shout at Felix Bollaert everything the work week takes from him. And the mildness of the weekend melts in the crowded stands. Everyone wears the inevitable colors: yellow and red.

The result of the match seems like an attachment of little relevance to the event. They are there because they are looking for something else: to be part of everyone’s moment. They shout, jump, hug, get angry, smile, a goal leaves them dysphonic. The scene takes place in a film, but also on every weekend where French football is presented.

Lens is a surprising case. The first figure looks a lot like nonsense: the Bollaert, inaugurated in 1932, hosts 41,809 spectators in a neighborhood inhabited by just under 40,000 people. However, the stands tend to look full. It’s not magic: people come from nearby towns to see the Racing Club de Lens (their full name). Even though he knew the ostracism of Ligue 2 in the not too distant years, he knew the glory of consecration: in the 1997-98 season he was champion of France. Namely, he won his only title in Ligue 1 the same year the French team won their first World Cup. Stephane Ziani, Tony Vairelles and Montenegrin Anto Drobnjak excelled in that memorable team.

That season, for example, only the two most popular clubs – Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint Germain – drew more crowds than Lens. And two decades ago, in his last great campaign (second place at Lyon in the 01/02 season), the average number of tickets sold (37,336 per game) was greater than the population that the city had at that time. The same thing happened in the Champions League the following season, in which they had the pleasure of beating Milan, who would later become champions.

The archrival of Lens is Lille, the main footballing pride of the region (besides the fact that he finished 10th last season, three places behind Lens). He won Ligue 1 in the 2020/21 season, title number 13 including the Cups. That recent tour was a surprise, especially considering the budgets and the names, that one PSG’s streak has been stopped. Possession, courage, offensive spirit, defensive perseverance were the keys to bringing the millionaire to his knees. Just a decade earlier, 2011 was a full year for The Dogues (the best known nickname of this institution born in 1944): doubled winning the Coupe de France. They called “The Gallic Barcelona” in that team led by Rudi García.

But not only: that same year, Lens dropped to the second category. The glory of oneself and the stumbling block of the adversary. All together. The protagonism continued: in the 11/12 campaign he finished third. His stadium, the Grand Stade Lille Mètropole, is a marvel of modernity. It cost just under € 300 million and covers 50,186 spectators. Seeing him, the feeling invades: this stage deserves to play the Champions League every year. And also the city, with the beauties it offers. It did not go well in Bielsa: in 2017 he directed Lille, but he left after a few months even arguing with himself. Fun fact: in crazy football, El Loco did not feel comfortable.

The truth from the stands

The great duel between the two is called Northern Derby. It is a rivalry that also represents other disputes outside the playing field: Lille is the city of decisions; the lens portrays the ancient imprint of the mining workers. The advantage, even if small, is for Lille. Those from Lens say they win in the stands. In several classics there was a yellow flag that tried to define them in size: “Lens XXXL / Lilac XS”. Folklore made in France.

A detail shows that this poster does not exaggerate: in the same season as the champion Lille, in 2011, he recorded an average of just over 16,000 spectators; At the same time, the lens of descent and pains attracted 31,820 spectators per matchalmost the total population of the municipality.

In the much talked about streets and bars Real Madrid-Barcelona is said to be a lesser rivalry than in this corner of France. Listening and watching translates into: this looks like a Racing-Independiente mixed with a Huracán-San Lorenzo or a Central-Newell’s Rosario. Duels of large neighborhoods, with stories that make you want to hug.

More madness in the neighborhood

Even in that north of France, one of the biggest surprises in the history of world football happened more than two decades ago, in 2000. It seems unlikely, but it was: a team was formed with people from a city, a neighborhood. All amateurs.

It’s all about imagination: his name is the postman, who is young and they say he plays well. And he walks all day. They summon the high school math teacher, the same one that students usually invite. They tell the coach, who hasn’t even taken the course, that his car mechanic is a great archer and that he once tried his luck on a professional team. And calls him to participate. Of the dermatologist, who is big, everyone imagines that he will be a very good central marker. And here he is on campus. Or something similar.

Then, everyone gets together and a team is formed to represent the club from a distant country, which in its life of over a century had never gone beyond the minimal geography of the neighborhood. It is up to him to participate in the National Cup – the French Cup – in which the professional teams also play. And suddenly, almost without realizing it, he reaches the final against one of the powerful. And he plays the most important game in his history of setbacks in front of almost 80,000 spectators in the most important stadium in the country that had been world champion two years earlier. A Ripley Story …

But that’s what happened in this charming corner of France. 22 years ago, Calais Racing Union Football Club – a team at that time without salaries or fixed prizes, belonging to the fourth category – reached the decisive match of the most important Cup after leaving Strasbourg and Bordeaux, for example, two Primes. And it came to the big day: May 7, 2000 faced Nantes, at the Stade de France, in front of 78,586 spectators.

Under the sky of the imposing Saint-Denis, the amateurs took the lead in the 34th minute, with a little bit of Jerome Dutitre. Antoine Sibierski’s equalizer takes place early in the second half for Nantes (which later had the presence of Argentine Néstor Fabbri). The possibility of the miracle lasted until the last moment. Y the controversy condemned the weak who had become invincible: in the last game, after a much discussed penalty, Alain Caveglia decreed the final 2-1. The Broken Dream didn’t kill the epic tour.

Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano once offered his words to that story of defeated winners: “The football business, like all businesses, is organized to reward the strongest. Sometimes, however, unexpected countries and small clubs, with no market value, break the routines of power. A few years ago the Calais club, an amateur team with little experience and few fans, was almost champion of France. He lost the final by a hair’s breadth, due to a dubious penalty. “.

The club was dissolved in 2017. But his mark remains. That year 2000 Calais had achieved something much bigger than the Coupe de France: he had forever become the perfect inspirer of the supposed miracles of latecomers. Crazy football stuff, beyond PSG.