Jean-Pierre Caillot will not be wearing his lucky jacket in Geneva (Switzerland). “I tend to change size anyway”, smiles the president of the Stade de Reims, spreading his arms on the overweight that befits the local notable. To his favorite piece, this boss of a logistics company (1,000 employees) prefers the official club costume. No question of risking the fault of style during the big night: on the lawn of Servette FC, its “Stadium” is due to play, Thursday, September 17, the second preliminary round of the Europa League. And his first continental match in fifty-seven years.
“After all this time, we made our return to Europe in the silence of a closed door, squeals the contractor. As a football lover, that’s not how I imagined it. But, in sport, things go fast. When the train passes, you have to get on it. “
If the Covid-19 spoils the reunion of the Rémois with the European Cup, it has largely contributed to the reworking. Spring 2020. The epidemic wave hits France, and its football decides quickly, in opposition to neighboring countries, the immediate cessation of its competitions. In a Ligue 1 ranking cut by ten days, Reims is in sixth place.
“A reputation as a somewhat cold bourgeois”
A rank never achieved since 1976 and rewarded with a ticket for the qualifying phase to the Europa League. Composted thanks to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), winner of the Coupe de la Ligue against Olympique Lyonnais, on July 31 – the Rhôdaniens would have recovered the pass for Europe from the Rémois in case of victory. “Last season was very special, but we beat all the front teams”, insists Jean-Pierre Caillot, singling out the victories against Paris, Marseille and Rennes to attest to a “Deserved European place”, who would do the “General pride” from the city.
But the “city of coronations” has a very discreet pride. On the eve of the trip to Switzerland, no one in the streets to be moved by the historic meeting. Those indifferent to football learn it. Connoisseurs remember it. And PSG or FC Barcelona jerseys hold the end of summer better than local tunics. Relegation of the event by health news? Lack of attraction for the qualifying millefeuille of the Europa League (three rounds for Reims before the group stage)? Dilution of passion over generations?
“The stadium audience is like [la statue de] the smiling angel of the cathedral: restrained and not hilarious at all ”, examines Alain Colzy. The associate professor of history and geography at the Lycée Franklin-Roosevelt, in Reims, author of a book on the club – The Stade de Reims, the tango years (1971-1979), L’Harmattan, 2013 – is not surprised by the measured enthusiasm aroused by this return to the European Cup. “The Reims public has always been known to be difficult and demanding, says the teacher. We have never known here the fervor which surrounds the clubs of certain towns, considered more working-class, like Lens, or Sedan in the region. Reims, it drags a reputation of bourgeois a little cold, because of champagne. “
Careful management
Failing to feverish the sub-prefecture of the Marne, the match in Geneva is timely for the celebrations, in 2021, of the 90e anniversary of a club that even foreign residents at the Auguste-Delaune stadium know “Historical”. Reims can boast of one of the finest achievements in national football, with six championships (the last in 1962), two French Cups and two Champions Clubs Cup finals (ancestor of the Champions League), lost in 1956 and 1959 against Real Madrid.
A beautiful era stuck between the 1950s and 1980s, the “Grand Reims” of Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine preceding the decade of Argentines Delio Onnis and Carlos Bianchi. Then the “Red and White” survived and tasted the regional lowlands after a liquidation in 1991.
“I lived through the dark years of the Stade de Reims”, breastplate Jean-Pierre Caillot, chairman since 2004 and majority shareholder with another local entrepreneur, Didier Perrin. Hailed for his management as a good father, the manager thinks only of “Perpetuate” the club situation. “In our recent history, the fact of having been liquidated makes our supporters understand the importance of leaders who do not do anything with their expenses., proclaims the CEO of Transports Caillot. It is not because we are making Europe this year that we are going to enter a world that is not ours. “
“Reims is a very well managed club”, summarizes Thierry Wator. A long-time subscriber, this fifty-something abounds in information and articles the thousands of members of his Facebook group “100% Stade de Reims”. Not a little proud of his contacts with old glories, he distinguishes two categories of followers of his team: “On the one hand, the nostalgic, always happy to hear from former Stade alumni. On the other hand, the youngest, who sometimes don’t even know who it is. They have been interested in the team since the ascent to Ligue 1 and want fresh information, to know who is the one who has been diagnosed positive for Covid. “
“This is the opportunity to stop looking in the rearview mirror, to write a new page in history”, Arnaud Robinet, mayor of Reims
The return to the foreground of the “SDR” comes at the right time to rekindle the flame among young people who only have memories of those told by their grandparents. “This qualification is an opportunity to stop looking in the rearview mirror, supports Arnaud Robinet, mayor (LR) of the town with more than 180,000 inhabitants. It’s time to write a new page in the history of the Stade de Reims. This epic can reach a young audience who tends to turn to other clubs, French or European. “
A wish shared by the coach, David Guion: “Beyond the great adventure, I would like to share it with our audience, and create a common emotion between the two generations. That would be fabulous. ” In the club’s official store, the new tango-colored jersey, nuanced orange, that of the debut in 1931, met with success. “But I don’t know if it’s the historical side or the flashy aspect that really appeals to young people”, admits Jordan Malherbe, the salesman.
Jean-Pierre Caillot has another tunic in mind, the one he hopes to be offered by a Servette FC player to garnish his personal collection. His eyes shine: “It would be the first jersey of a European Cup, I intend to get one back. “ Even if it means ignoring the health straitjacket imposed by the Covid-19.
