The news did more than darken the family day of SM Caen, Sunday December 10.
“We used to see you every day in training.
Every weekend both at home and away.
Today we are losing our most loyal supporter.
Thank you for everything Salah, we are thinking of you, ”tweeted the Norman club (Ligue 2).
Salah Boutamine, 72, passed away, broke by illness.
The excitement over his disappearance says a lot about the character.
“Whether it rains, thunders or sells, he was always there,” greeted Brahim Thiam, former Caen player (2005-2009) on social networks.
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If Salah marked the spirits so much, yesterday as today, it is first of all for his unfailing loyalty.
His comrades from Malherbe Normandy Kop (MNK), the supporters' club, testify: “Since the beginning of the 1980s, he has gone to all matches, at home and away.
He only missed one or two a year.
And some years he did the grand slam!
He has seen them all!
"As soon as the season calendar came out, in the summer," Salah would book all of his train tickets.
And then, at the last moment, if he found a place in a minibus, or a car, he made the trip with us.
"
The Malherbe Normandy Kop supporters club installed a banner in tribute to Salah Boutamine.
LP / Esteban Pinel
This incredible craze, energy consuming and expensive, found its daily extension, along the handrail of the adjoining land.
Aline Chatel, journalist for Sports in Caen, saw him every time in training.
“He always had a nice little note.
Salah was one of those people you want to talk to.
He had a great knowledge of football.
"By his permanent presence, he was" a small source of information, smiles the reporter.
The one, too, to whom we turn for matters with the supporters.
He didn't try to put himself forward.
But if he didn't want to talk, he found someone to answer my questions.
"
A Norman flag hanging in front of him
The benevolence and loyalty of Salah Boutamine explain the emotion of the players, according to Chatouf, one of the members of the MNK: "When you are a player and you have a guy who always encourages you, without ever criticizing you, the person marks you ".
Frédéric Guilbert, former Caen defender, now in England, will also remember "a man with a big heart, who has always supported his team".
At the end of training, Salah Boutamine still had a word for his proteges.
And many of them would return it to him with a friendly gesture on match night, to his place identifiable with the Norman flag hanging from the railing just in front of him.
On Monday, the day after his death, the members of Malherbe Normandy Kop went to the Michel-d'Ornano stadium, a few hours before Caen-Toulouse.
They had heard of their friend's deteriorating state of health.
“We had prepared a banner to wish him good luck.
"It was put away, replaced by this message:" Rest in peace Salah ".
A former accountant, the embodiment of popular football
Face defeated, Yaya wanted to deliver an anecdote: "He helped me pay for my subscription when I didn't have enough money".
The kop cries "his Geo Trouvetou, who always had a tip for hanging a banner, who knew how to sew up our flags, and who taught us rigor in the organization of our trips".
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The former accountant embodied "popular football".
The height of the time: it was a closed-door stadium that paid him a first tribute.
SM Caen boss Pierre-Antoine Capton has however promised that Salah will be honored again when supporters are allowed to return.
But from where he is, the most loyal fan of the Caen club will undoubtedly have found a way to keep an eye on the good football match between his Stade Malherbe and Toulouse.
