The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Welcome to the confined Ch'tis: "My virus is RC Lens", Jean-Charles, 63 years old

2021-03-29T13:01:47.690Z


SERIES (2/5). We went to meet touching personalities from the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, two of the departments subject to new


Our series "Welcome to the Confined Ch'tis":

  • Marie-Louise, 103 years old and owner of a bistro: "The Covid, I don't care"

  • Jean-Charles, 63 years old: "My virus is RC Lens"

  • Father Sébastien, 40 years old: "It's been a while since we party"

  • Claude, 60 years old and pigeon fancier: "I'm worried about my carrier pigeons"

  • Philippe, 54 years old: "The chip house, it saved me from boredom"

  • Jean-Charles Vandort, 63, has “the blues” by deploying his fetish red and yellow flag before our eyes.

    "I'm not here, it's been so long since I took out the colors," he is moved, his voice quavering, a tear rising in his eye.

    This supporter for more than half a century of footballers from Racing Club de Lens is deprived of stands because of the health crisis and the forced camera.

    “It gives me the blues.

    The last time he was able to wave his banner at the Bollaert stadium, ignite "with friends and brothers", it was September 10 against PSG.

    “1-0 for us, the best game of the season,” he applauds.

    Since then, subscriber number 6713 of the “popular” Marek stand has never vibrated again.

    "In front of my TV, I'm bored, I no longer have the chills, there is no atmosphere," he fumed.

    "It looks like training," continues his wife Isabelle, 56, also a supporter of the Sang et Or but with much less fervor.

    Her husband no longer sings at the top of his voice "Les Corons" by Pierre Bachelet at half-time as required by the ritual in the stands of Bollaert.

    "But hey, he still screams in front of the screen, my God!"

    »Replies madam.

    "It's true, the dog, he runs away," admits the gentleman while Nelsi, a mixture of chow-chow and German shorthaired pointer, shows the tip of his muzzle.

    A coin to the glory of Blood and Gold

    In his house in Loos-en-Gohelle (Pas-de-Calais), a former mining town on the edge of Lens, the young retiree in flocked black sweatpants "RCL" has created a "fan meeting room".

    It was here that he met his “friends” to “have a drink” on match days before heading to the arena with 38,000 aficionados.

    "Once, the cops stopped in front of my house, they thought it was a bistro," says the one who paid 160 euros for the season ticket.

    But "all that is over".

    “With the Covid, I can no longer invite my friends over to the house.

    Most of them, I met them at the stadium, there are even some who come from Dunkirk.

    "

    Jean-Charles poses, in the company of his sons, with the Coupe de la Ligue won in 1999 by the Racing Club de Lens.

    LP / Olivier Lejeune

    In this sanctuary, the walls, the clock, the magnets, the plastic flowers, the billiard balls, the jersey signed by the local legend Erik Sikora, the empty bottle of champagne “cuvée RC Lens 1998” (year of the title of champion of France) are in the colors of the club.

    In a framed photo, he poses, in 1999, alongside his two sons.

    At the time, his mustache had not yet whitened.

    We see the trio in front of the Coupe de la Ligue won in 1999. The trophy was exhibited in Bollaert the day after a coronation at the Stade de France.

    “It was a Sunday morning.

    I remember well, it was the day of my daughter's baptism.

    When I returned, the ceremony was over… ”

    READ ALSO>

    Ligue 1: "Lens is more than a football club"

    He also remembers that his wedding day in 1983 fell at the same time as the Lens-Lille derby.

    This time, he had been wiser, making an infidelity to his eleven of hearts.

    “I was still ready to run away and take my wife in a wedding dress to the stadium.

    He vowed to follow the Blood and Gold to death and beyond.

    “I would have liked to have my ashes scattered behind the goal at Bollaert but it is not possible.

    For my funeral, I want to wear the Sang et Or jersey, ”he projects.

    His whole existence "revolves around the round ball."

    “My virus is RC Lens.

    "

    "Four or five days before the kick-off of a match, I'm pissed off"

    In the world before, the former painter in the construction industry and then at the town hall of Lens attended all the home games, but also all the training sessions where he could "have a beer" with the leaders.

    No more selfies with the players who enriched his collection of pictures in his smartphone whose wallpaper is in the glory of the RC Lens logo.

    Forget about traveling by bus to the other end of France.

    "We went down to Marseille, we left in the evening, we played belote and the next day at noon, we were on the Canebière for the pastis," he recalls.

    So inevitably, when the pandemic plays overtime and distances him a little more from his beloved players, Jean-Charles is in low spirits.

    Jean-Charles, a subscriber to RC Lens, hardly believes in the return of the public to the stadiums by the end of the season.

    LP / Olivier Lejeune

    “It affects him.

    Without his passion, I see it clearly, it is not the same, he is more irritable, he is boring, ”smiles Isabelle.

    She too is eager to taste the Bollaert stands again: “I want to go there to let off steam.

    "He admits:" Four or five days before the kick-off of a match, I'm upset.

    "He is all the more frustrated that the Lensois, 5th in the standings, are having a remarkable season after their return to Ligue 1." It looks like it's done on purpose.

    We have a good team, we can't even support it.

    Outside, we are very comfortable.

    But at home, we do not win much, which consoles me a bit.

    I tell myself that if we had been there in certain matches, we could have won them, ”he says.

    Morning essentials newsletter

    A tour of the news to start the day

    Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters

    To kill time, this father of four (big) children "tinkers".

    Music, his “other passion for 54 years” is also put on a mute.

    He plays the trumpet to the harmony of Loos-en-Gohelle which can no longer assemble because of this cursed epidemic.

    “More comrades I no longer see.

    The resumption of rehearsals does not appear for tomorrow.

    Just like the return of the public to Bollaert.

    He can't believe there will be a resurrection of clamor by the end of the season.

    “I'm afraid of losing friends who decide not to subscribe next year.

    "But it is not the coronavirus that will contaminate his love for the club, as recalled by a slogan displayed in his home museum:" Lensois one day, Lensois forever ... "

    Source: leparis

    All life articles on 2021-03-29

    You may like

    News/Politics 2024-02-16T04:22:08.553Z

    Trends 24h

    Life/Entertain 2024-03-28T17:17:20.523Z

    Latest

    © Communities 2019 - Privacy

    The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
    The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.