First objective announced by Didier Lacroix: "The European quarter-final which should be played on September 20 with, I hope, the possibility of allowing those who had a ticket to be able to attend the match," he said. . Stade Toulousain must face the Irish of Ulster in the quarter-finals of the European Cup. A match originally scheduled for April 5 but postponed due to the pandemic. The club, crowned twenty times champion of France, announced to have subscribed to a loan guaranteed by the State (PGE) "of the order of 5 million euros".
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To cope with the current difficulties, the President of Toulouse has made "bets", as he explains. "The ticket office resumes (Thursday), restaurants (located within the stadium) in stride," said Lacroix. “It is our responsibility to project ourselves, because we have a social role to play. From today, the club will ramp up at all levels to be ready in September and, to achieve this, we will need everyone, "he said. Finally, the "Support Wall", offering the possibility of buying a brick engraved with his name within the walls of the Ernest Wallon stadium, brought in just over 700,000 euros.
"If we resume behind closed doors, and without State aid, it is death for all the clubs because the rugby economy will not be able to survive"
Didier LacroixThe truncated end of the season placed the club in uncertainty. "The reality of the 2020-2021 budget (36.3 million euros last season, note), we will not know until the end of September, at best, and this will depend largely on the authorization or not to host of the public, "said Didier Lacroix. "We are looking with lucidity at the future state of the economy of the world of rugby," he added, recalling that "ticketing represents 20% and partnerships 60% of our budget" and "knowing that the rights TV's are too weak to live on. "
"If we resume in camera, and without state aid, it is death for all clubs because the rugby economy will not be able to survive," he also hammered on this subject. . Stade Toulousain players have agreed to lower their salaries "by a maximum of 15%", imitating other clubs, such as Toulon or Castres, which have signed similar agreements. An "effort" in "a context of recession in the club's economy", greeted by the president: "Thanks to them, we were able to keep our entire workforce," said Lacroix.
"Last titled champion but not in the shoes of the reigning champion"
The Toulouse people also announced a few days ago the return of the second Australian line Richie Arnold (28), who had already played in Haute-Garonne between January and November 2019 and thus finds his twin brother Rory. Sacred in the 2018-2019 season but only 7th in the 2019-2020 Top 14 at the time of the freeze, the Stade Toulousain will attack the next exercise as the "last titled champion but not in the shoes of the reigning champion," said Lacroix.
To prepare for the next season, which is supposed to start on September 4, three friendly matches are scheduled: against Béziers, La Rochelle and Montpellier during the month of August while an internship at Font-Romeu is being finalized.
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