His word is rather rare.
Boss of Première Heure (film production) and president of the Red Star since 2008, Patrice Haddad, 63, spoke at length about his investment in the club and its projects.
Before the challenge against Lyon this Thursday in the Coupe de France.
For two years, the Red Star has fallen back into anonymity by playing in National.
Is this round of 16 against Lyon a great opportunity to get people talking about you again?
PATRICE HADDAD.
It's a beautiful poster, 21 years later
(Editor's note: the Red Star had faced Lyon in the round of 16 of the Cup in April 2000)
, The story repeats itself.
The Coupe de France is rooted in the history of the Red Star, it has contributed to its notoriety and is still present in its collective memory.
The performance against Lens has already given us a good spotlight.
The strength of the Cup is to offer light to clubs that we talk about a little less.
We are not looking for this exhibition, we do not need it.
But it is true that, in the media, we talk very little about the National.
There, we will be able to talk about the Red Star again, highlight our actions and send messages by showing the reality of a club which is developing and which continues to move forward even if some may think that things are not going fast enough.
Are you going to receive Jean-Michel Aulas, who has just been elected best French president of the past 30 years by “France Football”?
Is he a role model for you?
We can only show him respect.
He is a boss very present in his club that he defends above all.
I, who have been president of the Red Star for 12 years, know the energy that it takes on a daily basis to build and stabilize a club ... He, over the years, he is still there and he has managed to transform his passion into reality.
The work accomplished is enormous.
With a model that suits us well enough, a training club, very anchored in its territory.
He also succeeded in building his stadium but when you see the time it took… And he already had one originally.
Me, unlike Lyon, I practically have to create a new one to grow.
We saw the limits and what it cost us not to have an approved stadium.
The Bauer reconstruction project has been launched and work has started in Marville for your training center.
Does this open up new prospects for you in the medium term?
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I was aware that when I took over the Red Star, I was going for a marathon with infrastructure as a big topic.
We played in Beauvais, we trained in Saint-Leu, Gennevilliers… There was nothing to make the club stable at the sporting level.
But it was still necessary to succeed in demonstrating and convincing that the Red Star could exist in the professional world in order to trigger future operations.
It was sometimes hard because, without perspective and vision on the possible in terms of infrastructure, the club can only yo-yo.
But we can be proud of the work accomplished.
From the last day of the championship, Bauer will be rebuilt to L2 standards.
If we were lucky enough to go upstairs, we could finally play at home.
We finally have a real vision of our future and our sporting development.
Very Lyon week for the @RedStarFC with the reception of the @ OL in the Round of 16 of @coupedefrance and a trip to @SC_Lyon in the championship!
#MondayMotivation #AllezRedStarFC pic.twitter.com/KgkZGZJyXj
- Red Star FC ✪ (@RedStarFC) April 5, 2021
For the first time since your arrival, do you seem more confident in the future of the club?
Yes, I am more serene.
We will say that I have never consumed the pleasure entirely but that I am just beginning to glimpse it.
There are still many steps to be taken.
But now that the foundations are in place, I will be able to take care of the sporting brick 100%, build a real project to perpetuate the club over 5-6 years.
Maybe others would have gone faster than me, but I still believe it was the right timeline.
We had to resist the raids, the aborted projects.
The battle over land is more complicated in Paris than in the provinces.
To inspire confidence, it was necessary to maintain a stable and lasting presidency.
Patience was fundamental.
Many would undoubtedly have given up.
What made you want to continue?
Passion and my entrepreneurial vision.
The problem was to put an end to our exile, otherwise the Red Star would have become an amateur association again.
The club project is not a marketing project, it is based on social ties, education.
We had to restore confidence in the whole environment, in families.
It's not necessarily flashy, visible, but that's what I got attached to.
I did not invent the reputation and history of the Red Star.
I just tried to get her to wake her up.
In 2018, when we managed to move up to L2, we showed that we would not let go.
And things started to spring up around us.
The department and the region followed us to Marville.
The election of Karim Bouamrane as mayor of Saint-Ouen gave a boost to Bauer's project.
I have the impression of having been heard a little more.
Do many still believe you still intend to sell the club?
Every season, I am asked this question.
I am always associated with a phenomenon of wear and tear and discouragement.
Of course, football affects the personal environment.
But I have always tried to control this passion so that it does not turn into a disproportionate passion.
What guided me was not just the emotion of the competition, I made sure to go beyond that.
I have shown a lot of resilience.
But I had to stay this course.
93 is the Silicon Valley of football and our natural resources are there.
You need a coherent and thoughtful shareholder who speaks with one voice, otherwise a club can run into disaster.
Unpretentious, I get called almost every day to take over the club.
We have the impression that French football is for sale.
But the Red Star is not for sale, it is just to accompany.
I am in the majority around 75%, Guillaume Rambourg
(Editor's note: a financier)
is by my side and, at the end of 2020, we brought in the Réalité group (Editor's note: who will rebuild Bauer).
One day, I will no longer have the majority and I start to think about it.
But I can very well remain a strong minority and decision maker in my club… Like Aulas (smile).
100 years ago the Red won its first Coupe de France.
Discover the first part of our series on the victorious epic of the Red Star!
Today it's time for the first three matches of @RedStarFC in this competition!
#RedStarLEGACY https://t.co/J2kqmzfCNW
- Red Star FC ✪ (@RedStarFC) April 5, 2021
Is the return to L2 in May vital for the club?
The objective was clear: we wanted to go back this year.
If we could coordinate everything, the climb, the stadium, the training center, that would be wonderful.
But if we do not succeed, the club would not be in danger even if, as it is currently financially structured, this National Championship is a bit like death row ... But we considered the hypothesis of a crash test if we have to stay there for another year.
The Red Star remains in the race, at least for the play-offs but has won only one championship match out of 12 in 2021 ...
It was one of the most difficult seasons I have experienced.
The team was hit by two waves of Covid, in October and February, and with the Coupe de France our schedule turned into a marathon.
But at the Red Star, more than anywhere else, we must have this culture of effort.
I therefore expect better.
Maybe this team needs to be back to the wall to react.
So far, I have stayed a little behind.
I will wait for this Cup match against Lyon where I hope that we will do well to start intervening and seriously put things in place.
We must not miss the final sprint.
Some have said that your trainer Vincent Bordot would be in the hot seat?
How do you respond to that?
This is entirely false.
There is no ambiguity, Vincent is confirmed until the end of the season.
I always trust him, he knows the National well and has the resources to bring the team back up.