Are you more pink or sky and white?
It's time for the choice before the clash between Racing 92 and Stade Français in the Top 14 play-offs (this Friday at 8:45 p.m. at La Défense Arena), which offers the winner a place in the semi-final.
Between the Stade Français, which came back from nowhere, dreaming again of the titles of the glorious era of the 2000s, and Racing 92, subscribed to the very high level for ten years by the will and the millions of its president, Jacky Lorenzetti, for whom beats really the heart of Ile-de-France rugby?
"The two clubs have very different identities," observes Magali Tézenas du Montcel, general delegate of the Sporsora organization, specializing in sports marketing. Just in their logos, we can make a distinction between modernity and tradition, between the pink which breaks the codes, and the more classic blue and white stripes of Racing, which recalls its date of creation, 1882. ”Le Stade Français, club flashy of Paris and working-class neighborhoods, versus Racing 92, a traditional team from the chic suburbs of western Paris? Caricatural, but not entirely false.
“In Seine-Saint-Denis and Seine-et-Marne, we are more for the Stade Français, observes Michèle Aguacil, volunteer for years in the club of Tremblay-en-France (Seine-Saint-Denis).
They have created more ties and are warmer when they come to play here, where Racing has a form of sympathetic snobbery, ”she sums up, even if her heart swings because Yoan Tanga, a child of the club, plays football. Racing.
💻 𝚉𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚍𝚞 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗
After the final whistle @iboudiallo_ @YoanTanga and @HassaneKolingar shared a good time with our 5 Ciel et Blanc subscribers!
🤝 @ParisLaDefArena # R92ASM #RacingFamily pic.twitter.com/1lw3CgGZRT
- Racing 92 (@ racing92) May 8, 2021
Peter MacNaughton, leader of the SCUF in Paris, admits to having "a pink heart".
But in the 150 clubs of the Ile-de-France League which he presides, he observes "as many children with Racing jerseys as with those of the Stade Français".
A little maintained among the players ("I will not dress in pink even if my salary is tripled", launched this Thursday the Racingman Bernard Le Roux), the rivalry is not obvious in the stadiums.
“There isn't really one audience from Paris, the other from the suburbs.
Above all, they are all CSP + men, ”continues Peter MacNaughton.
Uncrowded stadiums
Before the Covid, Racing had an average of 13,000 spectators, the Stade Français 10,000… In both cases in half-empty stadiums. “The audience is a bit fabricated. There are no real aficionados in these clubs, apart from a small hard core ”, adds Ivan Daury, trainer at the University of Orsay, passed by the PUC and who leans for Racing where he was pro from 1998 to 2005.
In the end, it's almost more chance that creates the supporter. “If a dad played for one, or if the coach went through the other…”, summarizes Peter MacNaughton. In Massy (Essonne), we are close to the Stade Français because the two clubs have an agreement. In Montmorency (Val-d'Oise), we support Racing more because their pillar Hassane Kolingar comes from the club. The examples are legion, especially as the two rivals are used to shopping in the Paris region.
“The two clubs ultimately have the same challenge: to expand their traditional fan base, targeting women and young people, in a Parisian context where there is a lot of competition in entertainment,” concludes Magali Tézenas du Montcel. For that, they also need stars, storytelling around big names. But there is room for both. “Even if this Friday night after the game, there will be only one left.