Red Star FC (France)

Red Star FC is a professional football club from the French capital, who were formed in a Parisian café on the 21st February 1897 by Jules Rimet and Ernest Weber as Red Star Club Français.

Red Star officially joined the USFSA, who were the governing body of French football at the time, in 1898 and placed in their third division while playing in navy and white at Champ de Mars close to the Eiffel Tower.

Shortly after, Red Star moved to a terraced ground at Meudon, in the south west of the city overlooking the Seine. Rimet took over as club president in 1904 as the club reached the first division of the USFSA.

In 1907 the club changed its name to Red Star Amical Club following a merger with Amical Football Club. At the same time they moved from Meudon to nearby Grenelle. They would be on the move again a couple of years later as Stade de Paris was inaugurated with a match against English side Old Westminsters in October 1909.

Red Star became members of the newly formed Ligue de Football Association (LFA) in 1910. In 1912 won the LFA’s Ligue Nationale title. The Coupe de France was first played for in 1918, with Red Star enjoying a fantastic period in the competition’s opening decade.

Olympique de Paris were defeated 2-1 in the 1921 final thanks to goals from Marcel Naudin and Robert Clavel at Stade Pershing. Stade Rennais UC were beaten 2-0 in the 1922 final before Red Star made it a hat trick of triumphs as FC Sète lost 4-2 to the holders.

The Red Star team of the day included French international players Pierre Chayriguès, Paul Nicolas, Juste Brouzes, Lucien Gamblin and Maurice Meyer. A second merger also took place in 1925 as Olympique de Paris joined ranks with Red Star to become Red Star Olympique.

They went on to lift the Coupe de France for a fourth time in 1928 with a win against Cercle Athlétique de Paris Charenton at the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes.

Red Star became professional in 1930, joining Ligue 1 for the 1932-33 debut season. They didn’t get off to the ideal start as they were relegated after just one season to the newly formed Ligue 2. The club regained their place in the top flight at the first time of asking. Upon their return the club adopted their famous green and white coloured kit.

After a spell of four seasons, Red Star were once again demoted to the second tier, with the team once again going straight back up. In 1942 the club collected their fifth Coupe de France win with a 2-1 victory over FC Sète at Colombes.

Between 1944 and 1946 the club were known as Red Star Olympique Audonien, playing under that name in the final of the 1946 Coupe de France, when the team were defeated 4-2 by Lille OSC.

The club title changed to Stade Français-Red Star, but within two years they’d reverted to Red Star Olympique Audonien. Following the War, Stade de Paris was renamed Stade Bauer in memory of club member and resistant Doctor Bauer who had been shot by the Germans in 1942.

League 1 football continued at Stade Bauer until 1950 before Red Star were demoted to the third tier. Promotion was won in 1951-52 but the club dropped back down at the completion of the 1959-60 campaign. The club had taken the title of Red Star FC from 1955. A second successive relegation followed in 1960-61.

The loyal Red Star fans seldom had a dull season. After an immediate promotion, Ligue 2 football was competed for until promotion back to the top flight came about once again in 1965. Their spell lasted just one season, but they returned once again at the first attempt for the 1967-68 season.

The next relegation came at the end of the 1972-73 season, but resolute Red Star returned once again twelve months later. The yo-yoing continued as the club went straight back down after just one campaign. Stars of the day for Red Star were Roger Magnusson, Nestor Combin and Fleury Di Nallo.

For three seasons the ‘les Audoniens’ performed in Ligue 2 as AS Red Star, before they were demoted all the way down to the fifth tier in 1978. Promotion was achieved two years later. The fourth tier proved no obstacle as they went straight up to the third tier.

In 1982, the club were known as AS Red Star 93. A successive promotion season saw the club regain their Ligue 2 place with the help of players such as Christian Massard and Michel Joudet, where they remained until 1987 under future France national team manager Roger Lemerre.

After an absence of two years, Red Star once again claimed a place at the second level of French football with future coach of many national teams, Philippe Troussier at the helm. The club remained at that level for the following decade.

A fourth place finish in Groupe B in 1992-93, and a fifth place in the one division set up the following season were as close as the club came to regaining a Ligue 1 place. Young players Steve Marlet, Abdoulaye Meïte, Khalilou Fadiga and Charles Itandje all played their part under head coach and former player Patrice Lecornu.

Unfortunately, the following couple of decades saw a real period of struggle at the club. After a couple of seasons in the third tier, successive relegations in 2001-02; when they became Red Star FC 93, and in 2002-03 saw Red Star plying their trade in the sixth level while suffering severe financial troubles.

Two seasons later the club fought back, winning successive promotions from Division d'Honneur  in 2004-05 and 2005-06. It would take a further five seasons before Red Star FC returned to the third level Championnat National thanks to contributions from Abou Diaby, Lass Diarra, Alexander Song, Moussa Sissoko and Yoann Gouffran, before they lifted that title to return to Ligue 2 for the 2015-16 season.

However, the joy of promotion was slightly diluted as Stade Bauer was deemed not up to the standard required for second tier football, with Red Star being forced to decamp to play their home matches at Stade Pierre Brisson in Beauvais; forty seven miles north of Paris. Rui Almeida’s team were not daunted and ended the campaign in an excellent fifth position.

While still not ideal, Red Star moved into Stade Jean-Bouin, next to Parc des Princes for the 2016-17 campaign as the club looked to continue to build under coach Claude Robin after Almeida was dismissed in the winter break.

However, the change failed to pay off as the team went down to the National Championship, with the good news being that the club was allowed to play at Stade de Paris to give Stade Bauer its official title. Even better was to follow as Red Star were crowned as 2017-18 champions under coach Régis Brouard.

The club was forced to decamp once again for Ligue 2 football, this time to Stade Pierre Brisson in Beauvais, fifty miles from home. Faruk Hadžibegić was appointed to manage the side in October 2018 before being replaced the following March by Vincent Doukantié.

Red Star went down in bottom place. Back at Stade Bauer, the goals of Mehdi Chahiri helped the team finish the truncated 2019-20 season in fifth place.

Red Star FC will play in Championship National in the 2020-21 season.

My visits

Friday 20^th January 2017

As I was staying overnight on my first ever time in Paris, just a coupe of miles from Saint Ouen where Stade Bauer is located, gave me a great opportunity to go and have a look at the famous old arena that had seen so many memorable matches, including the 1924 World Cup.

Leaving my Hotel Amarys Simart accommodation I walked on a beautifully bright but bitterly cold morning past the street stalls and busy crowds along Boulevard Ornano, continuing north under the Boulevard Périphérique ring road, on along Avenue Michelet before turning left into Rue du Dr Bauer with the impressive floodlights up ahead.

The stand with its car park backing onto the road was all locked up, although the club shop appeared open. I continued and found an open gate to enter onto the open concourse behind a long stand. One entrance appeared to be open up some steps.

The walk was worth the effort. Stade Bauer was a really traditional venue, albeit having seen batter days. I could certainly see how it didn’t meet the modern day stipulations required.

The long stand, which had Tribune Jules Rimet spray painted against a back wall, was mainly terracing with a three centre blocks of seating and a press box at the rear. The road end was a single tiered modern covered terracing. Opposite was open terracing, while there was no spectator accommodation behind the other goal, which was backed by a distinctive tall block of flats.

I took my time taking photos and moved along to another section. Sunny days are not always ideal for photography. Once done I headed back out and walked round to the other end of the stadium onto Rue des Rosiers to catch an 85 bus from the Eugène Lumeau-les Écoles stop to Muller, from where I walked round and took the Funiculaire to visit the majestic Sacré-Cœur.

Red Star FC 2 AC Ajaccio 0 (Ligue 2) Monday 6^th February 2017 (Att: 4,335)

Initially it looked like Red Star would be playing on the Wednesday evening, and I’d booked a two day trip to see both theirs and Paris Saint-Germain’s home game the previous night. However, the dreaded TV companies decided that they wanted a Monday night game to cover, so I was left to make a decision.

As I was off work anyway on the Monday night I bit the bullet and booked a flight from London City Airport straight after my night shift to Paris. Angers would benefit from an extra fan for the midweek match.

My hotel was the excellently located Hotel Nation Montmartre, so once I’d had a bite to eat and drink I got my head down for a much needed siesta.

Once refreshed I headed over the road in the Le Relais bar opposite. The match had a 7pm kick off and I’d looked at several options to reach Stade Jean Bouin. Although it wasn’t too far as the crow flies, the ride all the way on the Metro would take an hour. I decided to use my initiative.

Walking to Anvers station I caught the 2 Metro to the terminus at Porte Dauphine. Going upstairs I walked round the corner past the main line station and waited at a busy bus stop for the PC1 service to arrive. Fortunately the jovial driver wasn’t too concerned about the large numbers and we all crammed on.

It was ten stops and less than fifteen minutes later when I alighted at Lycée Claude Bernard. From there it was only a couple of hundred yards to the entrance to the stadium. I was really impressed by the lattice cladding around the stadium, and of course the sleek curves of Parc des Princes next door.

I was slightly shocked to see such a high police presence outside; especially for a game where Red Star were offering free admission for kids. My ticket cost €10 and I’d pre printed it at home. After a quick search I was soon going upstairs with time to spare.

Feeling hungry I managed to communicate with the staff at the catering hut and purchased a fantastic toasted panini, which was packed with cheese and ham, as well as an extremely small beer for a combined “how much?” total of €10. I didn’t see any programmes.

I sat inside the very sparsely populated stadium and took it all in. It really was a superb venue, even if it wasn’t perfect for Red Star’s fans. I’m sure they’d have far preferred to have been watching their side at Stade Bauer.

Both sides had steeper seating sections upstairs than behind the goals. A concourse inside separated the two tiers. The far side had all the corporate facilities and VIP seats. A continuous sweeping roof provided cover for all. It was elegant in the extreme with the anchor tenants being Stade Français Rugby Union Club.

The game kicked off with both sides at the wrong end of the table and Red Star without a home win since the previous November. They started off reasonably well and the match was of far better quality than the one I’d seen in the same division at Auxerre a few weeks earlier.

The home side took the lead on twenty three minutes, when Jean-Charles Castelletto scored with a superb volley at the back post on twenty minutes. Shortly after home keeper Geoffrey Lembet made a neat save from Mouad Madri header.

Red Star continued to have the better of the first half and deservedly went in ahead at the break. As the weather was getting cooler I went for a walk round the inner concourse, both to try and get the circulation going and to see if there was any club shop.

I took up a place to the rear the noisy section of home fans behind the goal for the second period. There weren’t loads of them, and the gate seemed exaggerated in total, but they certainly got behind their favourites. Fans of all ages were adding their voices.

The small smattering of Ajaccio fans at the far end were pretty quiet all the match. Perhaps they were worn out after such a long journey from Corsica, although their team weren’t giving them too much to shout about.

Abdoulaye Sané was having a fine game for the boys of Saint Ouen as he probed from midfield as well as skimming the post with fifteen minutes remaining. Red Star were piling on the pressure, but their fans were desperate for a second goal.

It finally came through substitute Grégoire Lefebvre with ten minutes remaining with a low shot beyond the reach of Ajaccio keeper Riffi Mandanda. Red Star saw out the last few minutes with ease as their supporters cranked up the noise yet another notch.

At full time I headed back exactly the same way, only alighting at Pigalle because I’d been alerted to a sports and music themed bar near to Lamarck/Caulaincourt station. The 12 Metro dropped me off, but La Divette de Montmartre on Rue Marcadet was closed Monday’s!

Not to be deterred I headed east, stopping off  at a tabac bar before heading to my favourite establishment from my previous visit; Au Fond Du Bar, where I enjoyed a few pints. I  walked towards home down Boulevard Barbès looking out for any likely welcoming bars.

In the end I settled for the same place I’d set off to the game from, with it’s darkened ambience and good local music. I slept extremely well once I’d had my supper. I was becoming quite attached to Paris and particularly Monmartre.