EURO VIEW

Naming ceremony

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while

many fans across Europe are

fighting against the commercialisation
of their clubs, supporters of one French team would currently welcome
it
By GRAHAM ROBERTS

Aboue Pierre Mauroy (front) ,,enjoying', a match

Left Prior to Lille's first game at their new stadium

Then again, as the journalist |oachim Barbier noted in his recent book The Country That
Doesn't Like Football,inFrance the stadium plays
afar less important role than in the IJK or Itary

in creating a club's identity. With the notable

exceptions of PSG, Marseille, Saint-tienne

ff

France

In France football grounds are often named

after local politicians, once they have died. The
latest team to go down this route are the 2orr

Double-winners Lille. Their ne\M 5o,ooo-seat

stadium, built at an official cost of 3 z4 mil-

lion (Ez66m), was known simply as ,,Le Grand

Stade" on its inauguration in August zorz. It
was common knowledge,
however, that this was temporary until a suitable cor-

porate backer could

be

found. From the off, the

favourites were Partouche,

local firm who o\Mn a chain

of casinos and are also the

current team sponsor. So it
was to widespread surprise

in |uly 2or3 that the

dium

sta-

renamed Le Stade
Pierre-Mauroy, in honour of
\Mas

tille supporters
pointed out that
while the locally
born Mauroy may
have done a lot for
the cit]t he uras
known to have
hated football

the city's former mayor and

France's ex-prime minister, who had died the
previous month.

Many Lille fans were furious. Some pointed

out that while the locally born Mauroy may

have done a lot for the city, he was known to
have hated football. worse still, he had actually
blocked plans for the new stadium during his
time as city council chairman in 2oor. Supporters were especially angry to discover that the
offer of 2.5m per year over a ten-year period

from Partouche had been summarily rejected

38 WSC

by Lille city council. According to that body,s

vice president, the name partouche Stadium
was "not in keeping with the identity and values ofthe region', although he made no attempt
to suggest what those might be. Instead, Lille,s
ground was named after pierre Mauroy for
free. That the club are yet to make an official comment on the subject is a reflection of
the fact that all French clubs depend on local
authorities for funding.

Throughout Europ e
football clubs are increasingly disregarding fans'
feelings in their search for
lucrative corporate sponsorship deals, know here as
"le naming". However, some

French supporters now

see business

link-ups as a

and Lens, French football grounds tend to lack

atmosphere. One reason is that with the distances between football cities being so great
and most games tending to start as late as gpm,
often only a handful of away fans turn up. Earlier in the season when Lille played Lorient a
r 3-hour trip by road - I counted a total of nine
away supporters huddled together in the top
corner of the ground. As it is now theoreticalry
possible to watch every French Ligue r game on
the Qatari-owned satellite channel BeIN Sport,
there is little appeal in travetling r,ooo miles
or more to watch your team get trounced by
the likes of Reims or Evian, and then get back
home at 4am.
It's also true that virtually all professional
clubs in France rent their stadium from the

city council, for whom football is just one of

an increasingly wide range of income streams.
In recent months Le Stade pierre-Mauroy has

hosted a concert by Rihanna and a France v

Argentina rugby match, as well as countless
corporate team-building events in its many

means of narrowing the gap

seminar rooms. Forthcoming attractions

to Paris Saint-Germain and

Monaco, whose recently
acquired billionaire owners give them a huge advantage; Nice for one
gained considerable financial benefit from
their ne\M ground, inaugurated in September

include the final of the French rugby union

championship in May and a two-day *Super-

2or3 as the Allianz Riviera after the German

insurance giant. The problem for Lille is that in
the north of France most of the big companies,
such as sports goods giants Decathlon and the
retail group Auchan, are in the hands of a small
group of very wealthy families who have no
desire to associate themselves with something
as "popular" (ie vulgar) as football.

cross motorbike show" in November. Lille,s sta-

dium seats are not even painted in the club,s

colour - red - something unthinkable at most
football grounds in the UK.
At least the stadium's new name has not
stopped fans from attending;the club now have
around 3o,ooo season ticket holders. However,
whiie happy to see their team currently occupying a Champions League qualifying spot,
they are often less enamoured of the style of
play - the players \Mere booed off after a recent
r-o home victory against lowly Guingamp. g