from what i can see, i'd go with Strasbourg... i have a good friend who is from there who lives in the states and they will be thirsty for a new season in ligue 1 after coming up from ligue 2... concerning the saints, you can't be that upset after last season... you guys beat my eagles... and of any city that has the four major sports teams, which one has BY FAR not won one of the championchips in the longest time...?? i'll give you a clue: philly
I am having serious leanings for Strasbourg BUT for the record, I have never chosen a club because of winning traditions or winning posibilities. I am a New Orleans Saints fan, because I was born and raised there and lived there for the first 31 years of my life. Its in my blood. I am a White Sox fan, because I was convinced that the club was doing what they can within their budget to achieve success. Plus, the Cubs were way too similar to the Saints organization I am an Arsenal fan because I used to be a Civil War reenactor. Can you guess? Yes, I was an artilleryman. Anyway, I saw the cannon, and I was there fan! Strasbourg has several things going for it I can trace several ancestral roots to the region of Bas- Rhin (as well as other locations, Bretagne, Anjou, and the Rhone Valley) I have read and haerd that the club is well supported by the local population despite the lack of winnng tradition. (I don't fans who abandooned their club when they need them the most) Last: There is an international school there (2 in fact) maybe, just maybe I can find my way there one day! The trump card is Stade Brestois 29, my grandmere's home (yes, thats what i actually called her too). I don't see them leaving Ligue 2 for awhile. For the 2nd year in the row, they are fighting a relegation threat.
You're an adventurer. You wish to support a growing club, follow a great development project, pick a club that was at a Ligue 2 level and send him to the Champion's League. To change the balance of power between the clubs in the League. To establish itself at the top. Picking a club already on top, rich, powerful and so on, is far too easy ! What is the interest in seeing Madrid finish 1st or 2nd every year and seeing them win the European Cup every 5 years ? And I don't mention about Lyon... How can it did ? First, hire a great coach who would be as interested as you are. They exist, some have been encountered. Second, let him some time for a long-term project. Third, create a great training centre. Fourth, prepare the required commercial activities to finance it. A 50 000 seats arena would be a good thing. Better, anyway, than a temporary and obsolete athletic stadium. The other side of the coin, of course, is that you're perpetually afraid of a failure: it would mean all your players would quit for "real" clubs (Manchester, Juventus, Milan, well, this kind of arrogant stuff) and your big plan be "killed in the egg" as French say. That's your personal thrill: to see something emerge from the vast void of soccer cosmos... Fortunately, because you didn't choose a popular club, so don't expect a Vélodrome's atmosphere. Maybe one day Lille OSC will be Champion ovsomzing... * French Champion (2): 1946, 1954 * French Cup (5): 1946, 1947, 1948, 1953, 1955 * UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 2004 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lille_OSC [youtube]3BHrFBfA48U[/youtube] Kader Keita, "El Popito", Lille's symbol after Bodmer (see below). (don't dream, his fee release is 22 million euros worthy) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrfb8_milan-ac-lille Lille is the first French team ever winning in San Siro against AC Milan. Things to know: -Bodmer is the new Zidane, the new Ballack and the new Laurent Blanc in a single player. -Coach Vahid yes verrry good forrr young playerrrs but neverrr such a tyrrran again at Lille. -Don't be afraid in the club's politics of recruiting some absolutely unknown players from unknown clubs from unknown leagues. Claude Puel, the "Arsene Wenger of Ligue 1".
Boy, it sounds like they have a great plan together. It can certainly be done. Oakland A's & Minnesota Twins of maor league baseball make their living just this. l don't know how they do it, but... they always seem to find a one or two "lights ot" pitchers. I have a feeling it has a much bettter "ring" in french
Chais pas, ça compte si ça date d'il y a 50 ans ? Le fait est que l'ambition avouée du LOSC (par Seydoux), à terme, est de gagner un jour la Ligue des Champions !
les cahiers have stitched RSC up pretty good here: http://www.cahiersdufootball.net/article.php?id=2434#blason
So true . However, anyone can support Lyon, since you just know they will be champs. Supporting a team like Strasbourg is a completely different matter. Just listen to a boring Libourne-Strasbourg game on radio. Do it once in your life. This is real soccer fan experience. It's worth all your Junhinho free-kicks bulls**t, I'm telling you.
"Pourquoi je supporte Lille ?" : "http://www.cahiersdufootball.com/article.php?id=2436 "Pourquoi je supporte Auxerre ?" : "http://www.cahiersdufootball.com/article.php?id=2415
Sorry, I really couldn't imagine a specific spirit for the Girondins de Bordeaux. They're kindful but soulless. Their fans are sleepers and Stade Chaban-Delmas is ugly. Bordeaux is a notables town. A quiet city which want to stay quiet. It's an accountant, Claude Bez, who made the club the greatest in France in the 80's with Giresse, Tigana or Battiston (Harald Schumacher's best friend) - and Aimé Jacquet as coach. And the single fact Zidane played for them is a sufficient reason to consider Bordeaux as a great club. [youtube]4I4_3Kv4ctU[/youtube] C1 semi-final 1985 [youtube]yIqQobk9U9Y[/youtube] UEFA Cup 1996: Dugarry, God and Lizarazu beat the invincible Milan as it had never been beaten since 1978. 8) * French Champion (5): 1950, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1999 * French Cup (3): 1941, 1986, 1987 * French League Cup (2): 2002, 2007 * UEFA Cup (Runners-up) (1): 1996 * UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 1995
Toulouse FC, Bordeaux's historical rival, had a predestined name. The TFC ("Téfécé" or Tef for familiars) is one of those clubs that are doomed to lose, like Strasbourg, Rennes or Metz. And, although the city is very pleasant to live, and the soccer club is much sympathic with its violet prime color, it has known only two great moments in its history: 1) 1987 (3rd and eliminating Maradona's Napoli in UEFA) 2) Now. Toulouse may congratulate Olivier Sadran, who followed an Aulas way and created a strong economic and sport base for soccer club of the 4th French city. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjq01_allez-toulouse-naples After Zvunka, Stopyra and Beto Marcico beat Maradona. * Coupe Gambardella (1): 2005
I'm going with FC Metz. I visited Metz this last March, saw the stadium. Plus my grandpa was in one of the infantry units ("Red Diamonds") that fought for the liberation of Metz in WWII. Our tour guide didn't want to make us pay because our grandpa fought for Metz.
apparently he doesn't read the NYP, or else he would have known: THEY DIED FOR FRANCE BUT FRANCE HAS FORGOTTEN!
metz may not be the nicest town in the whole hexagon, but they have a very good cathedral, and an interesting legend of the graouilly and saint clement, who did the saurochtone saints one better by taming the dragon instead of just killing it.