The street vendors and the market stalls begin to clear up mid-afternoon on Saturday. In the alleys it smells like roast lamb and on the terraces the neighborhood’s natives, retired workers and third-generation immigrants mix with groups of young people of horseman with expensive clothes and IPA beers. Saint-Ouen is the first border between that Paris haussmanniano, already inaccessible for certain family budgets, and its famous suburb, the episodes of jihadist terrorism and its large concrete blocks. But it is also the result of investment in , the symbol of the gentrification of the Parisian periphery and the home
Ten kilometers northeast of the PSG stadium, the , sandwiched between a large officially protected building whose windows its neighbors look out on match days and a complex of modern glass offices, stands a temple for thousands of fans and, also, a metaphor for the transformation of this old working-class suburb.
It is home to the city’s oldest football club, founded in 1897 by , father of the World Cup. A countercultural institution in modern football, inclusive, anti-fascist and contrary to the drift of the global business of this sport. “This is something else. It’s true that lately the stands have been filled with many bo-bos [término francés que sintetiza las palabras bohemio-burgués]but it continues to maintain its own identity, distant from the other clubs,” explains Jean-François, member of a club that has become a flag of the left.
The Red Star, beyond the communist evocation suggested by its shield and the chants of its stands, owes its name to the logo of a shipping company. His best sporting years ended with World War II, with four French Cups in the interwar period and a last one in the early forties.
It was then that Rino della Negra, the team’s very fast forward, became part of the Manouchian Resistance group. Arrested by the Nazis, he was summarily prosecuted at the beginning of 1944 and shot in the Mont-Valérien fortress on February 21 along with 23 fellow fighters, four of them Italian. Today he is buried in the Ivry-sur-Seine cemetery, but the stands where the ultras are placed each week bears his name.
The club, related to other neighborhood teams with leftist leanings such as Rayo Vallecano, in Spain, or , in Germany, was playing two weeks ago for promotion to the first division of French football against Montpellier. Also the possibility of seeing three teams from Paris, much younger than the Saint-Ouen club, in the same competition: the almighty PSG, Paris FC, new toy of the rich Arnault family (owners of the luxury group LVMH) and the anti-establishment Red Star.
The Bauer did not have a single free seat (the club is expanding the stands to have more capacity since it was bought by a controversial investment fund that was dedicated to speculating with the stadium floor). “Cop, referee or soldier, what wouldn’t we do for a salary? can be heard in the ultra stands [“Poli, árbitro o militar, no todo vale para conseguir un salario”]. The bar serves halal Merguez sandwiches and IPA beer. Children play in the mouths of the stadium. There are no insults, no racism, no homophobia, no violence. “Because there isn’t, sometimes there aren’t even shouts of encouragement,” laments a fan with a sardonic tone. “We have to shout more, geez,” he insists.
The climate of harmony is total, and in the 80th minute there is relief. But the team gets confused and Montpellier equalizes three minutes from time, forcing Red Star to play days later in a tie that they will not overcome either. 51 years later (1974-1975 season), the Saint-Ouen club will not return to the top of French football. Another year in the second category. Another without mixing with the elite, television rights and enormous advertising revenues. Maybe it’s a blessing.
