Ligue 1 returns to the Meinau: six stories past and present
3,382 days later, Ligue 1 is back at the Meinau. A major event that the whole Alsatian population has waited for. From Marc Keller, Racing’s chairman, to Kevin Gameiro, the last goalscorer here (Racing 1–4 Caen, 10th May 2008), six witnesses talk about a day that will be like no other.
MARC KELLER (RACING’S CHAIRMAN, SCORED HIS FIRST GOAL IN LIGUE 1 WITH RACING, AGAINST… LILLE, 2–0, ON 8 AUGUST 1992)
“Yes, I remember that goal, and my assist for Frank (Leboeuf). The team was in very strong form after promotion from Ligue 2 and the famous play-off match against Rennes. I know what Racing coming back up means for an Alsatian player like myself. Nowadays, Ligue 1 returning to the Meinau warms my heart, both as an Alsatian and as club chairman. I’m happy for every Alsatian. Happy for the older generation who feared that they wouldn’t see it again, and happy for the younger generation who didn’t experience it. We fought to make this recovery a success. It’s wonderful. I’ll be very emotional when I head to the Meinau on Sunday.”
LÉONARD SPECHT (FRENCH TITLE WINNER IN 1979, FORMER RACING MANAGER AND CHAIRMAN, NOW MEMBER OF THE RACING CLUB DE STRASBOURG ALSACE ASSOCIATION)
“I’m happy about what’s happening at Racing, and I’m happy for Marc Keller and his friends. They’re humble and hard-working people. Seeing the Meinau again for a Ligue 1 match makes me feel young again, and getting to feel that atmosphere again naturally reminds me of my brilliant years as a player at Strasbourg. The world has changed of course, it’s moved onto social networks, which is good, too. I think the team will be able to count on its fans, on its kop. The fans have changed, too. I played in an era when, if you weren’t good, you got an earful from the stands. For some years now, I think they’ve been very good. They’ve been there in the difficult moments. They’ve gotten younger, they’ve become more supportive and that’s great. They’ll be there to achieve survival.”
JÉRÉMY GRIMM (AT THE CLUB SINCE 2013)
“It’s an enormous pleasure. The Meinau is a legendary stadium that deserved to be back in Ligue 1. The whole region was just waiting for it. When I came to Racing, it was to help the club get back into the professional leagues, and I’m proud to have taken part in such an amazing adventure. Playing in Ligue 1 is a childhood dream come true. I want to get my teeth into it with the hope, a hope that we all share, of staying at this level.”
PABLO MARTINEZ (AT THE CLUB SINCE THIS SUMMER)
“It’ll be my second match at the Meinau. I came here in 2014 with GFC Ajaccio in National (a 1–1 draw), when the kop was still in the corner of the stadium. I’ve only ever seen a full Meinau on TV, but I’ve heard about the atmosphere from Khalid (Boutaib) and my new teammates. It’s something new for me. It’ll remind me of the Vélodrome in Marseille where I used to go as a fan when I was younger. It’ll be a very difficult match and, in those moments, being able to count on a 12th man like that is important. But it also creates an obligation. As Nuno (Da Costa) said, if we want to have the fans behind us, we’ll have to have an attitude that will make them want to push us on. A match like that is a shared thing between a team and its supporters.”
KEVIN GAMEIRO (ATLÉTICO MADRID STRIKER, LAST RACING GOALSCORER IN LIGUE 1 AT THE MEINAU)
“I scored the last goal in Ligue 1 at the Meinau? I can’t remember it. I’d probably remember it if it had meant we’d won and stayed up. I definitely remember it was a very hard time on the pitch. Since then, I’ve obviously always followed my first ever professional club. I regularly come back to the region. When you see where Racing has come back from, it’s pretty amazing what happened. You can’t forget the Meinau crowd, even though, sometimes, they’re demanding. I know that they had a vital role in the club’s comeback. They need to carry on supporting the team and help it stay up. Would I play at the Meinau again? I’d be delighted to if the chance presented itself. With Racing? Not at the moment, but maybe one day. You never know.”
DANIEL UHMANN (RACING FAN FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS)
“It used to be Gameiro scoring, now it’s Grimm. Apparently, we’ve just come through a miserable decade, a sporting wasteland, ruins of frustration. A blue hole. A sort of apocalypse. I didn’t see anything. Nothing happened. It was all a bad dream. The Meinau never sounded hollow. There are ducks in the Krimmeri. Ritter may have put away their merguez truck, but the beer is flowing under lovely-looking tents. Jean-Luc Filser roars into his PA system. The kop sings Les Lacs du Connemara. I’ve been parking on Rue du Général Offenstein since May 1966, when we won the Coupe de France. Just yesterday, I was twenty years old. Nothing happened. Everything’s fine. Racing are in Ligue 1. As usual.”
[Translated from: http://www.rcstrasbourgalsace.fr/actualites/la-ligue-1-de-retour-a-la-meinau-ils-en-revaient]
