Racing 92 & Stade Francais to merge

[strawclearer]

A good 'explanation' of the 'merger': http://www.rugbyworld.com/news/racing-9 ... cais-77437

[ellis9]

As both clubs are losing money, why don't they cut their cloth accordingly?!

Instead of spending £10,000,000 on players, reduce it by 50%

That obviously means the player quality will be lower but at least the club can survive as it is instead of merging with a rival.

Hopefully this story has opened the eyes of some Tigers fans who want the club to spend more money to win more things. That's what both Paris clubs have done and look at what has happened!

[johnthegriff]

I have enjoyed a long friendship with a Stade supporters group and they certainly are not fond of Racing, in fact their former chairman was at our recent match against Racing in Paris and supporting Tigers although we made it difficult for him to do so.
Similar mergers took place in Wales with the creation of Ospreys and other regions many fans stayed loyal to their roots supporting Neath, Swansea etc at a lower level rather than go to the newly created regional team.

[jgriffin]

I have enjoyed a long friendship with a Stade supporters group and they certainly are not fond of Racing, in fact their former chairman was at our recent match against Racing in Paris and supporting Tigers although we made it difficult for him to do so.
Similar mergers took place in Wales with the creation of Ospreys and other regions many fans stayed loyal to their roots supporting Neath, Swansea etc at a lower level rather than go to the newly created regional team.

As a one-time Whites occasional supporter, A large number of fans of us and Neath never took to the Ospreys. Some of the 6000 crowd at the good games are created by freebies to schools - even when I last attended (it was Ospreys vs Leinster about 7 years ago)the crowd noise was mostly pottymouthed kids from Townhill and Mayhill schools.

[Old Hob]

According to The Times, Pascal Pape is at the centre of protests about this and players may take strike action.He is urging fans to join the protest.

[strawclearer]

According to The Times, Pascal Pape is at the centre of protests about this and players may take strike action.He is urging fans to join the protest.

At 36 he probably figures he's unlikely to be selected to continue in the new club. Wonder if he'll throw himself to the ground in protest at this forthcoming 'slap in the face'?

[Iain]

If I were a fan of either side I would be furious. Devastated. Sure, it might make business sense but we're all clear that rugby is about much, much more than that.

[strawclearer]

It's being rumoured that Stade Francais players have just voted to strike indefinitely.

According to @lequipe, the Stade Francais squad has voted 99.8% in favour of strike action. No training & "very probably no match v Castres".

Not quite sure how they got the 99.8% figure but my maths isn't up to much!

[Cagey Tiger]

It's being rumoured that Stade Francais players have just voted to strike indefinitely.

According to @lequipe, the Stade Francais squad has voted 99.8% in favour of strike action. No training & "very probably no match v Castres".

Not quite sure how they got the 99.8% figure but my maths isn't up to much!

Nor is L'équipe's by the looks of it

[tigercaspian]

As both clubs are losing money, why don't they cut their cloth accordingly?!

Instead of spending £10,000,000 on players, reduce it by 50%

That obviously means the player quality will be lower but at least the club can survive as it is instead of merging with a rival.

Hopefully this story has opened the eyes of some Tigers fans who want the club to spend more money to win more things. That's what both Paris clubs have done and look at what has happened!

Well said! I honestly couldn't think of a better definition of 'living beyond one's means' than this mess, particularly with both their local councils / departments subsidising both clubs heavily. I wonder how many other French clubs have similar difficulties ?

So congrats to those Aviva Prem clubs who are being profitably managed.

Wasps, you have been warned!

[BeeJ]

I have been in contact with Rémi aka Ze Stade Fan and he and his fellow SF supporters are obviously distraught. Here is a copy of the email I received from him yesterday as he has given me permission to pass it on to you.

We learned through the press that Stade Français and Racing 92 are going to merge at the end of the season at about 11:00 yesterday. A person I know to be close to Max Guazzini received a panicked phone call from him an hour earlier. Well, according to the press conference that was held by Lorenzetti and Savare, the two moguls who own the clubs at 4pm that fatal afternoon it is a merger and both identities of the said clubs will be preserved, players will be interviewed individually.

But one closer look at the facts tells of a disguised takeover:
- the shares Mr Savare is bringing to the merger are worth much less than Lorenzetti’s as the SFP has been consistently losing money
- Thus Lorenzetti has the upper hand on everything: the club is going to play in his stadium, leaving our magnificent Jean Bouin to a minor soccer team. They’ll play under Racing’s license. Laurent Travers and Laurent Labit (yes, it means ‘the dick’ in French) are going to select the players and coach the team and the nefarious Lorenzetti is going to be chairman of the board.

Those people do not know what sport is, and what kind of passion we invest in it. Savare said that he is ready to discuss the matter with the fans at the beer garden while the fans are ready to hang him high and dry. Lorenzetti is the contrary to what we love in our sport: he is vulgar, he considers trophies as a due to his ego as long as he pays fortunes to his players, he reigns by terror and not kindness (players were forbidden to live in Paris as confirmed by Mike Phillips on the Welsh media), his medical staff is really dodgy, his senior coach did fart in the face of Adrien Buononato, the then Racing’s Academy coach saying, “You wanted a meeting, you have it.” I could add a long list of provocations towards Stade Français.

As far as I am concerned I keep fabulous memories of about twenty years of relentless support. Chatting with players in a family-like atmosphere, taking planes buses, trains and cars to glorious stadiums, meeting wonderful people - and that includes you and your wife of course. Well it’s all in shambles now. I am not going to support Mr Lorenzetti’s egoistic powerhouse. The options are: we restart a true Stade Français at the lowest level with whatever money we can find. We all go to support Massy, a second division club, or we fight by all legal means to prevent the merger. That third option is on the cards now as Papé is leading the revolt. No need to say, my feeble knowledge of the French law makes me very pessimistic.

Thank you for your kind attention, I am a desperate fan today…

Long live rugby anyway!!!

[Iain]

It's being rumoured that Stade Francais players have just voted to strike indefinitely.

According to @lequipe, the Stade Francais squad has voted 99.8% in favour of strike action. No training & "very probably no match v Castres".

Not quite sure how they got the 99.8% figure but my maths isn't up to much!

Nor is L'équipe's by the looks of it

99.8%?

I think I've found exclusive video footage of the vote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grupR1xTLvc

[strawclearer]

It's being rumoured that Stade Francais players have just voted to strike indefinitely.

According to @lequipe, the Stade Francais squad has voted 99.8% in favour of strike action. No training & "very probably no match v Castres".

Not quite sure how they got the 99.8% figure but my maths isn't up to much!

Nor is L'équipe's by the looks of it

99.8%?

I think I've found exclusive video footage of the vote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grupR1xTLvc

[strawclearer]

French press reporting that the SF/Racing 92 merger might not now go ahead. A final decision is likely to be made on Friday.

(Phillip Hammond told me this at 8am this morning but I kept it quiet until now in case anyone changed their mind about this 'volte-face'!)

[Mersey Tiger]

My advice to Ze Stade Fan and all his fellow fans is stay true to what you believe.

If what happens means setting up a new Stade Francais which has to start from the bottom then so be it - if the fans are resolute and look to support such a project.

If they want inspiration then they only have to look at AFC Wimbledon in the English Football League. They didn't like their club being treated as a franchise and moved to Milton Keynes (why would anyone want to move to Milton Keynes!?!? ).

So they set up a local replacement for "their" club and started at the bottom - and now they are thriving in EFL League 1. AND they beat the evil MK Dons 2-0 last night, by way of coincidence