This is the first poster of the weekend of 32e final of the Coupe de France, this Friday evening (9 p.m.) at the Stade Robert-Diochon between FC Rouen 1899, who play in National (3e division), and LOSC, which shines in L1 and the Champions League. Since this summer, the Norman club has been developing a very ambitious project around its new president, Iwan Postel, which targets Europe by 2030 as well as the construction of an ultra-modern venue with 40,000 seats.
The emblematic defender and captain Clément Bassin, who has just celebrated his 30th birthday and has experienced all the setbacks (and the few joys) of the Rouen club since his childhood, confides in the JDD ahead of this highly anticipated meeting, which will be played sold out in front of 8,000 spectators.
The JDD. Why have you spent your entire career in Rouen, your hometown?
Clement Bassin. First of all because I did all my training there. I arrived at the club in 2004. Then, when I started playing in the reserve team, I was 17 years old. The following year, in 2013, filing for bankruptcy. Obviously, for me who hadn’t played much with the reserve team and aspired to join the first team… And since obviously, I didn’t have much visibility, I said to myself: “Might as well leave with the club in DH”.
“With the problems of last year, we still feared a bankruptcy filing which would have been very difficult to accept”
That’s what I did. Then, the ups and downs meant that we moved up the ladder little by little. I still have the attachment. I was born here, I have my parents here, I raised my family there too. Today, I have two children. The vagaries of life meant that things happened naturally this way. It was written like that.
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As a kid, were you a supporter of the Red Devils?
Yes, I went to watch the matches, often with my father. We went to almost every game. When I arrived, the club was in Ligue 2, then went down to National, then to CFA1 at the time. We followed. It was a bit of a Saturday night meeting, as they say. We even followed the youth teams. This is still the case today: whenever I have a little time, I go around the grounds, it brings back good memories.
Was there sometimes the fear of seeing the club disappear?
Yes of course. We know the difficulties that the club has gone through in the past. With last year’s problems, there was still fear of a bankruptcy filing which would have been very difficult to accept. But when Mr. Postel arrived, when we were able to speak with him, when he assured us that he would save the club, we decided to trust him. Today, that proves us right and we are very proud to be able to fully defend our colors again this year in National.
How do you feel about the fact that he so clearly displays the ambitions for FC Rouen in the years to come?
I think it’s a good thing. It’s true that we have a very cautious “French” mentality, especially here (smile). Ywan Postel and Tarkan Ser [homme d’affaires turc associé à la reprise du club, NDLR] brought a lot of ambition. And sometimes ambition is a bit annoying. On the contrary, for me it’s rather a good thing.
It is not because we are ambitious that we will necessarily get there, but what is important is to give ourselves all the means to get there. I think that’s what they’re doing. Since I arrived at the club, this is the first time that I have seen it structured so much internally, on the sporting or extra-sporting side. It’s important, it’s the basis of the project for me. I think we are on the move, in the right direction to move forward and try to climb the ladder.
But all the same, this ambition of a Champions League by 2030, this 40,000-seat stadium project…
Yes, today, it’s true that we say to ourselves that it would be completely crazy. But as he told us, as long as it’s mathematically feasible and achievable, you might as well believe in it. Our part is the athlete, so that’s really what we concentrate on. He’s an entrepreneur, so I think he knows what he’s doing. And I prefer to have a person like him in the club with ambitions and projects rather than a person who is in nothingness or in the plan-plan.
You who know the region by heart, there are approximately 500,000 inhabitants in the Rouen metropolitan area. The fervor around FC Rouen is considerable, regardless of the division in which it plays. Can this club find a place in the elite of French football?
Yes, I think so. In the past, it’s true that there were a lot of supporters, even when I went to see the Ligue 2 matches. At the time, it was a sellout. The bankruptcy filing in 2013 revitalized things and since then, the fervor has been even greater. When I came to the small stadium and when I compare with today, there are a lot more people singing, passionate people. These pains, which heal over time, have allowed people to come closer and love the club even more. It is passed down from generation to generation.
“We are in the process of structuring ourselves like a professional club”
I have friends who have never been to Robert-Diochon and who tell me: “You come once, then you are bitten by the enthusiasm, by the fervor of this stadium, by the history of the club. » In this city, the more the results are in our favor, the more curious people will come. And it is by bringing them that we will develop this fervor. If we have the opportunity to go up, obviously, with a bigger stadium, it will work, that’s obvious.
The club has opened a magnificent store in the city center, another sign that it is in the process of being structured…
Of course. Such a boutique in the city center, I don’t know if it exists elsewhere in National. It’s worthy of professional clubs. We are in the process of structuring ourselves like a professional club. And then, obviously, we know that the Coupe de France was the talk of the town last year (Rouen went as far as the quarter-final, eliminating Toulouse and Monaco in particular). People want to relive this kind of emotion, to be able to vibrate, to share good times. Lille is a highly anticipated match and we will want to rewrite a great story.
Especially since you were one of the heroes of last year’s fantastic performance, notably being the scorer against Monaco. An unforgettable moment, I imagine, especially when you’re a local…
When you’re local and you have the chance to score against Monaco, to qualify, to make your way to the quarter-finals, when I go back ten years and see the young kid I was again who had just arrived… (moved). Obviously, I sign straight away. These are memories that are engraved forever and that we will talk about for a long time here. It is important to transmit the FCR culture.
A final word on Régis Brouard, who arrived as coach a month ago and who is doing very well for the moment, with four victories in as many matches. What does he bring? Did you know him?
I knew him from the epic Coupe de France with Quevilly. Then, I followed him in his missions at Red Star and Bastia. He is a charismatic coach who knows how to make himself heard. He brought a new dynamic to the club and new momentum. He has this hard work, this daily requirement that he transmits to us. I think we needed that too, even if the passage of Maxime d’Ornano was very beneficial, and we must not forget it.
