facing Strasbourg, Calais in the footsteps of its glorious past

Opposed to Strasbourg this Saturday (9 p.m.) at the Épopée stadium in 32^e final of the Coupe de France, the Racing Club de Calais (N3) has become in a few months the new Football standard of a city long orphaned by the CRUFC, finalist of the competition in 2000.

Almost 10,000 spectators are expected for one of the single matches of the 32^es final of the Coupe de France. The sporting differential (four divisions separate RC Strasbourg from RC Calais) is there, but the symbolism that the meeting calls for surpasses many things.

The City of Six Bourgeois facing the Alsatian capital is déjà vu. In 2000, CRUFC (Calais Racing Union Football Club) owned by CFA (current N2) dismissed Olivier Echouafni's team in the quarter-final (2-1) before surprising Bordeaux in the semi-final (3-1 after extra time). ) and to fall as a hero against Nantes at the Stade de France (2-1).

“Today, we are still talking about it”

It was almost a quarter of a century ago “but today, we still talk about it,” admits Sylvain Jore, sports director of the Racing Club de Calais. “The players of our current team understand the importance of the Coupe de France here and it will be concrete for them this Saturday. »

This football land has come a long way. The sweet thrill of the amateur world facing the professional Goliath had for more than fifteen years deserted the town of the Opal Coast.

From setbacks to a return to the national level

The fault lies in regular jolts, ego wars, a chronic inability to raise one's head. “In 2010, I recovered a club placed in safeguard procedure with nearly a million euros in debt,” recalls the mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart (various right). We held the CRUFC at arm’s length until 2017.”

Stuck in its setbacks, the emblematic Calais club was wiped off the map and judicially liquidated. What followed were years of wandering, more or less solid projects, demotions until Regional 4 (9^e national level).

Until the merger, in the summer of 2023, of Grand Calais Pascal and Calais Hauts-de-France, in Regional 1. With 700 licensees and a budget of 850,000 euros (including a third of municipal subsidies), the RCC sees the day and, in his first year, achieved promotion to National 3.

“This city must at least be in N1”

“Calais does not have a great history with the professional world (one season in 1981/1982) but this city must at least be in N1,” explains Nicolas Bouloy, at the head of a holding of 14 companies specializing in IT and president of the club.

This ambition is not excessive for a city of around 67,000 inhabitants, twice as many as Lens, the stronghold of Ligue 1.

And what about the past that is still vivid in collective memories? “Even if we fade from the history of CRUFC, we will always have great respect for it,” underlines Nicolas Bouloy. Now it's up to us to write our own. » What could be better than the Coupe de France, this “spotlight that we get in the face”, says Sylvain Jore, to start a new book.