Remember, on May 7, 2000 at the Stade de France, it was the final of the Coupe de France between FC Nantes, dinosaur of Ligue 1, and the Calais Racing Union football club, which played in the 4th division. This amateur club is quite simply the result of the merger of the Racing Club of Calais and US Calais. It was a historic moment for me, born in Calais. 78,717 spectators attended this match led by Claude Colombo, a completely unjustified defeat for Calais after an absolutely imaginary penalty scored by Antoine Sibierski in stoppage time.
Calais was France that day. Nearly 40,000 Calais residents came to the Stade de France, something unprecedented in the history of this competition.
My lifelong heroes, Cédric Schille, Jocelyn Merlen, Fabrice Baron, Grégory Deswarte, Réginald Becque the unforgettable captain, Cédric Jandau, Gregory Lefebvre, Emmanuel Vasseur, Christophe Hogard, Mickaël Gérard, Jérôme Dutitre, the scorer.
Calais were beaten 2-1. It is undoubtedly one of the most human moments in football in this type of competition, it is a reflection of the unexpected and surprising stories of the Coupe de France. Calais became a social phenomenon during this period; they had already eliminated Lille in 32nd, Langon-Castets in 16th, Cannes of Rolland Courbis in 8th, Strasbourg of Claude Le Roy in the quarter-final and Bordeaux of Christophe Dugarry in the semi-final.
Unforgettable
It is undoubtedly the most extraordinary semi-final that I have experienced, but above all I will remember all my life this quarter-final against the Racing Club de Strasbourg, the unreal conversation between Patrick Proisy, the president, and coach Claude Le Roy. Le Roy saying to Proisy: “Don’t worry, it will be a formality, miracles never happen again in football…” The proof… A juicy detail: my son Baptiste, who was with me at the mach, bet with Patrick Proisy the equivalent of 50 francs on a victory for Calais: he won and Proisy paid him on the spot.
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“Your club deserved to win”
This final is close to my heart because I saw the people of France being behind Calais. I saw all the Calais residents happy. In front of the Julien-Denis stadium in Calais, there is the northern cemetery. And on the graves, hold on, during the days leading up to the final, I saw the Calais supporters who placed scarves and red and yellow jerseys on the graves of their deceased to celebrate the event.
Speaking with Christophe Hogard, twenty-four years later, we realize that everyone remembers this magnificent match. I also remember that Jacques Chirac, President of the Republic, telephoned me on Monday morning saying: “Your club deserved to win. » He was also at the final and he went down to the locker room of Nantes and Calais.
The rebirth of RC Calais
An emotional moment for me too, my mother, who will be 100 years old, was at the Stade de France and it was the first time she attended a football match. And then, the saddest thing, my father, who taught me to love football, died in 2002 and who was very ill (he was already in another world), never believed me when I told him that Calais was in the final of the Coupe de France. This is my eternal regret because he was a 300% Calais supporter.
Today, the Racing Club de Calais is reborn from its ashes
Today, the Racing Club de Calais is reborn from its ashes, thanks in particular to three young people who I will not name, out of modesty. The president of the Racing Club de Calais is called Nicolas Bouley and I wish him the best.
Thank you all for this moment of happiness.
With the help of Océane Daniel and Christophe Hogard
