the essential
National. For the first time, Philippe Marco, the brother of the president, Xavier, but also one of the main shareholders of RC Narbonnais, confides. The person who has dual nationality (American and French) and who reads L’Indépendant every day, from California, “at 3 p.m., with a 9-hour time difference”, spends a few days in Narbonne. His goal ? Put his success at the service of a Racing that he wants to see again in Pro D2, as quickly as possible.
Can you introduce yourself to our readers?
I am Philippe Marco, originally from Narbonne, from Cuxac-d’Aude. I spent 30 years of my life in France, I studied in Narbonne, at the Lacroix high school, I went to study medicine in Toulouse, I finished my medical internship in Limoges, I played rugby in the 3rd division in Cuxac-d’Aude then in St-Julien. I left for the United States at the age of 30 for a year of research, and 30 years later, I am still there.
What are you doing ?
After my year of research, I moved into the development of cardiovascular medical devices. I had the opportunity, in the United States, to join a start-up which was looking for a doctor to train doctors on a new cardiovascular device. I worked on this project. This project worked. I stayed with this company which was then bought by a large pharmaceutical company. I still work in the cardiovascular field, on devices to open either the vessels of the heart, the vessels of the legs or even the carotid artery. Basically, there are six products marketed today in cardiovascular that I have been directly involved in, some in companies where I have been president. In my vision, I was going to the United States to do a year of research, then I was coming back to settle here. 30 years later, here it is…
Why Narbonne?
I love this region. I have a house in Cuxac-d’Aude, my wife is American but lived 5 years in France before we returned to the United States. We met, she was 12, on a beach in Narbonne. We are a Franco-American family with very strong ties to Narbonne and, above all, a very strong love for the region. We live in California, above San Francisco, in Silicon Valley. When we leave far from Narbonne and come back, we realize how lucky we are to live in this territory, with this heritage, this region, this brightness, the blue sky, the people… In short, my wife says “that here, it is the best kept secret in France”. The idea now is to be able to divide my time between the United States and France.
How did your story with Racing begin?
With my brother and the four other presidents (Philippe Campos, Marc Delpoux, Gilles Belzons, Jean Ormières). I have a great friendship with Philippe Campos and Marc Delpoux, who is also from Cuxan. Philippe Campos is my cousin. Then there is my brother. Beyond brotherly love, we get along very, very well. I have always followed Racing. The first time I went to Paris was in 1979, my parents took me and my brother to see the final against Bagnères-de-Bigorre. We have always gravitated towards the club. When the club moved up to Pro D2, in a friendly manner, I was ready to support it as a shareholder. Then we had the 2021-2022 season where everything did not go as planned with the descent.
That’s to say ?
At an end-of-season board meeting, I called my brother and told him “we cannot find ourselves in a situation where, once again, there is going to be an operational crisis, a descent into the National, uncertainties everywhere, a liquidation. For me, Xavier, I tell you, this is the end of the Narbonnais Racing Club”. Within half an hour, I called Pierre Lavigne. He is an unconditional lover of Racing, which I didn’t know very well, and I told him: “Pierre, I just had my brother, there is no question of letting the project fall apart because there are things that have been done.” Yes, the five presidents had done a big job. At the time, I think we just went up too quickly.
In the summer of 2022, therefore, Xavier Marco becomes sole president. It took courage…
It’s clear ! During the summer of 2022, I went to see all the members of the board of directors asking them “Xavier will stay, I’ll stay, are you ready to continue?” Every time we shared a meal, a coffee, everyone said “Yes, we must not stop there” and that created the restart of the last two years.
How did you experience this defeat against Montauban (19-20)?
Like a big disappointment. The impression that we didn’t get very far from Pro D2, even more so than in the final. At the end of the match, I had difficulty communicating, I stayed in the stand for a very long time, not listening to what was being said to us. Sunday evening was very complicated…
Has the disappointment been digested?
Monday morning, we had a board meeting to take stock of the past season and plan for the next one. When I arrived at the club on Monday and all the administrators were there, the 2-3 absent had told us on Sunday evening, “we want to leave”in the space of ten minutes there was a consensus to say: “We’re leaving next season, we want to do better.” We will try to be even more ambitious. The enthusiasm is there. We’re not going to hide too much. The objective next season is to move up to Pro D2. Monday morning, partners who hadn’t been at the club for years called to say “next season, you can count on us”. I’m very emotive. That’s great (he said, with a tear in his eye, Editor’s note).
How to upgrade to Pro D2?
With everything we have learned this season, we think we can be better prepared, operationally, accountingly, and infrastructure-wise, next season. When we landed in the summer of 2022 and said to ourselves, “we need 3 years to go back”, it is reality. Wanting to go back straight away is very dangerous. We have to soften the landing, absorb the shock… Once that is done, we put the sporting ambitions back at the forefront of the project, which allowed us to have these results, and on the other hand, we knew that it wasn’t necessarily the year to move up. We wanted to be in the Top 6. Afterwards, we got into the game, despite a very complicated season and many surprises. Our plan of action, it is clear, is to put the club back at the level where we think it should be, that is to say in Pro D2. Sustaining ourselves in Pro D2 in the medium term is our objective.
Concretely ?
We must maintain the current workforce as much as possible. The idea is to strengthen ourselves this year, on certain weak points, to be able to be in a situation where, in Pro D2, if we recruit 5-10 premium players, we will manage to stay there.
The board of directors seems united behind you, how do you operate?
I talk to my brother twice a day. I think I have this emotional perspective in certain decision-making. The amalgamation of the two components of the board of directors (it is made up of 12 members and Racing has 74 shareholders, Editor’s note) with people who have a little perspective and others who are on the ground, in the heart of the city, means that we are able to discuss with a constructive, very respectful dialogue. We are all here to make the sports project a success. All these people have had professional and personal success and all of them are horrified that it doesn’t work. We are here to make it work. We want it to work. Everything we can bring, we want to bring it for the success of the club. I say, the club is open. It is not for sale, but it is open to have the largest possible shareholder base.
You seem to be a major shareholder, but you’re also very involved in operations, right?
I already fell into this project a bit by accident, I didn’t think I would be involved at this level. If someone had told me three years ago when I signed up with Racing, which had just reconstituted its professional structure, that I was going to be at the heart of the reactor… The lack of infrastructure means that the members of the CA are all involved in the club project. We are here to support the club. We are both a board of directors and an executive committee. We make arbitrations. This Friday morning, it was about the training equipment desired by the coaches, for example. I speak English, I also have meetings with foreign players, by video, to talk to them about Narbonne, about our project, that helps. There is strong commitment from shareholders. There are around fifteen shareholders who have had a large part of the club’s capital, and who invest on a daily basis. You should know that in National, without TV rights, the economic model is to ask yourself what level of deficit we accept to have at the end of the season. It’s still special. Before starting the campaign, we know that we will be in deficit. So we have to ask ourselves what deficit we are willing to have, and based on that, we calibrate our ambitions.
If there is no rise next season…
It won’t be the end of the world, but we will be disappointed. This season, hope is born. The day after the match, we would have been ready to meet the demands of Pro D2. We can do everything to put ourselves in the best conditions to go up, but we won’t be on the field. The competition will be fierce, we know it, but little by little we will get there, we will be among the strongest. Sooner or later, we will get there. It’s doable, it’s not free. This year, we were reassured, everyone played the game, the supporters, the shareholders, the institutions. It’s not just a question of money. We can have a multitude of means, if we use them poorly, if it is poorly organized, structured, we will not succeed. We’ll take the time it takes, but we’ll get there.
