funny atmosphere in this village on the border of the Rhône and the Loire but “after the match, it’s ricard!”

The 125th derby between Lyon and Saint-Etienne will be played on Sunday November 10, two years after the last confrontation between the two teams. Between them and between their respective supporters, a historic rivalry was born. Report from Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise, a small village in the Monts du Lyonnais, on the border between the two departments.

If Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise is administratively a commune in the Rhône, we are geographically closer to Saint-Etienne. Its population is therefore logically torn between OL and ASSE.

As the 125th derby between the two teams approaches on Sunday November 10, 2024, this separation “friendly“resurfaces among its inhabitants. Here, “50% of people support OL and the other half Saint-Etienne” laughs Roger, the heart of Lyon, sitting at the Brasserie des Terreaux.

Sunday’s match livens up the conversations. The teasing comes: “Come on Roger, wouldn’t you sing us a little “Go greens”? – Never !“, replies the person concerned. “It’s the emigrants from 42 who are invading us“, says a friend, with a smile on his face. “Rooooooh, that one is easy“, replies another.

The subject is never a pretext for violent arguments. “It’s a cute chambering, nothing more“, explains Pascal, a supporter of the Greens. “And after the match, it’s ricard!” chants another.

The passions are antagonistic, but the sporting results of the teams nevertheless push the supporters to agree on the predictions. Lyon is 6th, Saint-Etienne is trying to survive in Ligue 1 in the penultimate place.

“2-0 for Lyon” says Roger. His friend Maurice, who has just arrived and is supporting the other team, purses his lips: “draw maybe? We come across stronger, it’s a great team facing us…“. Pascal continues: “if Saint-Etienne wins on Sunday, it will be a very good performance. I would opt more for a draw or even a defeat“, he concedes.

At the bar, the Saint-Etienne supporters are more numerous this morning. A question of generation perhaps. “It’s especially the young people who support OL” explains Pascal. “Now it’s the same but in the 70s and 80s, it was all green here! Lyon only emerged in the 90s and even more in the 2000s with its titles.”

Head to the local club to confirm our theory. At Hauts Lyonnais, the players are more divided. Among the twenty teenagers we meet, 6 train with an OL jersey, 4 with an ASSE one. In the voting game, Lyon won by a few votes.

Here, it’s above all a family story. All the young people interviewed had a parent, uncle, aunt, sister or cousin who passed on their passion to them. “I have supported OL since my godfather introduced me to the joy of being in a stadium with a fantastic team, which is Olympique Lyonnais.“, Angelo proudly tells us.

“I only went to see Lyon at the stadium with my father-in-law but the rest of my family supports Saint-Etienne, so for me there is only them“, retorts one of his comrades. “My father has always followed OL and I went to watch matches with him. I loved the atmosphere there“, says another. “My whole family supports Saint-Etienne“, continues Marley, jersey on his shoulders. “Since we’ve been waiting for this for so long, I can’t wait!“, he continues

“In the club, we have a family where two children are Lyon supporters and one is from Stéphane… on derby evenings it must be nice for them“, laughs Gaétan Desautel, their trainer.

He doesn’t take a dim view of this rivalry. “It still remains benevolent. The day of the match is special but the rest of the time, we don’t see any difference. The main thing is to watch the match together and have a good time together.“, he concludes.

Who will ultimately have the right to silence the other camp? Answer Sunday evening, kick-off at Groupama Stadium in Décines-Charpieu at 9 p.m.

Sébastien Allec and Amandine Rouve