the tradition of the derby, extra motivation for the Greens in difficulty

Almost three years after the last edition lost by the Stéphanois (1-0), the Lyon-Saint-Etienne derby is back, Sunday November 10 at 8:45 p.m., in Ligue 1. This season, the Greens have found the elite and if their first part of the season is delicate (sixteenth with 10 points) despite the recent victory against Strasbourg (2-0), the prospect of facing for the 125^e Once Olympique Lyonnais (OL), their regional rival, always sounds like a very special meeting.

“A derby is a match apart. Everything is possible »hopes Aïmen Moueffek, one of the five Saint-Etienne players to have been trained at the Saint-Etienne Sports Association (ASSE). “Today, we are far from their workforceadds Loïc Perrin, sports coordinator of the Greens. But, in such a match, the levels can come closer by playing with certain values. It takes a strong belief that you can do it. This is how we managed to achieve results in the past. »

The owners are no longer local – the two Rhône-Alpes clubs have passed under the North American flag – and there are, in each team, fewer players born in Saint-Etienne or Lyon, but the transmission of the importance of derby continues. “As soon as we join the very small club, we are introduced to this notion of derby, says Aïmen Moueffek. It’s in the morals, the match not to lose. And the players who arrive at Saint-Etienne quickly realize its importance. It’s the biggest derby in France. »

Ex-defender with seventeen professional years, all played at Saint-Etienne, Loïc Perrin has the necessary knowledge to “explain what the derby represents” to ASSE recruits. He also counts on the players trained at the club (Léo Pétrot, Mickaël Nadé, Louis Mouton, Mathis Amougou and Aïmen Moueffek) to “transmit this culture” to their teammates.

“It was a big fair”

As soon as a player signs with Forez, a video presenting the club and its history is shown to him. A visit to the Greens Museum is also on the program “to immerse yourself in what Saint-Etienne is”. Obviously, the rivalry between Lyonnais and Stéphanois plays an important role there.

Emblematic president of ASSE between 2006 and June 2024, Roland Romeyer, grandson of farmers from Haute-Loire, still attends all the meetings at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium and remains one of the guarantors of the Saint-Etienne spirit. “My first match at the stadium was a derby. It was February 10, 1957 [le dixième derby, victoire stéphanoise 3-2]I was 12 years old, I was amazed, he remembers. It was a great fair, very warm and very nice. This match marked me. »

More than fifty years later, Roland Romeyer was seated in the grandstand of the Gerland stadium in Lyon for the 100th^e derby in the history of Ligue 1, during an improbable victory for the Greens (1-0). “That one surprised everyone. It was September 25, 2010he quotes from memory. Frankly, we hadn’t existed throughout the match and we won with a free kick from Dimitri Payet. »

From the pitch, Loïc Perrin directly took part in this victory, a first in the derby since… April 6, 1994: “At the time, Lyon was in Ligue 1. From 2010, we got closer, we started to win a little more. » Five victories between 2014 and 2019, one of which gives hope to Roland Romeyer: “On October 6, 2019, we were also not doing well at all in the standings. Claude Puel had just been appointed coach. We win 1-0 on a goal from Robert Beric. »

At 23, midfielder Aïmen Moueffek, born in Vienne (Isère), in a shared city “50-50 between Saint-Etienne and Lyon supporters”has never won against OL in three professional derbies. He notably started during the 5-0 rout at home on January 24, 2021. “I lost the professional derbies, but if I calculate all the ones I played in as a youth, I won far more than I lost”he insists.

“We’re not here to laugh”

For this “Gaga” adoption, derby players are divided into two categories: those who “are under more pressure” and those who draw from it “more motivation”. Unsurprisingly, the young man says he does “part of the second category” and announces the color: “Oh no! There will be no observation round. We go in to hurt them, score as many goals as possible and stifle them. We’re not here to laugh. »

In Décines-Charpieu (Rhône), in the OL stadium, the Greens will have to do without the “official” support of their supporters, prohibited from traveling by a double prefectural and ministerial decree, the match being classified “at very high risk “. Saturday November 2, Greens supporters sang homophobic chants targeting the Lyonnais during the Saint-Etienne-Strasbourg match.

“Before, at Geoffroy-Guichard, we would meet other supporters, we would mess around, we would make friends and we would go for a drinkregrets the former president of the Greens, Roland Romeyer. The Lyonnais or the Stéphanois could display their colors outside. Now we can’t anymore. »