AS Saint-Etienne : Saint-Etienne – Bordeaux – ASSE – Geoffroy-Guichard: 90 years, 9 unforgettable evenings and… a myth | ASSE News

When he bought a 40,000 m2 plot in the spring of 1930 to set up a multisport stadium, Geoffroy Guichard, the founder of the Casino stores, surely had no idea that his name would cross the ages and generations to enter the great history of football. French. Even 90 years later, Saint-Etienne and Ligue 1 cannot imagine themselves without Geoffroy-Guichard. The Cauldron has written down moments that have forged its reputation in the heritage. On the occasion of his 90th birthday, which he celebrated this week, a look back at nine iconic evenings. One per decade.

1930s: ASSE – FAC Nice, the very first

Until 1933, Geoffroy-Guichard was a multisport stadium and it was not until September 10, 1933 that it gave birth to the first official match for the Greens, then in the second division and who had just obtained their professional status. Saint-Etienne then received the Football Athlétic Club de Nice in front of 2,000 spectators. This great first at Geoffroy-Guichard already carries with it what will constitute the legend of the stadium. Led 0-2, the Greens at the cost of a first turnaround will eventually win (3-2). History is on the move.

1940s: ASSE-OM, birth of a rivalry

Champion of France in the free zone, OM landed on March 1, 1942, at Geoffroy-Guichard. The two clubs, which will become the two largest French clubs of the century, are beginning to weigh on the French scene. On the way out, the Phocaeans had swallowed poor Greens (8-3). In front of 7,500 supporters, Saint-Etienne tastes his revenge (4-3) after a crazy match. ASSE is gradually settling in the French landscape and this victory weighs heavily to give birth to its reputation. Little by little, the city became infatuated with its team and its stadium became the rallying point for the weekend.

1950s: ASSE – Rangers, awakening to Europe

It is under a terrible dodger, in the middle of the afternoon, that Saint-Etienne stops for the first time to live for Europe a few months after his first title of champion of France. On September 27, 1957, the factories closed and all the people of Saint-Etienne met at the stadium for a round of 16 second leg of the Champions Clubs Cup against Glasgow Rangers. However, the scenario of the first leg (defeat 3-1) could have stifled enthusiasm. But it is, for the first time, 30,000 supporters who invade the spans of the stadium. No feat, not yet, but already a thrill (2-1 victory). Geoffroy-Guichard makes an appointment and lays the foundations for his epics.

1960s: ASSE-Bayern, first exploit

Triple champion of France, ASSE weighed nothing in Europe until October 1969. It was then that the rising value of the Old Continent landed in the Loire. Cup winner and German champion, Bayern Munich and their triplet Beckenbauer – Müller – Maier frighten Europe. On the way out, the German steamroller dynamites the champions of France (2-0). Except that on his return, in his Cauldron, ASSE demolished Bayern. A double from Hervé Revelli and a goal from the brilliant Salif Keita seal the first European feat of those who will capsize France for a decade.

1970s: ASSE – Dynamo Kiev, the legend of legends

If only one had to be chosen, it would be this one. In 1976, the Dynamo is a monster with the new Cruyff, Oleg Blokhine, Ballon d’Or 1975, and Valeri Lobanovski, brain of a Dynamo champion of the USSR and winner of the Cup of Cups 1975. quarter-final of the Champions Clubs Cup (2-0), the Greens do not exist. And then everything changes in one of those evenings where Geoffroy-Guichard loses his sanity. Precisely in the 64th minute, the score was 0-0. Blokhine grid Janvion and Lopez. He stands alone against Curkovic, and, on his right, Onitchenko waits for the ball to kill the match. By sin of pride, Blokhine tries a last hook on Lopez, returned from hell.

The hook too much. On the counter, the Greens opened the scoring. A free kick from Larqué allows Saint-Etienne to snatch the extension during which Rocheteau, injured and crippled with calf cramps, asks to go out but, in a deafening Geoffroy-Guichard, Herbin does not hear him. He will be the last scorer of a crazy match (3-0). The Greens offer themselves a memory and an epic. Glasgow and the square posts will follow, the founding moment of French football. And it all started one evening in March 1976 in the Cauldron.

1980s: France – Yugoslavia, Platoche’s masterpiece

Two years after leaving Saint-Etienne, Michel Platini finds Geoffroy-Guichard in the jersey of the Blues at Euro 1984. If France is already qualified before facing Yugoslavia, it absolutely wants to finish first in its group to play his semi-final in Marseille. So Platoche will take care of everything. In a quarter of an hour (59th, 61st, 76th), he signed the perfect hat trick: right foot, left foot and head. The number 10 of the Blues, on the road to a second Ballon d’Or, is at the top of his game. Saint-Etienne is a witness, one last time, of his genius for an evening full of symbols where he will grab the title of top scorer in the history of the Blues at Just Fontaine.

90s: England-Argentina, the angel Owen and the demon Beckham

The most exciting match of the 1998 World Cup took place in Saint-Etienne. Twenty-two years after a bitter quarter-final for the English who still have not digested the hand of God of Maradona, they find Argentina in 8th this time. That day, it was Michael Owen who took himself for the Pibe de Oro after a fantastic ride and a legendary goal that made the whole world discover this 18-year-old angel face. After 45 first minutes of insane intensity and scored by 4 goals (2-2), the meeting restarted with the blood of David Beckham and his vicious kick on Diego Simeone. The Three Lions lost their superstar in the 47th minute. But it will last until the penalty shootout, ultimately fatal. England did not take revenge.

2000s: ASSE-Sochaux, the half that revives the Cauldron

In Ligue 2 for three years, Saint-Etienne is dying. The green years have never seemed so far away. But in this winter of 2004, something is happening. Under the orders of Frédéric Antonetti, the Greens find their colors and ASSE is at the gates of the Stade de France. This February 4, 2004, she receives Sochaux in the semi-final of the Coupe de la Ligue. After twenty years without a title, hope returns. A tifo with a giant heart accompanied by a banner “Make it vibrate to Paris” launches a hot match. The green people vent their frustration on the hottest evening in thirty years. The Greens lead very quickly (2-0) thanks to Carteron (18th) and Compan (22nd). But this time, the turnaround will be fatal for ASSE (2-3). Regardless, the Cauldron proved that even when rusted, it continued to roar.

2010s: A derby, finally …

Twenty years … It’s been twenty years since ASSE has not won any derby on its land. An eternity that marks as much the domination of OL, seven-time champion of France in the meantime, as the decrepitude of Saint-Etienne. Except that Christophe Galtier has reinstalled the Greens in Europe and allowed them to win their first title for 30 years (Coupe de la Ligue 2013). So, in this month of November 2014, Geoffroy-Guichard begins to believe in it again. A helmet shot from Sall, a realization of the improbable Van Wolfswinkel and a Tolisso ball exploited by Cohade shatter the neighbor (3-0). For Kop Nord and Kop Sud, there is nothing more beautiful than a victory in a derby. And that evening, a whole generation of Green supporters saw their first victory at Geoffroy-Guichard over the Lyonnais.