RC Lens dreams of returning to Ligue 1 -

F. Launay / 20 Minutes

  • In his book “Back to the Future”, journalist Benoît Dequevauviller recounts the sporting, economic and political upheavals of RC Lens since 2014.

  • We discover in particular how François Hollande, President of the Republic from 2012 to 2017, used his influence to help the club.

  • The role of Daniel Percheron, ex-president of the regional council and absolute fan of RC Lens, has also been very important in recent years.

From Mammadov to Oughourlian, from an Azeri oligarch to a City financier, from a narrowly avoided bankruptcy to a current third place in Ligue 1: in six years, RC Lens has gone through all the emotions.

Sporting, economic and political upheavals from 2014 to 2020 as told by Benoît Dequevauviller in his book “Back to the future” published by Les Lumières de Lille (20 euros).

This fourth opus by the journalist, who has been writing about Racing since 2008, once again plunges us behind the scenes of the Sang et Or.

The book, which is teeming with anecdotes, tells how much the Lensois club has become a political issue in itself.

Example in 2014. At that time, Racing was very close to filing for bankruptcy.

Owned by Hafiz Mammadov, Lens desperately awaits the millions promised by the Azeri businessman.

When Hollande takes Martel on an official visit to Azerbaijan

Except the money doesn't come.

And Gervais Martel, emblematic president of RC Lens until 2018, is struggling to save his club.

Until knocking on the door of François Hollande, then President of the Republic, who decided to take him on an official trip to Azerbaijan in May 2014

“At the base, RC Lens remains an SME.

And as several business leaders told me, we do not know many SME owners who go on the luggage carrier of the President of the Republic on an official trip.

At the time, 10 million euros were missing, promised by Mammadov, in the club's coffers.

And it is the Azeri state that puts them ”, says Benoît Dequevauviller.

Daniel Percheron, a crazy politician from RC Lens

But why did the French head of state decide to come to the aid of a football club?

According to the journalist, everything can be explained by his proximity to the socialist Daniel Percheron, former president of the regional council (2001-2015) and absolute fan of RC Lens.

“Percheron has always been a faithful member of the Hollande clan.

And at the time, things are going very badly for the PS because the Front National shows the tip of the nose everywhere in the region.

Marine Le Pen even came to see a match in Bollaert where many VIPs took photos with her.

Percheron had to tell Hollande to be careful not to destroy such a popular club in a politically endangered socialist stronghold ”.

The Region has replaced the club to finance the renovation of Bollaert

Proof of the visceral attachment of the politician to his heart club, Daniel Percheron did not hesitate to replace RC Lens, then in financial difficulty, to have the regional council take over part of the work of renovation of the Bollaert stadium for Euro 2016.

“This is one of the big issues that Joseph Oughourlian had to settle when he arrived at the club in 2018. After Percheron left the regional council, the club had to pay VAT, work… All that was settled directly between Joseph Oughourlian, Gervais Martel and Xavier Bertrand, successor to Percheron in the region ”, continues Dequevauviller.

Oughourlian, the City financier who became a fan of the club

President of the club since 2018, Joseph Oughourlian seems to be light years away from this operation.

Not born in the region, director of an investment fund in the City of London, the businessman, who has invested 45 million euros in the club, seems very distant from the local political fabric.

Basically, the boss of Amber Capital had not even planned to rub it.

“He especially did not want to manage the operations.

He is a man from the world economy who has Anglo-Saxon management, without paternalism.

For example, he made the PSE (job protection plan) with 40 redundancies that Gervais Martel had always refused to do.

He is not a football fan, but gradually he started to get involved and go crazy for RC Lens, ”says the author of the book.

A very political board of directors

A passion that has led “Monsieur Joseph” to surround himself with local support.

“If Joseph Oughourlian has money and is good at business, he is well aware that he lacks something essential: the relational fabric and the political network in Hauts-de-France.

This is why he brought Christian Legrand, former director of Auchan Retail, and Daniel Percheron to the board of directors.

And he also very often consults Gervais Martel on the management of the club, ”says Dequevauviller.

If RC Lens has changed its economic dimension, it still keeps its feet firmly anchored in local politics.

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  • Daniel Percheron

  • Gervais Martel

  • Francois Hollande

  • League 1

  • Books

  • Soccer

  • Lens

  • RC Lens

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  • Lille