This Tuesday against Salzburg, Losc will not be full for a very important match for a qualification in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Since the start of the season, the northern club has not attracted its fans to the biggest European competition.
Losc supporters, who responded to the
20 Minutes
call for testimony
, explain why they do not fill the stadium and that goes for the price of tickets in
Koh-Lanta
.
It is arguably Losc's most important European match for at least ten years. Tuesday at home against the Austrians in Salzburg, the northern club can, if successful, take a big step towards qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League. However, despite this immense stake, the Pierre-Mauroy stadium (49,000 seats) will not fill up.
A bad habit this season in C1 for Losc.
Whether against Wolfsburg, Seville and therefore Salzburg, the attendance fluctuates each time around 35,000 spectators.
Not bad but far from a sold out which is surprising in the most beautiful European competition that Lille does not yet play every year.
To find out the reasons for this "disenchantment",
20 Minutes
asked the Losc supporters for their opinion, who responded in numbers.
Former captain of Losc in the Champions League, Grégory Tafforeau also gives his feeling on this lack of great popular enthusiasm.
Too high prices
“The price of seats is excessive for an evening with the family,” Jérôme entry section. "I have been a LOSC subscriber since 2001. But three Champions League matches is almost having to pay for a second subscription, it's really too expensive for the show on offer," continues Cédric. With prices between 30 and 175 euros instead, you have to break the bank to see Lille in the queen competition, as Philippe sums it up. “To go as a family of four, you end up paying at least 120 euros. With the added bonus of a not very exciting match as much for the prestige of the opponent as the lack of enthusiasm of the team, the mass is said ... unfortunately. "
Especially since the prices, higher than in Ligue 1 but also than during the last Champions League campaign (2019/2020), were set by the club before a draw deemed disappointing.
Opponents not sufficiently renowned
Wolfsburg, Seville and Salzburg. Without insulting these clubs, Losc undoubtedly expected more high-sounding names in its Champions League group. These opponents less prestigious than Real, Barça, Chelsea, Liverpool or Bayern clearly do not help fill the stadium as Eric recognizes. “The Lille fan base, which I would estimate between 25,000 and 30,000, is still present at the stadium. The others come for the big posters. And the draw is clearly a disappointment for them and perhaps also for the leaders of Losc. There is no “high-sounding name” or past winner of the competition. "
Same feeling on the side of Grégory Tafforeau.
“People no doubt expect more famous teams and are then ready to make more sacrifices to come.
It is less interesting to see Salzburg than to come to see the greats of Europe even if the stakes remain the same.
"
A Lille team that does not make you dream
After his title of champion won last May, the Losc did not know how to surf on this feat.
The replacement of Christophe Galtier, much appreciated by fans, by Jocelyn Gourvennec did not help.
And the performances in Ligue 1 where Losc is only twelfth after 14 days do not help bring people to the stadium either.
“I think the results have a lot to do with it and unfortunately the assumptions about the coach as soon as he is signed does not help matters.
», Recognizes Jean-Luc.
For his part, Jean-Do details the discomfort between the supporters and the team.
“The start of the season for Lille is depressing, the departure of Galtier seems to have destroyed confidence for the players and for the public.
The president played very badly on this blow, the supporters having condemned Gourvennec even before his arrival are convinced that he will drag Losc into the abyss.
Inertia, lack of desire, the team seems sluggish, without punch, without aggressiveness and above all without the confidence that weighs down success.
Getting so high to fall so low in play and efficiency.
It's hopeless, ”says this loyal fan of Losc.
A lack of identity
Long renowned for its training and its players from the region (Debuchy, Cabaye, Dumont…), Lille has changed its DNA for several years. If Losc won the title in 2021, fans have a little trouble identifying with a team made up of many players from abroad. “There are no longer players from training like Debuchy, the Cheyrou brothers…. There is a real problem of identification, of regional anchoring, ”regrets Guillaume.
“The players are less attached to the club than a few years ago.
Before, people may have followed a little more because there were locals, ”says Tafforeau.
“There was probably more identity among the players.
Today, when you look at the CVs of some players, they have made fifteen clubs, ”barely exaggerates the ex-captain of the Mastiffs.
"Tired of passing players, fed up with being a springboard club, fed up with the lack of ambition, fed up with the lack of spectacle and emotion.
The great metropolis of Lille deserves a great football club, ”claims Benjamin.
A safety and health problem
Invasion of the field, insults, fights between players and supporters and now aggression of a player, everything that has happened since the start of the season in France does not really encourage supporters to go to the stadium.
“If you want to go to family games, think twice now.
It tarnishes the image of our sport.
It's unfortunate, ”says Tafforeau.
Moreover at Losc, the aggression of Arnaud Lasserre after the match against Wolfsburg clearly cooled some.
“Since this attack, I no longer feel safe.
It deprives me of good times with my family because going to see Losc especially in the Champions League is a moment that must remain festive.
I am waiting for a solution to be found by the public authorities, so that I can return to the stadium in peace, ”worries Seffodji.
Finally, the obligation of a health pass to enter the stadium has also deprived the Losc of some supporters.
“It's only because of that.
Otherwise, I would have attended this meeting with great pleasure, ”regrets Arthur.
A stadium that's too big and impersonal
If the Losc does not fill up, it is also because of the Pierre-Mauroy stadium and its 49,000 seats, inaugurated in 2012 and considered far too large for a club like Lille according to Philippe.
“There is not enough customer potential in the Lille region.
It should be remembered that the first version of the replacement of Grimomprez-Joris was a transformation of the old stadium into a modern stadium with 35,000 seats!
This capacity corresponded to the real regional demand ”.
Too big, the stadium, installed in the middle of nowhere in Villeneuve-d'Ascq is also considered too impersonal “The stadium is too cold and gray.
A stadium with color, red seats, even if it is not full, would be much warmer and make you want to leave your sofa.
I think that an investment in the image of the club via its stadium, as the English and the Germans have long understood, would be essential, ”concludes Pierre-François.
Competition from "Koh-Lanta"
"On Tuesday evening,
Koh-Lanta
is more exciting than Losc in LDC", room Toni Goal a Lensois supporter.
Teheiura stronger than Benjamin André?
More seriously, many supporters especially point the finger at the weekday programming of Champions League matches that prevent coming with children or staying up until late in the evening before returning to work the next day.
Well, maybe that's a detail but all the reasons count when it comes to explaining why the Losc fans are not more numerous at the stadium.
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